List of Czech Words
Many people all over the world are drawn to Czech because of its prevalence in music and film. Some aspire to fluency so they can travel or work in countries where Czech is the first or second most prominent language.
You must be able to understand enough Czech words to learn Czech. You won't be able to communicate with the 12 million Czech speakers around the world if you only know the grammar. To start off well, you need to be familiar with basic Czech vocabulary and standard phrases. You can start by learning basic grammar rules, and then work on expanding your vocabulary. You need to master more Czech vocabulary if you want to improve your Czech fluency.
There are many ways to quickly acquire Czech vocabulary, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, advanced student, or near-fluent learner. In this article, we'll show you some of the best ways to learn Czech vocabulary, so you can start using it in your everyday conversations.
How Many Words You Need To Know:
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how many words you need to know to speak Czech like a native speaker. However, here are some estimates of the number of words you need to achieve different levels of Czech fluency, based on research:
It is impossible to construct meaningful sentences without the necessary 250 words added to your vocabulary. This is why the first 250 words are considered to be the core of any language. While 1000 Czech words will suffice for approximately 80% of your daily conversations.
Knowing the top 2,500 Czech words will enable you to convey everything you want to say in simple terms that anyone can understand. However, knowing 5,000 words will make your voice sound natural, and you can comprehend around 90% of Czech texts. We offer a set of two frequency dictionary bundles with the 5000 most common Czech words.
With 10,000 words, your active vocabulary will rival that of someone who has completed higher education. 98% of spoken Czech and 97% written Czech can be understood. You'll need to read, grasp, enjoy, and appreciate a piece of literature. For those who are looking for even more savings, you can save 30% if you purchase the entire set of Czech frequency dictionaries. Together, they provide context for the top 10,000 Czech words.
How Many Words You Should Learn Per Day:
There are many factors to consider when setting your daily goal for new vocabulary words. Even just learning one new word per day is helpful. However, some people may not have enough time to study Czech vocabulary every day. If you are just starting out and want to learn at least 1,000 new Czech words, we suggest learning 10 new words per day. After 3 months, you will know about 900 words, which is enough to get by as a tourist or to go about your daily life if you’re an expat.
You will be able to reach your goal quicker if you learn 20 Czech words per day. It will take only 50 days to learn 1,000 words. If you believe you can learn 30 words per day, then you can reach 80% comprehension, which is enough to be able to communicate in Czech in a month.
Protip:
Successful polyglots typically learn around 20 new words each day. This is a good balance of speed and time spent per day. You will experience a better language learning experience if you make rapid, visible progress.
Common Czech Words
As you probably know, most spoken communication is only made up of a handful thousand words. Certain words are more common than others, and so they are more important to know if you want a quick mastery of a language. A list of the most commonly used Czech words will help you quickly acquire basic Czech vocabulary.
Here are the links to the paperbacks on Amazon. If you make a purchase after clicking on these links, we may receive a small commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you:
- Czech Frequency Dictionary 1 - Beginner Vocabulary
- Czech Frequency Dictionary 2 - Intermediate Vocabulary
- Czech Frequency Dictionary 3 - Advanced Vocabulary
- Czech Frequency Dictionary 4 - Master Vocabulary
A note on Czech word lists divided by themes:
Creating a themed vocabulary list is a great way to expand your knowledge of a language, especially if you have a specific interest or need for it. Try to find or create lists of words that are relevant to your own situation. If you work in the nightlife industry, for example, learning related terms would be very beneficial. Or, if you're going to spend a lot of time at the beach, learning vocabulary related to that environment would be a good idea. Starting to learn a language by learning vocabulary related to "the airport" might seem useful, but at most airports people tend to speak English, and how much time are you actually going to spend at airports? You might be better off learning the top 1000 words first, and thematic lists of say, “the supermarket”, or “the restaurant”.
Essential Czech Words
Start your Czech journey by learning some basic terms. Slowly build up your confidence and Czech word bank by starting with easy and common vocabulary. By gradually adding to your repertoire, you'll be able to explore this fascinating language in no time!
Hello = “Ahoj”
Goodbye = “sbohem”
Yes = “Ano”
No = “Ne”
I = “Já”
He = “On”
She = “Ona”
They = “Ony”
Please = “Prosím”
Thank you = “Děkuji”
Sorry = “Promiňte”
Bless you = “Požehnej ti”
Good morning = “Dobré ráno”
Good afternoon = “Dobré odpoledne”
Good evening = “Dobrý večer”
To be = “Být”
To go = “Jít”
To do/make = “Dělat”
To have = “Mít”
To possess/have = “Vlastnit”
To be able to/can = “Být schopen”
To say/tell = “Říct”
To come = “Přijít”
To see = “Vidět”
To give = “Dát”
To know = “Vědět”
To want = “Chtít”
To arrive = “Přijet”
To spend time = “Trávit čas”
To believe = “Věřit”
To put = “Dát”
To name = “Pojmenovat”
Who? = “SZO?”
Where? = “Kde?”
What? = “Co?”
Why? = “Proč?”
When? = “Když?”
Which? = “Který?”
How? = “Jak?”
List of Czech Words
If you're looking to start learning a new language, a word list is a great place to start. You can find various word lists online or in physical books, each with different words based on different sources. When choosing a word list, make sure it includes both written and spoken Czech so you can get a well-rounded understanding of the language. Written language is usually more complex, while spoken language is usually simpler. We base our lists on analysis of subtitles, because they correlate to both spoken and written language.
Our Czech vocabulary lists are perfect for learners who want a practical way to expand their Czech vocabulary. Our dictionaries are based on how often you would use a word, so you can quickly learn the words you need. They contain IPA phonetic transcriptions of Czech words, so you always know how to pronounce a word correctly. All entries come with detailed grammatical information, so you know if a word is a noun, adjective, verb, or can be used multiple ways. Lastly, each entry comes with a bilingual sample sentence, so you see the word being used in context. You get some reading practice too. By the time you finish a dictionary, you’ll have read a short novel in Czech to English parallel text.
The books are sorted by:
- General frequency, the most common words in Czech in descending order.
- Frequency as part of speech (a list of the most common Czech nouns, verbs and adjectives), and
- Alphabet, so you can easily look up terms.
You can find our e-books on our website, or get our paperbacks from Amazon.
- Czech Frequency Dictionary - Beginner Czech
- Czech Frequency Dictionary - Intermediate Czech
- Czech Frequency Dictionary - Advanced Czech
- Czech Frequency Dictionary - Fluent Czech
Conclusion
To learn Czech effectively, it is essential to be familiar with the vocabulary. A good way to learn Czech words is to invest in quality resources that can provide a smarter way to study. This will save you time and frustration in the long run, and help ease and shorten your learning process. You can find the most commonly used Czech words in our frequency dictionaries. Feel free to check them out on our website, or on Amazon.