Your Ultimate Czech Pronunciation Guide

The great advantage of the Czech language is that, unlike in English, it is pronounced the same way as it is written. However, in order to pronounce all the sounds that the Czech language contains, additional letters with diacritics (small marks above the letter) are used in combination with the Roman alphabet. There are only a few diacritics - háček (hook), čárka (length mark), kroužek(circle) and they change the pronunciation of the letter. They look like this when written: háček (č), čárka (á), kroužek (ů).

Before getting into the Czech sounds, let’s recap the written system quickly just as an introduction to the pronunciation. The Czech alphabet consists of 42 letters out of which 26 are the same as in English, plus 16 additional ones with diacritics. Those are 8 extra vowels (á, é, í, ý, ó, ú/ů, ě) and 8 extra consonants (ž, š, č, ř, ď, ť, ň, plus “ch”). “Ch” in Czech alphabet counts as a single letter and has a special position after “h.” Its pronunciation is different from English.

1) Consonants

The Czech consonants are divided into four categories:

• hard - (h, ch, k, r, g, d, t, n)
• soft - (ž, š, č, ř, c, j, ď, ť, ň)
• ambivalent - (b, f, l, m, p, s, v, z)
• unusual - (q, w, x). These are nearly exclusively used in foreign words only

This division is important in terms of declension (the way of changing the endings of nouns, pronouns and numerals in Czech) and ways of spelling.

Please note that the pronunciation of (p, t, k) in Czech does not come with an aspiration (a stream of air) like in English.  Consequently, these sounds will have a sharper, more inverted, dryer sound than the usual aspirated p, t, k sounds in English and most other western European languages.

Pronunciation of hard consonants (the effect of rough sound)

• h is pronounced like [h] in “Hard” (no aspiration)
• ch is pronounced like [j] in the Spanish name “José”
• k is pronounced like [k] in “King” (no aspiration)
• r is pronounced like [r] in “Truck” but more thrilled (the tongue vibrates as the r rolls off the tongue)
• g is pronounced like [g] in “Grow” (not like in general!)
• d is pronounced like [d] in “Dog” but a harder sound
• t is pronounced like [t] in “Table” but a harder “t” sound
• n is pronounced like [n] in “Norway”

Pronunciation of soft consonants (the effect of a gentle sound)

• ž is pronounced like in “Version.”
• š is pronounced like in “Short.”
• č is pronounced like in “Czech.”
• ř is pronounced by pressing the tip of the tongue on the palate, while the rest of the tongue is free to vibrate.
• ď is pronounced like in “Duke” but softer.
• ť is pronounced like in “Tutor” but softer.
• ň is pronounced like in “New” but softer.
• c is pronounced like in “Streets.”
• j is pronounced like in “Yard.”

To pronounce ď, ť, ň, the tip of the tongue needs to be placed against the back

of the upper gum and above the front teeth. The sound should be similar to d, t, n, but much softer.

Pronunciation of ambivalent consonants

(can be either soft or hard depending on circumstance)

• B is pronounced like [b] in “Big.”
• F is pronounced like [f] in “Farm.”
• L is pronounced like [l] in “Lonely.”
• M is pronounced like [m] in “Morning.”
• P is pronounced like [p] in “Push” (no aspiration)
• S is pronounced like [s] in “Similar.”
• V/W is pronounced like [v] in “Victim.”
• Z is pronounced like [z] in “Zoo.”

Pronunciation of unusual consonants

(found in foreign loan words)

• Q like [q] in “Quick”
• W like [v] in ”Victim”
• X like [x] in “Complex”

2) Vowels

Czech has long and short vowels. Long vowels have to be pronounced longer than the short ones and the length must be noticeable. A long vowel is indicated by a long mark (čárka) placed above the letter. It looks like this: á, í, or in case of letter u, there are two types ú with a long mark (čárka) and ů with a small circle (kroužek). Both are pronounced the same.

Pronunciation of 7 short vowels (a, e, i/y, o, u, ě)

• a is pronounced like [a] in “But.”
• e is pronounced like [e] in “Met.”
• i/y is also pronounced like [i] in “Sit.”
• o is pronounced like [o] in “Omit.”
• u is pronounced like [u] in “Look.”
• ě is pronounced like [y+e] in “Yes.”

