Štěně kouše vodítko.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

SHTYE-nyeh KOH-sheh vo-DEET-koh

A few helpful notes:

• š = sh as in ship
• tě = a soft t sound, roughly like tye
• ně = roughly nye
• kou = a diphthong, like ko gliding toward oo
• š in kouše is again sh
• í is a long ee
• Czech stress is usually on the first syllable of each word:
  • Štěně
  • kouše
  • vodítko is spelled with long í, but the main word stress still starts on vo

So the sentence is said with first-syllable stress, even though í is long.

In Czech, ě usually means that the consonant before it is pronounced softly.

In this word:

• tě sounds roughly like tye
• ně sounds roughly like nye

So štěně is not pronounced as if ě were a plain e. It changes the sound of the consonant before it.

This is one of the trickier Czech spelling features for English speakers, but a good practical approximation is:

• tě ≈ tye
• ně ≈ nye
• dě ≈ dye

Štěně is a neuter noun. In Czech, the names of many young animals are neuter, for example:

• štěně = puppy
• kotě = kitten
• tele = calf

So even though a puppy is biologically male or female, the noun itself is grammatically neuter.

That affects agreement:

• malé štěně = a small puppy

Here malé is the neuter form of the adjective.

Kouše is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb kousat.

So:

• kousat = to bite / to chew on
• kouše = he/she/it bites, is biting, or chews on, depending on context

In this sentence, the subject is štěně, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• Štěně kouše = the puppy is biting / chewing

A useful thing to notice is that the verb stem changes a little:

• kousat
• kouše

That kind of stem alternation is normal in Czech verbs.

Because kouše comes from the imperfective verb kousat, which is used for:

• an ongoing action
• a repeated action
• a general activity

That fits a sentence like a puppy chewing on a leash.

Kousne comes from the perfective verb kousnout, which usually refers to a single, completed bite.

So the contrast is roughly:

• Štěně kouše vodítko. = The puppy is chewing/biting the leash.
• Štěně kousne vodítko. = The puppy will bite the leash / gives it one bite.

For a scene description, kouše is the natural choice.

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

The direct object is the thing being bitten or chewed.

• subject: štěně
• verb: kouše
• direct object: vodítko

The important thing is that for many neuter singular nouns, the nominative and accusative have the same form.

So:

• nominative: vodítko
• accusative: vodítko

That is why the word does not visibly change here.

Great question — in this sentence, form alone does not fully tell you.

Both nouns are neuter singular, and both have the same nominative/accusative shape:

• štěně
• vodítko

So Czech relies mainly on:

1. word order
2. common sense / meaning

In neutral word order, Czech usually prefers:

subject + verb + object

So:

• Štěně kouše vodítko. = the puppy is biting the leash

If you reversed it:

• Vodítko kouše štěně.

that would most naturally sound like:

• The leash is biting the puppy

Even though the forms themselves do not clearly mark the roles, normal word order strongly guides the interpretation.

Because Czech has no articles.

Unlike English, Czech does not normally use separate words for:

• a/an
• the

So Štěně kouše vodítko could mean different things in English depending on context, such as:

• A puppy is chewing a leash
• The puppy is chewing the leash
• The puppy is chewing a leash

Czech leaves that information to context, word order, and the situation.

Yes, Czech word order is fairly flexible, but not all changes are equally natural in every sentence.

The neutral, basic order here is:

• Štěně kouše vodítko.

That is the safest form for a learner.

You can change word order for emphasis, but in this particular sentence it can become confusing because both nouns have identical nominative and accusative forms.

For example:

• Vodítko kouše štěně.

would usually be understood differently, not just as a stylistic rearrangement.

So while Czech often allows flexible word order, this sentence is one where the normal order is especially important.

Štěně is singular.

Its plural is:

• štěňata = puppies

This is a special and very common pattern for some neuter nouns referring to young beings.

Examples:

• štěně → štěňata
• kotě → koťata

So the sentence uses the singular:

• Štěně kouše vodítko.

If you wanted the plural, you would say:

• Štěňata koušou vodítko.

Vodítko is a neuter noun ending in -o.

That is a very common neuter pattern in Czech. Its basic singular forms are:

• nominative: vodítko
• accusative: vodítko
• genitive: vodítka

So in this sentence, vodítko stays in the same visible form because it is neuter singular in the accusative.

Also, the word is related to vodit, meaning to lead or to take along, which makes sense for a leash.