Policista čeká na služebně.

Policista means policeman or police officer. Grammatically, it is a masculine animate noun.

In real usage, it often refers to a male officer, but in some contexts English may translate it more neutrally as police officer. If you want to say female police officer, the Czech word is policistka.

In this sentence, policista is the subject of the sentence: the person doing the waiting.

That is a very common learner question. In Czech, some masculine animate nouns end in -a even though they are not feminine.

Policista belongs to that group, like:

• turista = tourist
• kolega = colleague

So even though the ending looks feminine to an English-speaking learner, the word is grammatically masculine. You can see this in agreement:

• ten policista = that policeman / police officer
• unavený policista = tired policeman / police officer

The adjective form unavený is masculine, which confirms the gender.

Čeká is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb čekat, which means to wait.

So:

• čekat = to wait
• čeká = he waits / she waits / it waits or is waiting

In this sentence, because the subject is policista, it means:

• the policeman waits
• or more naturally in English, the policeman is waiting

Also, čekat is imperfective, so it describes an ongoing action or a general action, not a completed one.

No. This is an important grammar point.

Czech uses na with different cases, and the meaning changes depending on the case.

1. čekat na + accusative = wait for

Example:

• Čeká na autobus. = He is waiting for the bus.

2. na + locative = at/on a place

Example:

• na služebně = at the station / at the police station

In your sentence, služebně is in the locative, so it is not the thing being waited for. It tells you where the waiting happens.

So:

• Policista čeká na služebně. = The police officer is waiting at the station.

The basic dictionary form is služebna.

After the preposition na when it means location, Czech requires the locative case. So služebna changes to služebně.

• služebna = nominative singular
• na služebně = locative singular

So the ending changes because of the preposition and the meaning of location.

This is a normal Czech pattern: the noun changes form depending on its role in the sentence.

Because this is largely an idiomatic preposition choice.

Czech often uses na with certain institutions, workplaces, and public places, where English would usually say in or at.

For example:

• na poště = at the post office
• na univerzitě = at university
• na policii = at the police / police station
• na služebně = at the station

So although English speakers may expect v for in, Czech naturally uses na here.

Very roughly:

• na služebně = the normal phrase for being at the police station / on the premises / at work there
• v služebně could sound more like inside the room/office itself, focusing more on physical interior space

For learners, na služebně is the standard phrase to remember.

Yes. Czech word order is more flexible than English word order.

The sentence:

• Policista čeká na služebně.

is a very neutral, natural order:

• subject + verb + place

But you could also say:

• Na služebně čeká policista.

This puts more emphasis on na služebně or answers a question like Where is the police officer waiting?

So the meaning stays basically the same, but the focus or emphasis changes.

For learners, the original order is the safest default.

Because Czech has no articles.

English needs words like:

• a
• an
• the

Czech usually does not use anything equivalent. Context tells you whether the meaning is more like:

• a policeman
• the policeman

So Policista čeká na služebně could be translated as either:

• A policeman is waiting at the station
• The policeman is waiting at the station

Which one is best depends on context.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

PO-li-tsis-ta CHE-kaa na SLU-zheb-nye

A few useful sound notes:

• c = ts as in cats
• č = ch as in church
• ž = the sound of s in measure
• ě in ně sounds roughly like nye

Also, Czech stress is usually on the first syllable of each word:

• POlicista
• ČEká
• SLUžebně

So the rhythm is quite regular.