Pronunciation of 7 long vowels (á, é, í/ý, ó, ú/ů)

• á is pronounced like [ a ] in “Father”
• é is pronounced like [ e ] in “Shed,” but longer
• í/ý is pronounced like  [ i ] in “Cheep.”
• ó is pronounced like [ o ] in “Fall.”
• ú/ů is pronounced like [ u ] in “School” but longer

Pronunciation of the Czech vowels soft i / í and hard y / ý are the same in terms of sound.

The vowels ú / ů are also pronounced the same way, although the spelling is different. This form of two different spellings is connected to the history of Czech language development.

In terms of grammar, the vowel ú is always written at the beginning of the word (i.e. úkol = “task”) or after a prefix (i.e. zúročit = “pay interest on something”).

On the other hand, the vowel ů is always placed in the stem of the word (kůže = “skin”) or at the end (domů = (”going home”).

When spelling out individual letters of the Czech alphabet, the sounds are as follow:

a [ á ], b [ bé ], c [ cé ], č [ čé ], d [ dé ], ď [ ďé ], e [ é ], f  [ ef ], g [ gé ], h [ há ], ch [ chá ], i [ í ], y [ ý ],  j [ jé ],  k [ ká ], l [ el ], m [ em ], n [ en ], ň [ eň ], o [ ó ], p [ pé ], q [ qé ], r [ er ], ř [ eř ], s [ es ], š [ eš], t [ té ], t´[ t´é ], u / ú / ů [ ú ], v [ vé ], w [ dvojité vé ], x  [ iks ], y / ý  [ ypsilon / ý ], z [ zet,], ž [ žet ].

For example:

ČSAD = [čé-es-á-dé] = České autobusové dráhy (”Czech bus lines”)

Diacritical marks are very important and cannot be omitted because they will often change the meaning of the word. If a word is pronounced too short or too long, the meaning becomes different.

Here is an example of what can happen if pronounced incorrectly:

• byt = “apartment/flat” X být = “to be”
• žila = “(she) lived” X  žíla = “blood vessel.”

1) Use voice recording tools to perfect your pronunciation

CzechClass101 has plenty of resources to help you with your Czech pronunciation, so be sure to make thorough use of our recordings with native Czech speakers. These are available not only to demonstrate to you how you should pronounce Czech vocabulary, but also sentences and dialogues. Watch and listen to these over and over again to train your ear, and watch the teacher’s mouth as she speaks in the video lessons. Then, copy the speech as best you can. Later, you can record yourself to hear if you sound like a native speaker and compare yourself with native speakers. Great for self-motivation.

2) Practice in front of the mirror.

And see that you’re copying the correct lip and mouth movements.

3) Use our CzechClass101 dictionary!

Use the Czech dictionary provided by CzechClass101 to look up words and listen to the audio pronunciation. This will go a long way towards giving you an idea of how to pronounce a word or letter correctly.

4) Train your ear to the language!

Make an effort to often listen to Czech music and recorded books, and watch plenty of Czech movies and/or TV shows in Czech. This will train your ear to the language, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you pick up the accent. Remember, this is the way we learned to speak when we were young - mostly by listening to the adults talking, and repeating what they say!

5) Practice, practice, practice…

Repetition of the same thing may be boring, but in learning a new language, you’re creating new pathways in your brain. For these to remain and become habitual, you will need to repeat the correct pronunciation often.

6) Make friends with a native Czech speaker.

Don’t be shy to address them in Czech! Ask them to correct you when you make a pronunciation mistake - this is a wonderful way to practice and learn the language first-hand, and also to make new friends.

7) Practice your pronunciation with your Czech teacher!

If you’re a serious student and don’t know where to meet native Czech speakers, consider investing in CzechClass101’s Premium PLUS plan. This means you will have your own native Czech teacher available to practice your pronunciation with, and much more! Send recordings of yourself speaking Czech and get feedback from your Czech teacher.