Questions & Answers about Můj bratr je v cizině.
Můj means my. It is the possessive form that agrees with a masculine singular noun in the nominative case.
Czech possessive “my” changes its form depending on the gender and number of the noun:
- můj bratr – my brother (masculine)
- moje sestra – my sister (feminine)
- moje auto – my car (neuter)
- moji bratři – my brothers (masc. animate plural)
- moje sestry / moje auta – my sisters / my cars (other plurals)
Since bratr (brother) is masculine singular, you must use můj:
Můj bratr …
Czech has no articles (no equivalents of a / an / the).
Possession is expressed by possessive words like můj (my), tvůj (your), etc., but there is no separate word for the or a. So:
- Můj bratr = my brother
- Bratr alone could mean the brother / a brother / (my) brother, depending on context.
In this sentence, můj explicitly marks my.
Bratr is in the nominative singular.
The nominative is the case normally used for the subject of a sentence—the person or thing that does something or is something.
- Můj bratr (subject)
- je (verb “is”)
- v cizině (location)
So the subject můj bratr must be in nominative.
Je means is. It is the 3rd person singular of the verb být (to be).
Present tense of být:
- já jsem – I am
- ty jsi – you are (singular, informal)
- on / ona / ono je – he / she / it is
- my jsme – we are
- vy jste – you are (plural or formal)
- oni jsou – they are
So Můj bratr je… = My brother is…
Two things are happening:
Preposition + case
The preposition v (in) requires the locative case when talking about location:- v Praze – in Prague
- v Německu – in Germany
- v cizině – abroad / in a foreign country
Declension of cizina
Cizina is a feminine noun. In the locative singular, it becomes cizině:- Nominative: cizina (subject form)
- Genitive: ciziny
- Dative: cizině
- Accusative: cizinu
- Locative: cizině
- Instrumental: cizinou
So after v (in, at) for a static place, you must use locative → v cizině, not v cizina.
- v cizině = in a foreign country / abroad (location, where someone is)
- do ciziny = to a foreign country / abroad (direction, where someone is going)
The pattern is:
kde? (where?) → v
- locative
- Můj bratr je v cizině. – My brother is abroad.
kam? (where to?) → usually do
- genitive
- Můj bratr jede do ciziny. – My brother is going abroad.
So v cizinu is not used for normal location or motion; you say v cizině (where) and do ciziny (to where).
V cizině is normally translated as abroad. Literally it means in foreign land / in a foreign country, but:
- In most contexts, Je v cizině = He / she is abroad.
- It does not specify which country or how many countries—just that the person is outside their home country.
You must change the possessive and the noun to agree in gender and number:
Moje sestra je v cizině. – My sister is abroad.
(sestra = feminine → moje)Moji rodiče jsou v cizině. – My parents are abroad.
(rodiče = masculine animate plural → moji, and verb plural jsou)
Another very common variant for “my sister” in a neutral style:
- Má sestra je v cizině. – also “My sister is abroad.”
Yes, grammatically you can say:
- Bratr je v cizině.
Without můj, it could mean:
- The brother is abroad
- My brother is abroad
- Some previously mentioned or contextually known brother is abroad
Czech often relies on context instead of possessive words. But if you specifically want to say my brother, můj bratr is the clearest.
Yes. Czech word order is relatively flexible, and changes mainly emphasize what is new or important information.
All of these are correct, but with slightly different focus:
Můj bratr je v cizině.
Neutral: My brother (as topic) is abroad.V cizině je můj bratr.
Emphasis on the place: It is abroad where my brother is (for example contrasting with others who are at home).Je můj bratr v cizině?
Yes–no question: Is my brother abroad?
In everyday speech, Můj bratr je v cizině is the most neutral statement order.
Approximate pronunciation (in IPA):
- Můj – [muːj] (like “moo” + y)
- bratr – [ˈbratr̩] (two r sounds; last r syllabic)
- je – [jɛ] (like “ye” in “yes”)
- v – [v]
- cizině – [ˈtsɪzɪɲɛ]
- c = [ts] (like ts in “cats”)
- ně = soft ň [ɲ] (similar to ny in “canyon”)
Czech stress is almost always on the first syllable of a word or phrase:
- Můj bratr je v cizině → stress mainly on Můj, then normal rhythm.
Both usually translate as abroad, and in many contexts they are interchangeable:
- Můj bratr je v cizině.
- Můj bratr je v zahraničí.
Both mean: My brother is abroad.
Slight nuances (not crucial for beginners):
- zahraničí is very common in neutral, formal, or news language (business, politics, study abroad, etc.).
- cizina is very common too and can sound a bit more “everyday” or slightly more emotional, depending on context.
For learning purposes, you can treat v cizině and v zahraničí as synonyms for abroad.
Yes, a very common informal word for brother is brácha.
- Můj brácha je v cizině. – My brother is abroad. (informal, spoken)
Bratr is neutral and fine in both spoken and written language; brácha is more casual and usually used when talking about your own (or a familiar) brother.
You must make both the noun and the possessive plural and change the verb form:
- Moji bratři jsou v cizině. – My brothers are abroad.
Changes compared to the original:
- můj bratr je → moji bratři jsou
- můj → moji (masculine animate plural)
- bratr → bratři (plural)
- je → jsou (they are)
The phrase v cizině stays the same.