Learn Hardcore Czech: Ten dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz. - That house is expensive and costs a lot of money.

Ten is a demonstrative adjective meaning roughly “this / that” (for a masculine singular noun). It must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case. Here:

ten dům = this/that house (masculine, singular, nominative)

Differences:

ten = this/that (right here in context, neutral distance)
to = this/that (neuter form; also often used as a standalone subject: To je dům. = That is a house.)
tamten = that (over there / more distant or more contrastive: Tamten dům = that house over there)

So you say ten dům because dům is masculine singular and you’re directly modifying it.

Why is it dům and not dom or domek? What’s the deal with this word?

Dům is the basic word for “house”.

dom doesn’t exist in modern standard Czech; the correct form is dům with a long ú.
domek is a diminutive: it suggests a smaller or cute house, like little house / cottage / small home.

The dictionary (base) form is dům (nominative singular). In this sentence, dům is the subject in the nominative case, so it keeps that form: Ten dům je drahý…

Why is the verb je used? How does it change with other subjects?

Je is the 3rd person singular of být (to be), so it’s used with singular 3rd person subjects:

On je, ona je, ono je = he is, she is, it is
Ten dům je = that house is

Other forms of být in the present tense are:

já jsem – I am
ty jsi – you (sg.) are
on/ona/ono je – he/she/it is
my jsme – we are
vy jste – you (pl./formal) are
oni jsou – they are

So if we changed the subject:

Ty jsi drahý. – You are expensive. (informal masc.)
Ty jsi drahá. – You are expensive. (informal fem.)
Ty domy jsou drahé. – Those houses are expensive.

Why is it drahý and not draho or drahá?

Drahý is an adjective that means “expensive”. It must agree with the noun it describes:

dům = masculine inanimate noun, singular, nominative
→ adjective form: drahý

Other forms:

drahá kniha – the book is expensive (feminine)
drahé auto – the car is expensive (neuter)
drahé domy – the houses are expensive (plural)

Draho is an adverb and means “expensively”, used with verbs:

Bydlíme tam draho. – We live there expensively / It’s expensive to live there.

Drahá is the feminine singular form:

Ta vila je drahá. – That villa is expensive.

What does stojí literally mean, and why does it mean “costs” here?

The verb stát has two common meanings:

to stand
- Dům stojí na kopci. – The house stands on a hill.
to cost
- Dům stojí hodně peněz. – The house costs a lot of money.

Context decides which meaning you get. In your sentence, talking about money after stojí clearly gives the “to cost” meaning.

Form here is 3rd person singular present:

stojí = he/she/it stands / costs ; they stand / cost (same form for 3rd person singular and plural)

Why is it stojí hodně peněz and not something like je hodně peněz?

In Czech, “to cost” is expressed with the verb stát (here: stojí) + amount:

Ten dům stojí hodně peněz. – That house costs a lot of money.
Kolik to stojí? – How much does it cost?

Using být (je) with money here would be wrong:

✗ Ten dům je hodně peněz. – incorrect / unnatural

You must say something like:

Ten dům je drahý. – That house is expensive.
Ten dům stojí dva miliony korun. – That house costs two million crowns.

What does hodně mean, and can I use moc or mnoho instead?

Hodně means “a lot / much / many”, and it’s very common in everyday speech.

In this sentence:

stojí hodně peněz = costs a lot of money

Alternatives:

moc – also “a lot”, very colloquial; often used with adjectives and verbs:
- Je moc drahý. – It’s very expensive.
- It can be used with nouns, but hodně peněz sounds more neutral.
mnoho – more formal or bookish; perfectly correct:
- stojí mnoho peněz – costs a lot of money (sounds more formal/neutral).

So you can say stojí mnoho peněz, and stojí moc peněz is also heard, but stojí hodně peněz is the most neutral everyday choice.

Why is it peněz and not peníze? What case is that?

The basic word is peníze (plural only) = “money”.

In hodně peněz, the word peněz is in the genitive plural. After words of quantity like hodně, málo, tolik, mnoho, Czech normally uses the genitive:

hodně peněz – a lot of money
málo času – little time
mnoho lidí – many people

So:

peníze = nominative plural (subject):
- Peníze jsou důležité. – Money is important.
peněz = genitive plural (after hodně):
- Má hodně peněz. – He has a lot of money.

Can I change the word order, for example: Dům ten je drahý a hodně peněz stojí?

Word order is more flexible in Czech than in English, but not all orders sound natural.

Ten dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz. – perfectly normal, neutral.
Ten dům je drahý a hodně peněz stojí. – also possible; hodně peněz is emphasised by being earlier.
Dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz. – also okay; you just dropped ten.

But:

Dům ten je drahý a hodně peněz stojí. – sounds odd or poetic; not standard colloquial word order.

As a learner, stick with:
Ten dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz.

How would the sentence change for a feminine or neuter noun instead of dům?

The demonstrative and adjective must agree with the noun.

Feminine example (kniha – book):

Ta kniha je drahá a stojí hodně peněz.
- ta (fem.) instead of ten
- drahá (fem.) instead of drahý

Neuter example (auto – car):

To auto je drahé a stojí hodně peněz.
- to (neut.)
- drahé (neut.)

The second part, stojí hodně peněz, stays the same; only the demonstrative and adjective change.

Is the a in the middle just like English “and”, or does it have any other nuance?

Here a simply means “and” and joins two clauses:

Ten dům je drahý – The house is expensive
(ten dům) stojí hodně peněz – (the house) costs a lot of money

Put together: Ten dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz.

Other Czech conjunctions you might see:

ale – but
protože – because
nebo – or

But in this sentence, a is a straightforward “and” with no special extra meaning.

Can I drop je and just say Ten dům drahý a stojí hodně peněz?

No, not in standard Czech.

Unlike in some languages, in Czech you normally keep the verb “to be” in the present tense in such sentences:

Ten dům je drahý. – That house is expensive. (correct)
✗ Ten dům drahý. – wrong / sounds like a broken sentence

You can occasionally drop je in very colloquial speech in short patterns like To je dobrý → To dobrý, but it’s limited and informal. For learning, always include je in full sentences like this.

How would I make this into a yes/no question: “Is that house expensive and does it cost a lot of money?”

The easiest way is to keep the sentence order and just change your intonation:

Ten dům je drahý a stojí hodně peněz? – spoken with questioning intonation.

More explicitly, you can put je or stojí first, but that’s less common and can sound marked:

Je ten dům drahý a stojí hodně peněz?

In everyday Czech, just using a rising intonation on the normal word order is very common for yes/no questions.