Mastering the Czech Alphabet

The Czech alphabet might look intimidating at first with all its diacritical marks, but it's actually quite phonetic. Once you learn the rules, you can pronounce almost any word correctly.

The Diacritics

There are three main diacritics in Czech:

1. Čárka (´): Indicates a long vowel.

   • á, é, í, ó, ú, ý are simply longer versions of their short counterparts.
   • Example: dům (house) vs dum (no meaning).

2. Háček (ˇ): Softens the consonant.

   • č sounds like 'ch' in "chocolate".
   • š sounds like 'sh' in "shoe".
   • ž sounds like 's' in "pleasure".
   • ř is the famous tricky sound! It's like a trilled 'r' mixed with 'zh'.

3. Kroužek (˚): Only appears over 'u' (ů). It sounds exactly like ú (long u), but it's used in the middle or end of words.

Tricky Letters

• C: Always pronounced like 'ts' in "cats". Never like 'k'.
• J: Always pronounced like 'y' in "yes".
• Ch: One letter in Czech! Pronounced like the 'ch' in Scottish "loch".

Practice Tips

• Listen to native speakers.
• Practice the ř sound in isolation before trying to say tři sta třicet tři.
• Don't ignore the long vowels! They change the meaning of words.

Hodně štěstí!