Learn Czech Numbers: Patterns, Rules and Everyday Use

1-10

Basic numbers: jedna, dva, tři, čtyři, pět, šest, sedm, osm, devět, deset

These numbers are your foundation, so get comfortable with them first. When counting, use jedna, dva, tři …. With a noun, “one” changes to match its grammatical gender: jeden den (one day, masculine), jedna koruna (one crown, feminine), jedno pivo (one beer, neuter). For “two”, use dva with masculine nouns and dvě with feminine and neuter nouns.

11-19

The “-náct” ending: jedenáct, dvanáct, třináct, čtrnáct, patnáct, šestnáct, sedmnáct, osmnáct, devatenáct

All numbers from 11 to 19 end in -náct and are written as one word. Some beginnings change: čtyři (4) becomes čtrnáct (14), and pět (5) becomes patnáct (15). Learn these forms as whole words.

20-99

Tens + ones: dvacet jedna (21), třicet pět (35)

Start with the tens: dvacet (20), třicet (30), čtyřicet (40), padesát (50), šedesát (60), sedmdesát (70), osmdesát (80) and devadesát (90). Then add the ones as a separate word, with no “and” or hyphen. For compound numbers from 21 to 99, Czech also allows ones + a (“and”) + tens, written as a single word: jednadvacet (21, literally “one-and-twenty”), pětatřicet (35) and devětadevadesát (99). Both patterns are correct. Start with tens + ones while you are learning.

100+

Hundreds and thousands: sto (100), sto jedna (101), tisíc (1,000)

Put the larger units first and write the number words separately: sto dvacet jedna (121). The word for “hundred” changes: dvě stě (200), tři sta (300), čtyři sta (400), then set from 500 onwards, as in pět set (500).

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100–900

100 = sto
200 = dvě stě
300 = tři sta
400 = čtyři sta
500 = pět set
600 = šest set
700 = sedm set
800 = osm set
900 = devět set

Learn these four forms: sto for 100, stě for 200, sta for 300 and 400, and set for 500 to 900. For 200, use dvě, not “dva”. The tens and ones follow as separate words: dvě stě třicet pět (235).

1,000, 2,000, 3,000 ...

1,000 = tisíc
2,000 = dva tisíce
3,000 = tři tisíce
4,000 = čtyři tisíce
5,000 = pět tisíc

For 1,000, say tisíc or jeden tisíc. Use tisíce for 2,000 to 4,000, then tisíc again for 5,000 to 9,000: šest tisíc (6,000), sedm tisíc (7,000), osm tisíc (8,000), devět tisíc (9,000). Notice the difference: dvě stě (200), but dva tisíce (2,000).

10,000 and 100,000

10,000 = deset tisíc
100,000 = sto tisíc

Place the number of thousands before tisíc: dvacet tisíc (20,000), dvě stě tisíc (200,000), pět set tisíc (500,000). Then add the hundreds, tens and ones: dvanáct tisíc tři sta čtyřicet pět (12,345). Write the words separately, with no “and” between these units.

1,000,000

jeden milion – one million

For two to four million, use miliony: dva miliony, tři miliony, čtyři miliony. For five to nine million, use milionů, as in pět milionů (5,000,000). You also use this form in deset milionů (10,000,000). The spelling milión, with a long “ó”, is also correct.

1,000,000,000

jedna miliarda – one billion

Czech miliarda means one billion in English: 1,000,000,000. The noun is feminine, so use jedna miliarda and dvě miliardy, followed by tři miliardy (3 billion), čtyři miliardy (4 billion) and pět miliard (5 billion). For five to nine billion, and in expressions such as deset miliard (10 billion), the ending “-a” disappears.

1,000,000,000,000

jeden bilion – one trillion

Czech bilion has twelve zeros: it means one trillion in English, or a thousand billion. Its forms follow the pattern of milion: dva biliony, tři biliony, čtyři biliony and pět bilionů. Do not confuse it with English “billion”, which is miliarda in Czech.

