Запишись
на пробный урок
Czech Alphabet and Reading Rules in the Czech Language
The Czech alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet but contains several additional letters and has its own unique pronunciation features.
Letter
How do we pronounce
Sound Explanations
А а
А
Short ‘a‘ is pronounced like our ‘ah‘.
Á á
Аа
Long ‘a‘—extend the sound when pronouncing.
B b
beh
Nothing unusual, just the letter ‘b‘ 😊
С с
tseh
The ‘ts‘ sound as in “cats“.
Č č
cheh
The ‘ch‘ sound as in “cheese”.
D d
deh
Letter ‘d‘
Ď ď
d’ye
The letter ‘d,’ but soft.
Е е
eh
Short letter ‘e‘.
É é
eeh
Long letter ‘e‘. When we see such an accent over the letter ‘é‘, we slightly prolong its sound.
Ě ě
ye
The diacritic (ˇ) above the letter softens it, so ‘ě‘ is pronounced as ‘ye,’ with the ‘y‘ sound similar to the ‘y‘ in “yes“.
F f
ef
Pronounce it like ‘f‘.
G g
geh
Pronounce it as a hard ‘geh‘ sound.
H h
gha
A sound pronounced with an open throat, similar to the sound at the beginning of “goat” or “good.”
CH ch
kha
The sound is pronounced as “kh” in English, similar to the ‘ch‘ in the Scottish “loch” or the ‘h‘ in “house.“
I i
ee
Is pronounced as “ee,” similar to the ‘ee’ in “see.”
Í í
ee-ee,
Long soft ‘ee‘, pronounce it slightly longer than the regular czech ‘i‘.
J j
y
The sound similar to the ‘y’ in “yes.”
K k
kah
Similar to the letter “k“.
L l
ehl
The letter ‘l‘ is never soft. It is always pronounced as a hard sound.
M m
em
Letter ‘m.’
N n
en
Letter ‘n.’
Ň ň
en’
Soft ‘n‘ sound.
O o
oh
Short sound ‘о‘.
Ó ó
ooh
The sound as in the English word “door.”
Р р
peh
The ‘p‘ sound as in “pet.”
Q q
kveh
Sound ‘kv.’
R r
ehr
Sound ‘р.’
Ř ř
rzh
The most unusual letter in the Czech alphabet, pronounced like the sound ‘rj.’ Say ‘rzh,’ starting with a rolled or trilled ‘r‘ sound followed by the ‘zh‘ sound, similar to the ‘s‘ in “measure.”
S s
es
Sound ‘s.’
Š š
esh
It’s more like ‘shch’ or ‘sh’ with a softer quality, similar to the ‘sh’ in “fresh” but with a hint of the ‘ch‘ sound in “church.”
T t
teh
Sound ‘t.’
Ť ť
tyeh
Soft sound ‘t.’
U u
oo
The ‘oo‘ sound as in “boot.”
Ú ú
ooo
The ‘oo‘ sound, but a bit longer.
Ů ů
ooo
Also the long sound ‘у‘, but with a circle above it. Pronounced exactly like the long ‘ú‘.
Below is an explanation of how it appeared in the Czech language.
V v
veh
Sound ‘v.’
W w
veh dvoyit-eh (vé dvojité)
We pronounce it the same as the regular sound ‘v‘.
X x
iks
We pronounce it like ‘ks‘.
Y y
ee
We pronounce this letter as something between ‘i‘ and ‘y‘. It’s a hard vowel.
Ý ý
eee
Hard long ‘eee’
Z z
zet
We pronounce it like ‘z‘.
Ž ž
zhet
We pronounce it softly as ‘zh‘.
Reading rules in the Czech language
Accentuation:
In the Czech language, the stress falls on the first syllable of the word.
Long vowels (s čárkou):
Letters with an accent mark, such as: “á”, “é”, “í”, “ó”, “ú”, “ů”, indicate prolonged pronunciation of the vowel.
Háček (čárka):
Letters with a háček (čárka) like “č”, “ň”, “ž”, “ř”, “š” denote softened pronunciation of consonants.
Where did 'ů' with a ring come from in Czech?"
The letter “ů” in the Czech language historically emerged as a result of phonetic changes. It originated from the diphthongization process, where two adjacent vowels merged into one syllable.
In Czech, this occurred with the long vowel “o,” which over time evolved into “ů.”
This diphthongization process took place in the Middle Ages and was one of many phonetic changes that shaped modern Czech.
The letter “ů” is used to denote this sound in words where this sound evolution occurred.
This process is a natural phenomenon in language evolution, where sounds change over time due to various factors such as oral transmission, contact with other languages, and cultural shifts.
In modern Czech, “ů” with a ring does not alter the sound itself. The letter has been preserved historically and is occasionally found in monosyllabic words such as “dům” (house), “sůl” (salt), “trůn” (throne).
Accelerate your learning
Research shows that individual Czech lessons are the most effective way of learning. Our Czech language courses specialize in personalized instruction.