Češu psovi srst.

Češu is the 1st person singular present tense form of česat, which means to comb.

So češu means:

• I comb
• I am combing

Czech present tense often covers both the simple present and the progressive meaning that English sometimes expresses with am -ing.

Because Czech usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The ending -u in češu already tells you the subject is I. So:

• češu = I comb / I am combing

You could say Já češu psovi srst, but já would usually add emphasis, as in:

• I’m the one combing the dog’s fur.

Without that emphasis, leaving já out is more natural.

Because pes is an irregular noun with a stem change in oblique cases.

Its dictionary form is pes (dog), but in other cases the vowel often disappears:

• pes = nominative singular
• psa = genitive/accusative singular
• psovi = dative singular
• psem = instrumental singular

So psovi is the correct dative form meaning to the dog or, in this sentence, the dog’s in a special Czech structure.

Because Czech often uses the dative of possession with body parts, clothing, hair, fur, and similar things.

Here, srst is the thing being combed, but it belongs to the dog. So Czech says it as:

• Češu psovi srst.
• literally something like: I comb the dog fur

But the natural English meaning is:

• I comb the dog’s fur.

This pattern is very common in Czech. Compare:

• Myju dítěti ruce. = I wash the child’s hands.
• Čistím si zuby. = I brush my teeth.

So psovi is not the main direct object; it marks the owner/affected person.

Srst is the direct object, so it is in the accusative singular.

The reason it looks unchanged is that for this noun, the accusative singular is the same as the nominative singular:

• srst = nominative singular
• srst = accusative singular
• srsti = genitive/dative/locative singular
• srstí = instrumental singular

So in Češu psovi srst, srst is in the correct accusative form even though it looks the same as the basic dictionary form.

Because srst is used for animal fur / coat, while vlasy usually means human hair.

A rough distinction is:

• srst = fur, animal coat
• vlasy = hair on the head, usually human
• chlupy = hairs, body hair, animal hairs

So for a dog, srst is the natural word.

Yes. Češu psa is perfectly natural and means I am combing the dog.

The version Češu psovi srst is more specific. It focuses on the fur as the thing being combed.

So the difference is roughly:

• Češu psa. = I’m combing the dog.
• Češu psovi srst. = I’m combing the dog’s fur.

In practice, both can be used, but the sentence with srst makes the action more explicit.

Yes. Czech word order is fairly flexible, and changes in order usually affect emphasis or information structure, not the basic meaning.

For example:

• Češu psovi srst. = a natural neutral sentence
• Psovi češu srst. = emphasizes the dog
• Srst češu psovi. = emphasizes the fur

English relies more on fixed word order; Czech relies more on case endings, so the roles of the words stay clear even when the order changes.

Česat is an imperfective verb.

That means the sentence describes:

• an ongoing action
• a repeated/habitual action
• the process itself, not completion

So Češu psovi srst can mean:

• I am combing the dog’s fur
• I comb the dog’s fur

If you want to express completion, Czech usually uses a perfective verb, depending on the nuance, such as učesat or pročesat.

Very roughly:

• češu = I’m combing / I comb
• učešu / pročešu = I will comb it / comb it through

Because Czech has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of the or a.

Also, Czech does not need a separate word for its here, because possession is already shown by psovi.

So instead of saying something like the dog’s fur with a possessive word, Czech uses:

• psovi = to the dog / the dog’s
• srst = fur

A version with jeho (his/its) would usually sound unnecessary unless you want special emphasis or contrast.

A useful approximation is:

• Češu ≈ CHE-shoo
• psovi ≈ PSO-vee
• srst ≈ one syllable, something like srst

A more precise pronunciation is approximately:

• [ˈtʃɛʃu ˈpsovɪ sr̩st]

A few key points:

• č sounds like ch in chip
• š sounds like sh in ship
• r in srst is syllabic, meaning it acts like the center of the syllable even though there is no written vowel

That last word is often hard for English speakers, because srst has no normal vowel letter, but Czech allows this kind of consonant cluster.