Zpěvák zpívá novou píseň.

They are:

• zpěvák → already the basic form of the noun
• zpívat → the infinitive of zpívá
• nový → the basic form of novou
• píseň → already the basic form of the noun

A good habit in Czech is to learn nouns in the nominative singular and verbs in the infinitive.

Zpěvák is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

In Czech, the nominative is the case used for the person or thing that does the action. Here, zpěvák is the one performing the action of singing.

Zpívá is:

• present tense
• 3rd person
• singular

So it means he/she/it sings or is singing, depending on context.

It comes from the verb zpívat.

Because novou has to agree with píseň.

The noun píseň is:

• feminine
• singular
• here functioning as the direct object

So the adjective must also be:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

That gives novou.

A useful comparison:

• nová píseň = nominative
• novou píseň = accusative

In Czech, not all feminine nouns end in -a.

Píseň is a feminine noun that belongs to a soft declension pattern. Czech gender is not determined only by the ending, so you often have to learn the noun together with its gender.

This is why the adjective is feminine too: novou píseň.

Good question: it is the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. But for this noun, the nominative singular and accusative singular happen to look the same:

• nominative: píseň
• accusative: píseň

So the case is not visible on the noun itself here, but you can see it on the adjective novou.

Because Czech usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb form already gives enough information.

Zpívá already tells you it is 3rd person singular, and the noun zpěvák makes the subject fully clear anyway.

So on zpívá would usually be unnecessary here unless you wanted extra emphasis.

Czech has no articles.

So a sentence like this can mean either:

• a new song
• the new song

The exact meaning depends on context, not on a separate word like a or the.

Yes. Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order because cases show grammatical roles.

Zpěvák zpívá novou píseň is a neutral, natural order.

But other orders are possible, for example:

• Novou píseň zpívá zpěvák. → emphasis on the new song
• Zpívá novou píseň zpěvák. → more marked, used only in certain contexts

So changing the order usually changes focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

Roughly:

• zpěvák ≈ spyeh-vaak
• píseň ≈ pee-seň

A few pronunciation points:

• á and í are long vowels
• ě after p gives a pye-like sound
• ň is a soft n, similar to the ny sound in canyon, but shorter

So píseň ends with a soft n sound, not a normal hard English n.

In this sentence, the accent marks mainly show vowel length:

• á = long a
• í = long ee

So:

• zpěvák has a long final á
• píseň has a long í

The letter ě is different: it is not just a long vowel. It often affects the pronunciation of the consonant before it.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Because zpívat is an imperfective verb, the present tense can express:

• a general/habitual action: The singer sings a new song
• an action happening now: The singer is singing a new song

Without more context, both are possible.