Prepositions and their cases
Which case comes after do, k, na, s, v…
Here's the nice thing about prepositions: once you know one, you know which case comes after it. So it's best to learn them in pairs, the preposition together with its case.
| Case | Preposition | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Genitive | do | to, into | do školy, do Prahy |
| z / ze | from, out of | z Prahy, ze školy | |
| od | from (a person), since | od mámy, od pondělí | |
| bez | without | bez cukru | |
| u | at (someone's), by | u doktora, u moře | |
| vedle | next to | vedle nádraží | |
| kromě | except | kromě Jany | |
| během | during | během dne | |
| 3 Dative | k / ke | towards, to (a person) | k doktorovi, k řece |
| proti | against, opposite | proti Pavlovi | |
| kvůli | because of | kvůli práci | |
| díky | thanks to | díky kamarádovi | |
| 4 Accusative | pro | for | pro Pavla |
| přes | across, via | přes most | |
| na | to, onto (direction); for (time) | na poštu, na týden | |
| za | in (time), for (price) | za hodinu, za sto korun | |
| 6 Locative | v / ve | in | v Praze, ve škole |
| na | on, at (place) | na poště, na stole | |
| o | about | o Petrovi | |
| po / při | after, around / during, by | po obědě, při práci | |
| 7 Instrumental | s / se | with | s mámou, se sestrou |
| před | in front of, before | před školou | |
| za | behind (place) | za domem | |
| nad / pod | above / under | nad stolem, pod postelí | |
| mezi | between | mezi domem a školou |
Where are you, or where are you going?
A few prepositions, like na, za and v, can take two different cases, and the meaning changes with them:
- na + locative = where? Jsem na poště. · na + accusative = where to? Jdu na poštu.
- za + instrumental = behind (where?) za domem · za + accusative = behind (where to?) za dům, or "in / for" za hodinu
- v + locative = in v Praze · v + accusative for days: ve středu (on Wednesday)
You'll often see an extra e on the preposition when the next word would be hard to say otherwise: ve škole, ze Španělska, ke stolu, se sestrou.
Practise this
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Genitive singular
do školy, z Prahy, bez cukru, u kamaráda
Dative singular
Dám to mámě. Jdu k doktorovi.
Where? Where to? Where from?
na poště · na poštu · z pošty
Instrumental singular
s kamarádem, vlakem, před školou
Time expressions: před, za, na, od–do
před rokem, za hodinu, jak dlouho?
Verbs with prepositions
čekat na, myslet na, starat se o, bát se…