Štěně je spokojené.

In Czech, grammatical gender does not always match natural sex.

Štěně means puppy and is a neuter noun. That is normal for many words for young animals (and also young children in some contexts), especially words ending in -ě or -e.

So even though a puppy is a living creature, grammatically Czech treats štěně as neuter:

• to štěně
• malé štěně
• štěně je spokojené

If you wanted to talk about a specific male or female dog, you would usually use a different noun, such as:

• pes = dog (masculine)
• fena = female dog (feminine)

Because adjectives in Czech must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• štěně is neuter
• it is singular
• it is in the nominative

So the adjective must also be neuter singular nominative:

• masculine: spokojený
• feminine: spokojená
• neuter: spokojené

That is why Czech says:

• Štěně je spokojené.

Both are in the nominative.

• štěně is the subject of the sentence.
• spokojené is a predicate adjective after je (is), and in Czech it agrees with the subject, so it is also nominative.

So this is a basic subject + být + adjective structure:

• Štěně = nominative subject
• je = is
• spokojené = nominative adjective matching the subject

In standard Czech, yes, je is normally required in the present tense.

So:

• Štěně je spokojené. = correct

Leaving it out:

• Štěně spokojené.

would sound incomplete in normal standard Czech.

Czech often drops subject pronouns like já, ty, on, but it does not normally drop the present tense of být (to be) in sentences like this.

Czech has no articles, so there is no direct equivalent of a or the in this sentence.

So Štěně je spokojené can mean:

• The puppy is content
• A puppy is content

The exact interpretation depends on the context.

Czech speakers use word order, context, and emphasis to make this clear when necessary, but there is no separate word like English a/the.

A rough English-friendly approximation is something like:

sh-tye-nyeh

But that is only approximate. The key parts are:

• š = sh as in shoe
• tě = a softened t sound, roughly tye
• ně = a softened n sound, roughly nye
• final -ě is part of that softened sound, not a separate strong ye

So the whole word sounds roughly like:

• SHTYE-nyeh

The stress in Czech is almost always on the first syllable, so:

• ŠTĚně

The letter ě usually signals that the preceding consonant is softened or pronounced with a y-like quality.

In štěně, it affects both places where it appears:

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

So ě is not just a plain vowel. It changes how the consonant before it is pronounced.

This is why štěně does not sound like a simple ste-ne. The consonants are softer:

• š + tě + ně

For English speakers, this is one of the trickier pronunciation features of Czech.

The neutral, basic word order is:

• Štěně je spokojené.

But Czech word order is flexible, and changing it can change the emphasis.

For example:

• Spokojené je štěně. = emphasizes spokojené
• Je štěně spokojené? = Is the puppy content?

So the original order is the most natural for a simple statement, but it is not the only possible order.

Yes, grammatically you could say both.

• spokojené = content, satisfied
• šťastné = happy

They are similar, but not identical.

Spokojené often suggests that the puppy is comfortable, pleased, or satisfied with its situation.

Šťastné suggests a broader emotional state of happiness.

So if the intended meaning is closer to content or satisfied, spokojené is the better choice.

Because the adjective agrees with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with the real-world category animal.

The noun štěně is grammatically neuter, so the adjective must also be neuter:

• štěně je spokojené

You would use spokojený only with a masculine noun, for example:

• pes je spokojený = the dog is content

And spokojená with a feminine noun:

• fena je spokojená = the female dog is content

Yes, here it is singular: štěně = puppy.

The plural is:

• štěňata = puppies

Then the adjective and verb would change too:

• Štěňata jsou spokojená. = The puppies are content.

Notice the agreement:

• singular neuter: štěně je spokojené
• plural: štěňata jsou spokojená

So both the verb and the adjective change when the subject becomes plural.