Srst je čistá.

Srst means fur, animal coat, or animal hair. It is normally used for animals, not for human hair.

• srst = fur / coat of an animal
• vlasy = hair on a person’s head
• chlupy = hairs, usually body hair or animal hairs in a more individual sense

So in Srst je čistá., srst is specifically fur or the animal’s coat.

Because čistá has to agree with srst.

In Czech, adjectives match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

srst is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• masculine: čistý
• feminine: čistá
• neuter: čisté

That is why we get Srst je čistá.

Je is the 3rd person singular form of být, which means to be.

So:

• jsem = I am
• jsi = you are
• je = he/she/it is

In this sentence, je means is.

So the structure is:

• Srst = fur
• je = is
• čistá = clean

Czech does not have articles like the or a/an.

So Srst je čistá. can mean:

• The fur is clean.
• Fur is clean.
• The animal’s coat is clean.

Which one sounds best in English depends on context, but Czech usually leaves that unspecified unless the context makes it clear.

It is an adjective.

Here it is used predicatively, which means it comes after to be and describes the subject:

• Srst je čistá. = The fur is clean.

Compare that with an attributive use:

• čistá srst = clean fur

So:

• čistá srst = adjective directly before the noun
• srst je čistá = adjective after is

Both are in the nominative singular.

Why?

• srst is the subject of the sentence, so it is nominative.
• With adjectives after být (to be), Czech normally uses the nominative too.

So in Srst je čistá.

• srst = nominative singular feminine
• čistá = nominative singular feminine, agreeing with srst

Srst is feminine.

You often learn this together with the noun as dictionary information, because gender is very important in Czech.

It may not be obvious at first glance, since srst ends in a consonant, but some Czech nouns ending in a consonant are feminine. Srst is one of them.

You can also see its feminine gender from agreement:

• ta srst
• čistá srst
• srst je čistá

Yes, it is tricky for English speakers.

Srst is pronounced as one syllable, with a syllabic r. Czech can make r act like the center of a syllable, so there is no written vowel needed.

A rough guide:

• srst sounds something like srst with a very strong r, not serest or surst
• the s is like English s
• the r is a trilled or tapped Czech r
• then st

If it helps at first, you can mentally approximate it very lightly as srst with a tiny vowel-like support, but the real Czech pronunciation has no written vowel there.

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

The neutral, standard order is:

• Srst je čistá.

But other orders are possible in the right context, for example for emphasis:

• Čistá je srst.
• Čistá srst je... depending on the rest of the sentence

However, for a beginner, Srst je čistá. is the normal and safest version.

Yes, but it means something slightly different structurally.

• Srst je čistá. = The fur is clean.
  This is a full sentence.

• čistá srst = clean fur
  This is just a noun phrase, not a complete sentence by itself.

So the difference is:

• čistá srst = adjective + noun
• srst je čistá = subject + verb + predicate adjective

Normally, no. In standard Czech, the present-tense form of být is usually expressed in sentences like this.

So:

• Srst je čistá. = correct
• Srst čistá. = not the normal full sentence in standard Czech

You may sometimes see omission in headlines, notes, or very informal styles, but as a learner you should keep je.

No. Srst does not mean a coat that a person wears.

It means:

• fur
• animal coat
• animal hair covering

For clothing, Czech uses words like:

• kabát = coat
• plášť = coat/cloak

So Srst je čistá. can only refer to fur, not clothing.

The plural of srst is srsti.

So you could say:

• Srsti jsou čisté. = The furs/coats are clean.

Notice the changes:

• srst → srsti (plural noun)
• je → jsou (are)
• čistá → čisté (plural adjective)

That shows again how Czech words agree with each other.