Questions & Answers about Pes v noci štěká.
Why is it pes and not some other form like psa?
Pes is in the nominative case, which is the case used for the subject of the sentence — the one doing the action.
Here, the dog is the one barking, so Czech uses pes.
- pes = nominative singular
- psa = usually accusative or genitive singular
So in Pes v noci štěká, pes is correct because the dog is the subject.
Why is it v noci and not v noc?
After the preposition v in the meaning in / at, Czech often uses the locative case.
The noun noc changes in the locative singular:
- nominative: noc
- locative: noci
So:
- v noci = at night / in the night
This is a very common pattern:
- v Praze = in Prague
- v domě = in the house
- v noci = at night
Does v noci mean at night or in the night?