The Czech alphabet, sound by sound
42 letters. The 26 you know plus seven with diacritics that change the consonant (č, ď, ě, ň, ř, š, ť, ž), and seven that mark vowel length (á, é, í, ó, ú, ů, ý). Here's the full set with sounds and English-speaker tips.
Why 42 and not 26
Czech adds two kinds of diacritic to its Latin alphabet:
- Háček (the v-shape): changes the consonant entirely. c → č ("ts" → "ch"). s → š ("s" → "sh"). z → ž ("z" → "zh"). r → ř (rolled r → the famous Czech sound).
- Čárka (the acute): doubles the vowel length. a (short) → á (long). Doesn't change which vowel — just how long you hold it.
Plus the unique ů s kroužkem ("u with the ring"), which sounds identical to ú but is spelled differently depending on where it sits in a word.
The seven diacritic consonants
These are the ones English doesn't have. Tap to drill each:
| Letter | IPA | English approximation |
|---|---|---|
| Č | /t͡ʃ/ | "ch" in church |
| Ď | /ɟ/ | "dy" — soft palatal d |
| Ě | — | changes the consonant before it (see ě guide) |
| Ň | /ɲ/ | "ny" in canyon |
| Ř | /r̝/ | no English equivalent — see ř guide |
| Š | /ʃ/ | "sh" in ship |
| Ť | /c/ | "ty" — soft palatal t |
| Ž | /ʒ/ | "s" in treasure |
Long vowels — the same sound, held longer
| Short | Long | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A | Á | like "u" in cup, held twice as long when long |
| E | É | like "e" in bed |
| I | Í | "i" in sit / "ee" in see |
| O | Ó | "o" in soft; long ó is rare, mostly loanwords |
| U | Ú | "oo" in book / moon. Ú appears at word start. |
| — | Ů | same sound as Ú, used mid- and end-of-word. |
| Y | Ý | identical sound to I/Í — Czech inherits the spelling distinction from older grammar. |
See the vowel-length guide for why this matters and which minimal pairs to drill.
The "regular" consonants — but with quirks
- C is always /ts/, never /k/ or /s/. cíl "goal" = "tseel."
- Ch is a single letter (sorts after H in the alphabet). It's the back-of-throat /x/ sound — like Scottish loch.
- H is voiced — your vocal cords vibrate, unlike English h which is just breath.
- J sounds like English y. já "I" = "yah."
- R is rolled (Spanish-style trill).
- Q, W, X appear only in loanwords. Q = "kv," W = "v," X = "ks."
The fastest way to internalize the alphabet
Pick three diacritic letters per day, drill the sound in isolation, then in five real words containing it. The full library is here — filter by the topic alphabet for letter-by-letter focus, or by sound_changes for the words that test the trickiest features.