Breakdown of Policista chce vidět platný pas.
chtít
to want
vidět
to see
policista
the police officer
pas
the passport
Questions & Answers about Policista chce vidět platný pas.
Why does policista end in -a if it means a male police officer?
Because policista is a masculine noun of a special type: it refers to a male person, but its form looks a bit like a feminine noun because it ends in -a.
Czech has several masculine nouns like this, especially for professions or people, for example:
- kolega = colleague
- turista = tourist
- taxikář is different, but taxikářka etc. show how profession words vary
So even though policista ends in -a, it is still grammatically masculine when it refers to a man.
Its feminine counterpart is policistka.
Why is it pas, not some changed form like pasu or pasa?
Here pas is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of vidět (to see).
The important point is that pas is a masculine inanimate noun, and in Czech, many masculine inanimate nouns have:
- nominative singular: pas
- accusative singular: pas
So the form does not change here.
That is why:
- To je pas. = That is a passport.
- Vidím pas. = I see a passport.
Same form, different case function.
Why is the adjective platný in that form?