• 15 or 50? Listen to the whole word:
  patnáct (15) and padesát (50) sound similar, as do devatenáct (19) and devadesát (90). Listen carefully for the endings “-náct” and “-desát”.
• “Sedm” and “osm” can sound different:
  You may hear sedm (7) and osm (8) pronounced with an extra “u” sound: [sedum] and [osum]. These accepted pronunciations make the words easier to say. The spelling stays the same, without “u”: sedm and osm.
• One and two have several forms:
  Say jeden lístek (one ticket), jedna koruna (one crown) and jedno pivo (one beer). For two, the forms are dva lístky (two tickets), dvě koruny (two crowns) and dvě piva (two beers).
• The noun changes when you order:
  For example: tři lístky, prosím (three tickets, please) or šest lístků, prosím (six tickets, please). Use lístky for two to four tickets, but lístků for five or six.

• Telling the time: look ahead to the next hour
  08:15 → čtvrt na devět (quarter past eight)
  08:30 → půl deváté (half past eight)
  08:45 → tři čtvrtě na devět (quarter to nine)
  All three Czech expressions refer to the hour leading up to nine: a quarter, half or three quarters of that hour have passed. Unlike English “quarter past eight” or “half past eight”, they look ahead to the next hour. To say “at half past eight”, use v půl deváté. You can also read the hours and minutes directly: třináct dvacet = 13:20 (1:20 p.m.).
• Prices in Czech crowns:
  48 Kč → čtyřicet osm korun
  127 Kč → sto dvacet sedm korun
  360 Kč → tři sta šedesát korun
  Kolik to stojí? means “How much does it cost?” If someone says the price too quickly, try Můžete to prosím zopakovat?—“Could you repeat that, please?”
• Years and dates:
  1993 → devatenáct set devadesát tři or tisíc devět set devadesát tři
  2018 → dva tisíce osmnáct
  2032 → dva tisíce třicet dva
  For years from 1900 to 1999, the form devatenáct set (“nineteen hundred”) is common. From 2000 onwards, you can read years as ordinary whole numbers. In dates, the form of the day changes: 7. 9. → sedmého září (on 7 September). Czech puts the day before the month. Learn dates with the month name to make the meaning clear.
• Practise basic arithmetic aloud:
  6 + 8 = 14 → šest plus osm je čtrnáct
  17 − 5 = 12 → sedmnáct minus pět je dvanáct
  3 × 9 = 27 → tři krát devět je dvacet sedm
  24 ÷ 4 = 6 → dvacet čtyři děleno čtyřmi je šest
  Je means “equals” here. In division, notice how the form after děleno changes: čtyři becomes čtyřmi.
• Fractions and decimals:
  ⅓ → jedna třetina
  ¾ → tři čtvrtiny
  0,8 → nula celá osm desetin
  2,75 → dvě celé sedmdesát pět setin
  Czech writes these decimals with a comma: 0,8 and 2,75 correspond to English 0.8 and 2.75. In this way of reading them aloud, you name the whole units, then the tenths (desetiny) or hundredths (setiny). After 8 and 75, the forms are desetin and setin. This makes the place value of the decimal digits explicit.

• One number, two possible word orders:
  Dvacet šest and šestadvacet both mean 26. The first follows the familiar English order, “twenty-six”; the second is literally “six-and-twenty”. You can start with tens + ones when speaking.
• A long vowel does not mark word stress:
  The mark above a vowel tells you to hold it longer: the á in padesát (50) is a long vowel. It does not tell you which syllable to stress. When spoken on its own, the number word still has its stress on the first syllable. Practise both features: stress at the beginning and longer vowels where marked.
• Informal words for money:
  When talking about Czech money, you may hear stovka for 100 Kč, pětistovka for 500 Kč and tisícovka for 1,000 Kč. These are everyday words for amounts of money and banknotes, much like referring to a thousand as “a grand” in informal English.
• Spaces for thousands, commas for decimals:
  Large numbers are usually grouped in threes with spaces, and a comma separates the decimal part: 12 680,40 Kč is 12,680.40 Czech crowns in English notation. There is also a space between the amount and the currency abbreviation.

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