Questions & Answers about Na stole jsou tři hrnky.
Why is it stole and not stůl?
Because stůl is the basic dictionary form, the nominative singular.
After the preposition na when you are talking about a fixed location, Czech uses the locative case, so:
- stůl = table
- na stole = on the table
So stole is the locative singular form of stůl.
Why does na use stole here? Doesn’t na sometimes take another case?
Yes. Na can take different cases depending on the meaning:
- location → locative
Na stole = on the table - movement onto something → accusative
Dám hrnek na stůl = I’ll put a mug onto the table
In Na stole jsou tři hrnky, nothing is moving. The sentence only describes where the mugs are, so locative is used.
What exactly is jsou here?