100 Essential Czech Words for Beginners (with English Translations)

Greetings & basics

16 words

English	Czech	Type
hello	dobrý den	interjection
goodbye	na shledanou	interjection
yes	ano	interjection
no	ne	interjection
please	prosím	interjection
thank you	děkuji	interjection
sorry	omlouvám se	interjection
and	a	conjunction
but	ale	conjunction
or	nebo	conjunction
because	protože	conjunction
here	tady	adverb
there	tam	adverb
always	vždy	adverb
never	nikdy	adverb
together	společně	adverb

People & family

14 words

English	Czech	Type
man	muž	noun
woman	žena	noun
boy	chlapec	noun
girl	dívka	noun
friend	kamarád	noun
mother	matka	noun
father	otec	noun
brother	bratr	noun
sister	sestra	noun
son	syn	noun
daughter	dcera	noun
child	dítě	noun
husband	manžel	noun
wife	manželka	noun

Everyday verbs

16 words

English	Czech	Type
to be	být	verb
to have	mít	verb
to do	dělat	verb
to go	jít	verb
to come	přicházet	verb
to eat	jíst	verb
to drink	pít	verb
to want	chtít	verb
to need	potřebovat	verb
to know	vědět	verb
to speak	mluvit	verb
to read	číst	verb
to write	psát	verb
to listen	poslouchat	verb
to work	pracovat	verb
to buy	kupovat	verb

Describing words

10 words

English	Czech	Type
good	dobrý	adjective
bad	zlý	adjective
new	nový	adjective
old	starý	adjective
young	mladý	adjective
tall	vysoký	adjective
short	nízký	adjective
nice	milý	adjective
kind	laskavý	adjective
shy	plachý	adjective

Colors

8 words

English	Czech	Type
red	červený	adjective
blue	modrý	adjective
green	zelený	adjective
yellow	žlutý	adjective
black	černý	adjective
white	bílý	adjective
orange	oranžový	adjective
purple	fialový	adjective

Numbers

12 words

English	Czech	Type
one	jedna	number
two	dva	number
three	tři	number
four	čtyři	number
five	pět	number
six	šest	number
seven	sedm	number
eight	osm	number
nine	devět	number
ten	deset	number
zero	nula	number
twenty	dvacet	number

Time

10 words

English	Czech	Type
today	dnes	adverb
tomorrow	zítra	adverb
yesterday	včera	adverb
morning	ráno	noun
afternoon	odpoledne	noun
evening	večer	noun
night	noc	noun
day	den	noun
week	týden	noun
month	měsíc	noun

Food & drink

10 words

English	Czech	Type
water	voda	noun
coffee	káva	noun
tea	čaj	noun
milk	mléko	noun
bread	chléb	noun
cheese	sýr	noun
fruit	ovoce	noun
apple	jablko	noun
egg	vejce	noun
rice	rýže	noun

Home

4 words

English	Czech	Type
house	dům	noun
door	dveře	noun
window	okno	noun
bed	postel	noun

Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0

Learn these Czech words for good

Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch

A list is where learning starts, not where it ends. Watch Your Language puts Czech words like these on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, so you see a few every time you check the time, and it schedules the repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.

You can add your own words too, from a photo, a page of notes or a spreadsheet.

Keep going with Czech

Czech vocabulary by topicLonger word lists, one topic at a time

Czech for beginners questions

What are the first Czech words to learn?

Start with the words you use every day: greetings, numbers, the days and times, food, family and a handful of verbs. For Czech that means words like dobrý den (hello), děkuji (thank you), voda (water) and jíst (to eat). The list above groups 100 of them by topic.

How is Czech written?

Czech uses the Latin alphabet, so you can read the words above without learning a new script. 63 of the 100 words contain a letter or mark outside plain a–z, so learn those alongside the spelling.

Is 100 words enough to speak Czech?

No. This is a starting set: enough to greet people, count, talk about time, name food and family, and say what you want or need. Conversation needs more words, and above all hearing and using them. Treat the list as the first step, then add words from topics you care about.

How do I remember these Czech words?

Read a few at a time, say them out loud, and come back to them on a schedule rather than once. Watch Your Language puts words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting more often.