Měkké sklonění.
The declensions of holub, strom, ryba and slovo, are called hard. The remaining declensions are called soft. The nouns of these declensions end either in a soft consonant or in a neutral one, which, however, has a soft quality.
The types of masculine soft declensions are muž for the animate and meč for the inanimate.
Type Vzor muž man.
| Sing. | Plural. | |
|---|---|---|
| N. | muž | muži (mužové) |
| O. | muže | muže |
| P. | muže | mužů, mužův, |
| D. | muži, mužovi | mužům |
| L. | muži | mužích |
| I. | mužem | muži |
| V. | muži! | muži, mužové! |
Poznámky k tomuto sklonění.
All masculine animate nouns ending in a soft consonant are declined like muž. E. g. malíř painter, kovář blacksmith. Those ending in -ec have movable e in the possessive singular. otec father, otce, kupec merchant, kupce. These nouns have otče! kupče! in the vocative. Nouns ending in -tel fall into this declension. Ex.: učitel teacher, kazatel preacher (plural nom. učitelové, kazatelové), cvičitel instructor, cvičitelé, kůň horse, plur. koně, inst. plur. koňmi. Nouns ending in -ce e. g. zrádce (voc. zrádče!) traitor also fall into this declension. In kněz priest, final z changes into ž in N. P. kněží, L. P. o kněžích, D. P. kněžím.
Type vzor meč, sword.
| sing. | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | meč | meče |
| Object. | meč | meče |
| Poss. | meče | mečů, (mečův), |
| Dat. | meči | mečům |
| Loc. | meči | mečích |
| Instr. | mečem | meči |
| Voc. | meči! | meče! |
All masculine inanimates ending in a soft consonant are declined like meč. Ex.: Koš basket, nůž (nože) knife, plášť mantle, pokoj room, pokoj—mír also means peace; stroj, machine. Many nouns ending in -l are declined like meč, e. g. úl, beehive, kotel, boiler.