Key Czech sounds, stress patterns, and tricky letter combinations, with plain-English pronunciation notes. Front: the Czech letter, sound, or word. Back: meaning plus a plain-English pronunciation note.
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- Ř (as in řeka)
- River. The famous Czech sound 'ř' blends a rolled r with the 'zh' in 'measure', said together as one sound, not one after the other.
- Ch (as in chleba)
- Bread. Pronounced like the 'ch' in Scottish 'loch' or German 'Bach', a raspy back-of-throat sound.
- C (as in co)
- What. Always pronounced 'ts' as in English 'cats', never like a plain 'k' or 's'.
- Č (as in čas)
- Time. Pronounced like 'ch' in English 'church'.
- Š (as in škola)
- School. Pronounced like 'sh' in English 'shoe'.
- Ž (as in žena)
- Woman. Pronounced like the 's' in English 'pleasure'.
- Ě (as in měsíc)
- Month, moon. Softens the preceding consonant and sounds like 'ye'.
- Ď (as in ďábel)
- Devil. A soft 'd', pronounced with the tongue pressed to the roof of the mouth, like 'dy'.
- Ť (as in ťukat)
- To knock. A soft 't', similar to 'ty' pressed forward against the palate.
- Ň (as in píseň)
- Song. A soft 'n', like the Spanish ñ.
- Long á (as in máma)
- Mom. A held-out 'ah' sound, roughly twice as long as a short 'a'; vowel length can change a word's meaning.
- Long ý (as in sýr)
- Cheese. A held-out 'ee' sound; listen for the extra length compared to short 'i' or 'y'.
- Ů vs. Ú
- Both spell a long 'oo' sound. 'Ů' appears in the middle of a word (as in 'dům', house); 'ú' appears at the start (as in 'úkol', task).
- Y vs. I
- Both letters sound identical, an 'ee' sound. The difference between them is spelling and grammar, not pronunciation.
- Word stress
- Stress always falls on the first syllable of a word, even in long words, never on a later syllable.
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