How to Identify This Pattern
Masculine nouns referring to people or animals, ending in a hard consonant (not -e, -í). The genitive singular ends in -a.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom(Nominative) | -∅ | -i/-ové |
| Gen(Genitive) | -a | -ů |
| Acc(Accusative) | -a | -y |
| Dat(Dative) | -ovi/-u | -ům |
Model word: pán
Why This Pattern Matters
This is the most important masculine pattern because it covers all male people and most animals. The key insight: accusative = genitive for animate nouns. This is how Czech distinguishes 'I see the student' from 'I see the table' even with free word order.
Common Mistakes
Forgetting that accusative = genitive. English speakers often leave animate nouns unchanged: *'Vidím student' instead of 'Vidím studenta'.
Example Nouns
student
student
Nom
student
Gen
studenta
učitel
teacher
Nom
učitel
Gen
učitele
Note: Soft variant - uses -e instead of -a in genitive/accusative
pes
dog
Nom
pes
Gen
psa
bratr
brother
Nom
bratr
Gen
bratra
muž
man/husband
Nom
muž
Gen
muže
Note: Soft variant ending in -ž
Full Declension Tables
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom(Nominative) | student | studenti |
| Gen(Genitive) | studenta | studentů |
| Acc(Accusative) | studenta | studenty |
| Dat(Dative) | studentovi | studentům |
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom(Nominative) | učitel | učitelé |
| Gen(Genitive) | učitele | učitelů |
| Acc(Accusative) | učitele | učitele |
| Dat(Dative) | učiteli | učitelům |
Note: Soft variant - uses -e instead of -a in genitive/accusative
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nom(Nominative) | pes | psi |
| Gen(Genitive) | psa | psů |
| Acc(Accusative) | psa | psy |
| Dat(Dative) | psovi | psům |