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Malá kavárna

The Little Café

A newcomer inherits a tiny family café and plans to leave. A stubborn local recipe and the regulars slowly turn it into home. Start from absolute zero Czech.

Chapter 1A1

Dobrý den, babičko

Hello, Grandma

Before you read
jsem, je, jsou: to be

Czech to be changes with who is speaking. Jsem means I am, je means he, she, or it is, and jsou means they are. Just add ne in front for the opposite: je becomes není (is not), jsou becomes nejsou (are not).

Adjectives match their noun

Czech adjectives change their ending to match the noun they describe. Kavárna (café) is feminine, so a small café is malá kavárna. Dveře (door) is a plural word, so old doors are staré dveře. The same word dobrý becomes dobrá, dobré, or staré depending on what it describes.

No word for a or the

Czech has no articles at all. Kavárna can mean a café or the café, and context tells you which. Tohle (this) and to (it, that) point at something without needing an article either.

Whose is it? Just change the ending

Czech shows possession by changing the ending of the owner's name, with no separate word for of or apostrophe s. Kavárna babičky means grandmother's café, and kavárna Evy means Eva's café.

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About this story

The Little Café is an A1 Czech reader.

A newcomer inherits a tiny family café and plans to leave. A stubborn local recipe and the regulars slowly turn it into home. Start from absolute zero Czech.

This free chapter contains 57 learner-friendly sentences. The complete book has 10 chapters.

Browse all Czech stories