Celé publikum zpívá refrén.

Because publikum is a neuter singular noun, and Czech adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

• celý = masculine singular
• celá = feminine singular
• celé = neuter singular

So:

• celé město = the whole city
• celé dítě = the whole child
• celé publikum = the whole audience

Here, celé is in the nominative singular neuter form to match publikum.

Grammatically, publikum is singular, even though it refers to a group of people.

This is similar to English collective nouns like audience, team, or family. In Czech, publikum is treated as one unit, so it usually takes:

• a singular adjective: celé publikum
• a singular verb: publikum zpívá

So the sentence treats the audience as one collective whole, not as separate individuals.

Because the subject is publikum, and publikum is grammatically singular.

• zpívá = he/she/it sings or is singing
• zpívají = they sing or are singing

Since publikum is singular, Czech uses:

• Celé publikum zpívá.

If you changed the subject to something plural, then the verb would be plural:

• Lidé zpívají refrén. = The people are singing the chorus.

It is in the accusative singular, because it is the direct object of the verb zpívá.

The audience is doing the action of singing, and the chorus is what they are singing.

For masculine inanimate nouns like refrén, the accusative singular is often the same as the nominative singular:

• nominative: refrén
• accusative: refrén

So even though the form does not change, its role in the sentence is different.

It can mean both, depending on context.

Czech present tense often covers both:

• simple present: sings
• present continuous: is singing

So Celé publikum zpívá refrén could mean:

• The whole audience sings the chorus
• The whole audience is singing the chorus

In real context, English usually chooses one, but Czech often just uses the present tense form zpívá.

Also, zpívat is an imperfective verb, which is the normal verb to use for an ongoing action like singing.

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

So Czech simply says:

• Celé publikum zpívá refrén.

English needs something like:

• The whole audience is singing the chorus.

In Czech, whether something is the, a, or more general is usually understood from context.

The word order can change, although the given version is a very natural, neutral one.

• Celé publikum zpívá refrén. = neutral statement
• Refrén zpívá celé publikum. = puts more focus on refrén
• Zpívá celé publikum refrén. = possible, but more marked and context-dependent

Czech word order is more flexible than English because case endings and agreement show grammatical relationships. Word order often shows focus, emphasis, or what is already known in the conversation.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

TSEH-leh POOB-lih-koom ZPEE-vah reh-FRAYN

A few helpful details:

• c in Czech sounds like ts
• é is a long eh
• u is like oo
• zp at the start of zpívá is really pronounced, so try to say z + p
• í is a long ee
• á is a long ah
• é in refrén is long

Stress in Czech is usually on the first syllable of each word:

• CE-lé
• PU-bli-kum
• ZPÍ-vá
• RE-frén

Publikum is a normal Czech noun meaning audience. It is neuter and singular in this sentence.

Its grammatical pattern is typical of many neuter nouns ending in -um, which are often borrowed words of Latin origin. Other similar-looking words exist in Czech, though each word may decline a little differently depending on usage.

For a learner, the important thing here is simply:

• publikum = neuter singular
• therefore: celé publikum
• and: publikum zpívá

You might hear similar expressions, but celé publikum is the most natural choice for the whole audience.

In general:

• celý / celá / celé = whole, entire
• všechen / všechna / všechno = all

With a collective noun like publikum, celé publikum sounds very natural because you are viewing it as one whole unit.

So for this sentence, celé publikum is the best phrase to learn first.

Yes. In music, refrén is commonly used for the repeated part of a song, which in English is often called the chorus or refrain.

So in a sentence like this, refrén is the repeated section that everyone sings along with.

The dictionary form is zpívat, which means to sing.

Here is the relevant present-tense pattern:

• já zpívám = I sing / am singing
• ty zpíváš = you sing / are singing
• on/ona/ono zpívá = he/she/it sings / is singing
• my zpíváme = we sing / are singing
• vy zpíváte = you (plural/formal) sing / are singing
• oni zpívají = they sing / are singing

In your sentence, zpívá is used because the subject publikum is singular.