Czech Conjunctions

This page lists common Czech conjunctions with their meanings, examples, and short etymological mnemonics to help learners remember them.

Coordinating Conjunctions

Conjunction	Meaning	Example	Etymology / Mnemonic
a	and	Petr a Jana přišli. – “Petr and Jana came.”	Old Slavic a ‘and’ → basic linker
i	and / also / even	Mluvil česky i slovensky. – “He spoke Czech as well as Slovak.”	PIE ei ‘also’ → think “i = in addition”
nebo	or	Chceš čaj nebo kávu? – “Do you want tea or coffee?”	from ne-bo “not-or/else” → choice
anebo	or else, or alternatively	Přijde dnes, anebo až zítra? – “Will he come today, or tomorrow?”	a + nebo → “and-or / or else”
ani	nor / not even	Nemám ani tužku. – “I don’t have even a pencil.”	from ne-i → “not-even”
ale	but	Byl unavený, ale pracoval. – “He was tired, but worked.”	Old Slavic ale ‘but, yet’
avšak	however	Byl unaven, avšak pokračoval. – “He was tired; however he continued.”	from a + však ‘yet’
však	yet / however	Řekl to, však nikdo mu nevěřil. – “He said it, yet no one believed him.”	old adverb ‘indeed, yet’
tedy	so, therefore	Byl nemocný, tedy zůstal doma. – “He was ill, so he stayed home.”	from to-di “that-then”
takže	so, as a result	Pršelo, takže jsme zůstali doma. – “It rained, so we stayed home.”	tak ‘so’ + že ‘that’ → “so-that”
proto	therefore	Byl nemocný, proto nepřišel. – “He was sick, therefore he didn’t come.”	pro to “for that (reason)”

Usage note: Most coordinating conjunctions (a, i, nebo, anebo, ani, ale, avšak, však) can connect both nouns/nominals (Petr a Jana) and clauses (Petr přišel a Jana odešla). Conjunctions of consequence (tedy, takže, proto) connect clauses (Pršelo, takže jsme zůstali doma) and are not used between nouns (✗ čaj takže káva).

Subordinating Conjunctions

Conjunction	Meaning	Example	Etymology / Mnemonic
že	that (complementizer)	Řekl, že přijde. – “He said that he’d come.”	old Slavic particle ‘that’
aby	so that / in order that	Přišel, aby nám pomohl. – “He came so that he could help us.”	a-by “and-would” → wish/purpose
protože	because	Nešel ven, protože pršelo. – “He didn’t go out because it rained.”	from phrase pro to, že “for that that…”
jestli / zda	if, whether	Nevím, jestli přijde. – “I don’t know if he’ll come.”	jest-li “is-whether”
když	when	Když přišel, začali jsme jíst. – “When he arrived, we started eating.”	from kdy ‘when’ + -ž emphatic
až	when / as soon as (future)	Až přijde, začneme. – “We’ll start when / as soon as he comes.”	originally ‘up to (a point in time)’
dokud / než	until / before	Počkej, dokud nepřijde. – “Wait until he comes.”	do-kud “up-to where” / ne-ž “not-yet”
jestliže / pokud	if, provided that	Půjdu s tebou, pokud nebude pršet. – “I’ll go with you, if it doesn’t rain.”	jestliže = “if-that” / pokud = “up-to-where” → “as long as”
i když	even though / although	I když pršelo, šli jsme ven. – “Even though it rained, we went out.”	i ‘even’ + když ‘when’ → “even when”
přestože	although / despite the fact that	Přestože byl nemocný, pracoval. – “Although he was ill, he worked.”	přes to, že “over-that-that” → “in spite of that”
zatímco	while, whereas	Pracoval, zatímco ostatní odpočívali. – “He worked while the others rested.”	za-tím-co “during-that-when”
jakmile	as soon as	Jakmile přišel, začal mluvit. – “As soon as he arrived, he started speaking.”	jak-mile “as-soon as”

Notes

Many Czech subordinating conjunctions come from old prepositional phrases with to + že. If you see -že, think “that …”.
Concessive conjunctions often add an idea of contrast: přestože, i když.
Temporal and conditional ones often come from question words (kdy, jak) plus particles.