The Grammar the Czech Exam Actually Tests (A2 and B1)

You will not find a "grammar" module in the Czech A2 or B1 exam. And yet grammar decides dozens of points — it is just tested covertly: in the gap-fill tasks of the reading module, in the language-accuracy scoring of writing, and in the precision of your speaking. This article summarises the phenomena that actually appear most often in the exam and shows how to train them so that it shows up in your score.

No standalone grammar test — and why that matters

The Czech state exam (A2 for permanent residency, B1 for citizenship) has four modules: reading, writing, listening and speaking. That is a difference from, for example, the Polish state B1 exam, which has an explicit "grammatical accuracy" section — the Czech exam has nothing of the kind. In practice this means two things:

• You cannot "cram for a grammar test". There is no list of isolated ending drills that would be enough to memorise.
• Grammar adds and subtracts points everywhere. A wrong case in a reading gap-fill is a lost point; a pile of mistakes in an email drags down the language-accuracy score in writing; imprecise speech lowers the oral assessment.

The good news: the range of phenomena that genuinely appear at A2 and B1 is fairly small and can be trained deliberately.

Cases — the core of what the exam measures

The vast majority of "grammar" points in the exam hang on cases, typically in two situations:

• Gap-fill tasks in reading: you pick the correct form from options, e.g. Jdu do ___ (obchod / obchodu / obchodě) → Jdu do obchodu (the preposition do + genitive).
• Your own writing: the form and email at A2, longer texts at B1 — every wrong ending is visible.

What to prioritise:

• Preposition + case patterns: do, u, z, bez + genitive (do práce, u lékaře, bez cukru); v, na, o + locative (v Praze, na nádraží, o víkendu); s + instrumental (s kamarádem); na, pro, za + accusative (na oběd, pro tebe).
• The accusative after common verbs: mám novou práci, vidím ten dům, piju kávu.
• The dative in everyday contact phrases: volám mamince, děkuju vám, líbí se mi Praha.
• At B1, additionally, confidence with the plural and with adjective and pronoun forms (s mými rodiči, o našich sousedech).

Aspect — perfective and imperfective verbs

Aspect is not tested by asking "what is aspect?" but by whether you naturally say Včera jsem napsal ten e-mail (a completed action) versus Celý večer jsem psal e-maily (an ongoing one). In writing and speaking, the assessor immediately senses when the aspect is off. A practical minimum programme: learn common verbs in pairs (psát/napsat, dělat/udělat, kupovat/koupit, číst/přečíst) and watch how you form the future: budu psát, but napíšu (never budu napsat).

Word order — above all, second position

Czech word order is free, with one hard exception: clitics (se, si, jsem, jsi, mi, ti, ho…) sit in the second position of the sentence: Včera jsem se učil česky. Líbí se mi tady. Mistakes in the position of se and jsem are among the most visible in both writing and speaking — and yet this is a purely mechanical habit you can build in a few evenings by reading correct sentences aloud.

What else earns points at A2 and B1

• Conjugation in the present, past and future — the past tense with the correct form (dělal jsem / dělala jsem).
• The conditional at B1: Chtěl bych se zeptat…, Kdybych měl čas… — practically obligatory in formal emails.
• Politeness formulas and the formal "you" in writing and speaking: Mohl byste mi prosím poslat…?
• Conjunctions and complex sentences at B1: protože, když, aby, který — the range of language resources is assessed, not just error-free output.

How to train it so it shows in your score

1. Gap-fills in the exam format — work through the reading tasks in the A2 pack and the B1 pack; for every mistake, write down the whole pattern (do + genitive), not just the correct answer.
2. Write and have your mistakes marked — in the writing training with AI feedback you get instant feedback on specific mistakes in endings, aspect and word order. Repeated writing with correction is the fastest way to move grammar from tables into your hands.
3. Speak aloud — accuracy in speaking is assessed too; strategies for the oral part are in the article on speaking in the exam.
4. For the overall preparation schedule: how to prepare for the Czech exam.

Summary

Grammar in the Czech exam is not a separate subject but the hidden currency of all four modules: cases (mainly preposition patterns), aspect and clitic word order cover most of the mistakes that cost candidates points. Train them in context — on the sample tasks and by writing with AI feedback — not by memorising tables in isolation.

Last verified: 2026-07-28. The exact task format and assessment criteria can change — the current exam specifications are at cestina-pro-cizince.cz (A2) and ÚJOP UK (B1). This text is not legal advice.