Na stěně nad stolem je nová police a vedle ní chci pověsit malou lampu.

In Czech, police is a common noun meaning shelf.

• ta police = the shelf
• plural: police = shelves

It is a completely different word from English police. This is a classic false friend for English speakers.

Because na here means on in a location sense, and with that meaning it usually takes the locative case.

• stěna = wall
• na stěně = on the wall

So stěně is the locative singular form of stěna.

This is part of a very common Czech pattern:

• na stole = on the table
• na podlaze = on the floor
• na stěně = on the wall

Stolem is instrumental singular of stůl (table).

The preposition nad can take different cases depending on meaning:

• nad + instrumental = above / over something, with no movement
• nad + accusative = movement to a position above something

Here the shelf is already located above the table, so Czech uses nad stolem.

• stůl = table
• nad stolem = above the table

Because they express two different spatial relationships:

• na stěně = on the wall
• nad stolem = above the table

So the sentence is building the location in layers:

• the shelf is on the wall
• and specifically above the table

Czech often combines location phrases like this very naturally.

Czech word order is flexible, but it is not random. In this sentence:

• Na stěně nad stolem je nová police

the location comes first, and then the thing that exists there is introduced. This is a very natural Czech way to say:

• There is a new shelf on the wall above the table.

So je nová police works like an existence/presentation structure: there is a shelf.

If you said Nová police je na stěně nad stolem, that would also be grammatical, but it would sound more like you are talking about the shelf as the topic and then saying where it is.

Because police is a feminine singular noun, and adjectives in Czech must agree with the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

So:

• nový = masculine base form
• nová = feminine singular nominative
• police = feminine singular nominative

Therefore:

• nová police = a new shelf

This same agreement appears later in:

• malou lampu = a small lamp

Ní here means her/it after a preposition, referring to the shelf.

The preposition vedle (next to / beside) requires the genitive case, so the pronoun has to be in the correct form.

For the feminine pronoun:

• nominative: ona = she
• accusative: ji / ni
• genitive after prepositions: ní

So:

• vedle ní = next to it / beside it

Here ní refers to police, which is feminine in Czech.

Because that is simply the case government of this preposition in standard Czech.

• vedle stolu = next to the table
• vedle domu = next to the house
• vedle ní = next to it / beside it

Many Czech prepositions always require a certain case, and this is something learners gradually memorize. Unfortunately, it is not always predictable from English.

Chci pověsit means I want to hang.

It is made of:

• chci = I want
• pověsit = to hang up / to put up by hanging

This is a normal Czech pattern:

• chci jít = I want to go
• chci koupit = I want to buy
• chci pověsit = I want to hang up

So chci + infinitive works very much like I want to + verb in English.

Because Czech distinguishes between the action and the state.

• viset = to be hanging (state)
• pověsit = to hang up / to put up by hanging (action)

In this sentence, the speaker wants to perform the action of putting the lamp up, so pověsit is the correct verb.

Compare:

• Lampa visí na stěně. = The lamp is hanging on the wall.
• Chci pověsit lampu. = I want to hang up the lamp.

Because lampu is the accusative singular form of lampa, and the adjective must match it.

The verb pověsit takes a direct object: what do I want to hang?

• lampu = the lamp

Since lampa is feminine singular, the adjective changes too:

• nominative: malá lampa
• accusative: malou lampu

So:

• pověsit malou lampu = to hang a small lamp

Because Czech has no articles.

English must choose between:

• a new shelf
• the new shelf

Czech usually leaves that unstated unless the context makes it clear. So:

• nová police can mean a new shelf or the new shelf
• malou lampu can mean a small lamp or the small lamp

The exact interpretation comes from context.

It has two coordinated parts joined by a (and):

1. Na stěně nad stolem je nová police

   • location first
   • then there is a new shelf

2. vedle ní chci pověsit malou lampu

   • another location phrase
   • then I want to hang a small lamp next to it

A rough structure is:

• [location] + je + [thing]
• a + [location relative to that thing] + chci + [action] + [object]

This is a very natural Czech way to describe a room or arrangement of furniture and objects.