Tato píseň je skvělá.

Tato is the feminine singular nominative form of the Czech demonstrative ten (this / that, depending on context).

It has to match píseň, which is a feminine singular noun.

A quick overview:

• ten = masculine
• ta = feminine
• to = neuter
• tato = also feminine, but more specifically the full form often used before a noun

So because píseň is feminine singular, tato píseň is the correct match.

You will also hear ta píseň in normal speech. That is very common too, but tato píseň can sound a bit more explicit or careful, like this song.

You mostly have to learn the gender of each noun, but there are patterns.

Píseň is a feminine noun, even though it does not end in -a, which is what many learners first expect from feminine nouns.

Czech has a group of feminine nouns that end in a soft consonant, such as:

• píseň = song
• dlaň = palm
• kost = bone
• noc = night

So the gender is not always obvious from the ending alone. In practice, it is best to learn nouns together with their gender.

Because Czech adjectives must agree with the noun they describe.

Here, skvělá describes píseň, so it must match it in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

The dictionary form is skvělý.

Its nominative singular forms are:

• skvělý = masculine
• skvělá = feminine
• skvělé = neuter

Since píseň is feminine singular, you need skvělá.

The basic dictionary form is skvělý.

In Czech, adjectives are usually listed in the masculine singular nominative form. So if you look the word up, you will usually find skvělý, not skvělá.

From that base form, the adjective changes depending on the noun:

• skvělý film = a great film
• skvělá píseň = a great song
• skvělé auto = a great car

It is in the nominative case.

That is because tato píseň is the subject of the sentence:

• Tato píseň = the thing being talked about
• je skvělá = is great

So the structure is basically:

• subject: Tato píseň
• verb: je
• description/predicate adjective: skvělá

Both tato and skvělá are also in forms that match the nominative feminine singular noun píseň.

In standard Czech, you normally do use the verb být (to be) in sentences like this.

So:

• Tato píseň je skvělá. = correct standard Czech

Unlike some languages, Czech usually does not drop is in ordinary present-tense statements of this kind.

In very informal contexts, poetry, headlines, or stylized speech, things can sometimes be omitted, but for normal learning and normal conversation, keep je.

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible, but there is a slight difference in feel:

• tato píseň = this song, more explicit, a bit fuller
• ta píseň = also very common, often natural in everyday speech

For a learner, it is good to know that tato is not wrong or strange. It is perfectly correct. But in casual spoken Czech, people often prefer the shorter form ta.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

PEE-seň

A few details:

• í is a long ee sound
• s is a normal s
• eň / ň is a soft n sound, similar to the ny sound in some languages, though not exactly the same as English ny

So the word has two syllables:

• pí
• seň

Also remember that Czech stress is normally on the first syllable, so:

PÍ-seň

Roughly:

SKVYE-laa

A few important points:

• skv is a real consonant cluster; Czech allows these
• ě often signals a kind of ye sound after the previous consonant, so skvě- sounds approximately like skvye-
• á is a long vowel

Stress is on the first syllable:

SKVĚ-lá

You do not need to pronounce it perfectly at first, but it helps to remember that á is long.

Because Czech grammar works through agreement much more than English does.

In English, words change very little:

• this song is great

In Czech, several words change form to show how they relate to each other:

• tato matches the noun
• skvělá matches the noun
• píseň itself has its own gender and declension pattern

So instead of relying mainly on fixed word order, Czech often uses endings to show grammatical relationships.

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

The neutral, straightforward version is:

• Tato píseň je skvělá.

But other orders are possible, depending on emphasis:

• Skvělá je tato píseň.
• Tato píseň skvělá je. — possible, but marked or poetic
• Je skvělá, tato píseň. — more expressive

For most learners, the safest default is:

• subject + je + adjective

So Tato píseň je skvělá is the best basic pattern to learn first.

It is an adjective.

It agrees with píseň and describes it:

• píseň = noun
• skvělá = adjective describing the noun

An adverb would describe a verb, not a noun. Here, skvělá is not describing how something happens; it is saying what the song is like.

Yes. If the adjective describes píseň, it must still be in the feminine singular nominative form.

For example:

• Tato píseň je krásná. = This song is beautiful.
• Tato píseň je smutná. = This song is sad.
• Tato píseň je známá. = This song is well-known.

This is a very useful pattern:

• Tato + feminine noun + je + feminine adjective

Once you know that pattern, you can build many similar sentences.