30 Essential Czech Phrases for Your First Trip to Prague

The polite greeting for shops, cafés and strangers, good all day. Friends say ahoj. In the evening you will also hear dobrý večer.

The polite goodbye in shops and with strangers; friends say ahoj or čau. The s and h are said separately, not as English sh.

Děkuju is the everyday spoken form of the same word. Děkuji moc is thank you very much.

Signs usually read WC or toalety; muži or páni is men, ženy or dámy is women. Some public toilets charge a small fee.

In speech you will often hear the short jo. Casual Czech also uses no to mean "yeah" or "well", so it is not always a refusal.

Ne, děkuji is no, thank you. As ne- it joins a verb to make it negative: nerozumím, I don't understand.

A cry for urgent help. To ask one person, say pomozte mi, prosím. The European emergency number 112 works throughout the country.

Add it to a request: vodu, prosím, water, please. It also answers děkuji, means "here you are" when handing something over, and asks "pardon?" when said as a question.

The same word as excuse me, phrase 10. To a friend, say promiň; omlouvám se, my apologies, is more formal.

Use it before a question, promiňte, kde je toaleta?, and to say sorry for a bump in a crowd. The ň is the ny of canyon.

Kde je...? asks where something is: kde je nádraží? The k takes on the voice of the d after it, so it sounds like gde.

The verb to understand. Nerozumím, I don't understand, is the form to have ready. Mě is said mnye.

Pomalu, prosím asks for a slower pace. Czech vowels keep their value: a as in father, u as in put.

The usual reply to děkuji. Prosím, phrase 8, works as well.

Kolik to stojí? asks the price. Prices are in Czech crowns, koruna, written Kč.

Účet, prosím asks for the bill; zaplatím, prosím, I'll pay, is just as common. The accent on ú marks a long vowel, not stress.

Kde je lékárna? asks for the nearest one. A drogerie sells toiletries, not medicines.

Asked for, it becomes vodu: vodu, prosím. Still water is neperlivá, sparkling is perlivá.

Used early in the morning, until about nine; after that dobrý den, phrase 1, takes over.

Say mám alergii na..., I have an allergy to...: mám alergii na mléko, milk. The g is always hard, as in go.

Můžu platit kartou? asks to pay by card; kartou is the form for paying by it. Cards are widely taken, but small stalls may want cash.

Stůl pro dva, prosím asks for a table for two; swap dva for tři or čtyři as needed.

Kde je metro? asks the way to it. Prague's metro has three lines, A, B and C, in green, yellow and red.

Asked for, it becomes jízdenku: jednu jízdenku, prosím. Stamp a paper ticket in the yellow machine as you enter the metro or board a tram or bus; inspectors fine riders without a valid ticket.

The verb to help; pomoci is its perfective partner. Můžete mi pomoci? is the polite way to ask a stranger; in everyday speech you will also hear pomoct.

Můžete to říct znovu? asks someone to say it again. If it is still too fast, follow with pomalu, prosím, phrase 13.

Zastavte tady, prosím is for a taxi driver. Tady is here; point to the spot as you say it.

Zavolejte sanitku! calls for one; sanitka is the ambulance itself. Dial 155 for one, or 112 from any phone.

To je výborné! is a compliment any cook or waiter is glad to hear. After to, výborný ends in -é.

Chtěla bych to hodně pálivé asks for it very spicy; a man says chtěl bych. Pálivý means chilli-hot; Czech cooking is usually mild, so it is worth asking.