How to read the date correctly in Czech

What time is it?

Many students find it difficult to answer these questions and learn to read the date correctly in Czech.

So let's take a look at it step by step and I believe it will be a piece of cake for each of you in a while.

First you need to learn ordinal numerals and then form the genitive from them:

Let's take the date as an example:

21. 3. 1943

Version 1:

Day: 21st - ordinal numeral in the genitive case, so dvacátého prvního

Month: 3rd - ordinal numeral, so třetí

Year: 1943 - tisíc devětset čtyřicet tři or frequently used devatenáct set čtyřicet tři

All together:

dvacátého prvního třetí devatenáct set čtyřicet tři.

Version 2

Day: 21st - ordinal in the genitive case, so dvacátého prvního

Month: 3rd - we use the name of the month in the genitive case - března

Year: 1943 - tisíc devětset čtyřicet tři or frequently used devatenáct set čtyřicet tři

All together:

dvacátého prvního března devatenáct set čtyřicet tři.

Let's practice with another example:

21. 8. 2023

Dvácátého prvního osmý dva tisíce dvacet tři

Dvacátého prvního srpna dva tisíce dvacet tři

For completeness, here you will find the months and their forms in genitive case.

And do you know why in Czech the months are called differently than in most of other languages? In Czech, the months were named according to what was happening in that period. If you're interested, let's take a look at the meanings of the names of the months.

January (leden) - in January it is cold, everything freezes and ice forms. Here the name is derived from the word "led".

February (únor) - in this month, the ice starts to melt and everything dive into the water. February is formed from the word "nořit".

March (březen) - in the third month the birch trees are growing (bříza - birch) and hence the name "březen".

April (duben) - as with the previous month, the name is formed from the tree that is growing at that time, the oak (dub).

May (květen) - this name is derived from the fact that during this period nature fully awakens and many trees and flowers bloom (stromy kvetou).

June (červen) - the most common justification for the name of the sixth month is that red (červené) fruits ripen, such as strawberries, cherries, raspberries.

July (červenec) - is coined in the same way because more red fruits ripen in July.

August (srpen) - this month is the time of harvest. Harvesting is done with an instrument called a sickle "srp".

September (září) - this is the time when the wildlife begins to be in rut. Some deer are already rutting (i.e., roaring) in September.

October (říjen) - this is the main month when wildlife is in rut.

November (listopad) - the leaves fall in autumn, hence listopad.

December (prosinec) - the name is probably derived from the verb "prosinoti", which means 'to flash, to shine through' (from sinati, 'to shine, to glitter'). The sun is now flashing through the clouds again and the winter solstice is also coming, making the days longer and brighter.

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