V peněžence chybí průkaz.

Because v meaning in takes the locative case when it describes location.

The basic dictionary form is peněženka = wallet. After v, it changes to peněžence.

So:

• peněženka = nominative singular
• v peněžence = locative singular, in the wallet

This is a very common Czech pattern:

• v tašce = in the bag
• v krabici = in the box
• v peněžence = in the wallet

Průkaz is in the nominative singular.

That can feel surprising to an English speaker, because in English we often think of the missing thing as an object. But with the Czech verb chybět, the missing thing is usually the grammatical subject.

So in this sentence:

• průkaz = subject
• chybí = verb
• v peněžence = location phrase

A very literal way to think of it is:

• In the wallet, an ID/pass is missing.

So Czech is not treating průkaz as a direct object here.

Chybět means something like:

• to be missing
• to be lacking
• to be absent

Its structure is often different from what an English speaker expects.

Common patterns:

• Chybí průkaz. = The ID is missing.
• Chybí mi průkaz. = My ID is missing / I’m missing my ID.
• Ve třídě chybí student. = A student is absent from the classroom.

A useful rule is:

• the thing that is missing is usually in the nominative
• the person affected can be in the dative
• a place can be added with a prepositional phrase such as v peněžence

So your sentence only states the location of the absence, not who specifically is missing it.

Chybí is the present tense, 3rd person form of chybět.

In the present tense, this form is used for both:

• he/she/it is missing
• they are missing

So:

• Průkaz chybí. = The ID is missing.
• Průkazy chybí. = The IDs are missing.

The noun tells you whether it is singular or plural.

In your sentence, průkaz is singular, so the meaning is singular.

Not always. Průkaz is a fairly general word meaning a card, pass, certificate, or ID-type document, depending on context.

For example:

• občanský průkaz = identity card / national ID card
• řidičský průkaz = driver’s license
• studentský průkaz = student card
• průkaz pojištěnce = insurance card

So by itself, průkaz can be slightly general. In many contexts, though, people may understand it as some kind of important identification document.

Yes, and it would be grammatical, but the nuance is a little different.

• V peněžence není průkaz. = There is no ID in the wallet.
• V peněžence chybí průkaz. = An ID is missing from the wallet / The ID is absent from the wallet.

The verb chybí often suggests that the item is expected to be there, but it is not there. It sounds more like something is lacking.

By contrast, není is more neutral and simply states non-existence in that place.

So if you want the idea of it should be there, but it isn’t, chybí is often the better choice.

No, Czech word order is fairly flexible, but different orders change the focus or emphasis.

V peněžence chybí průkaz is natural and neutral in many situations. It sets the scene first:

• In the wallet — what’s the issue there?
• An ID is missing.

Other orders are possible, for example:

• Průkaz chybí v peněžence.
• V peněžence průkaz chybí.

These are not identical in feel. Czech word order often reflects information structure:

• what is already known
• what is being highlighted
• what is the new or important information

In your sentence, putting průkaz at the end can make it the key new piece of information.

Because Czech does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So průkaz can mean:

• a card / an ID
• the card / the ID

The exact meaning depends on the context.

That means Czech learners coming from English have to get used to leaving articles out, and English speakers learning Czech have to get used to understanding definiteness from context rather than from a separate word.

Czech sometimes uses ve instead of v to make pronunciation easier, especially before awkward consonant clusters.

For example:

• ve škole
• ve městě
• ve středu

But peněžence begins with p, and v peněžence is easy enough to pronounce, so the normal form is v peněžence.

Using ve here would sound unnatural to most speakers.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• v peněžence ≈ f PE-nye-zhent-se
• chybí ≈ KHI-bee
  
  • ch is like the sound in Scottish loch or German Bach
• průkaz ≈ PROO-kas

A few useful details:

• ě often makes the preceding consonant softer, so ně sounds a bit like nye
• ž sounds like the s in measure
• ů is a long oo
• final z in průkaz is pronounced like s because of final devoicing

Also, Czech stress normally falls on the first syllable of the word group, so you would naturally stress:

• peněžence
• chybí
• průkaz