Script guide › Latin

How to recognize Czech

Czech is one of 35 languages in Grafle's Latin group. Here's what it looks like, where you'll see it on signs, and how to tell it apart from its lookalikes.

Spot it fast

Háčeks everywhere (š, ě, ř) — and ř plus ů (ring) are uniquely Czech.

What Czech looks like

Všichni lidé rodí se svobodní a sobě rovní co do důstojnosti.

Ahoj, jak se máš? Děkuji, dobře.

Kdo šetří, má za tři.

Latin scripts: The alphabet you're reading now. Each language gives itself away by its own special letters and accent marks.

Where you'll see it on signs

Czech Republic

Easy to confuse with

Slovak — Slovak's own letters are ľ and ô; Czech's are ř, ě and ů. The ř is uniquely Czech.
Polish — Polish uses barred ł, nasal ą/ę and clusters like sz/cz; Czech uses háčeks (š, ě, ř) and ů.
Croatian — Croatian has ć and đ but never Czech's ř, ě or ů.
Hungarian — Hungarian has ő/ű and no háčeks; Czech is full of š, ě, ř.