ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Czech orthography

Okay kiddo, Czech orthography means the way we write words in the Czech language. Just like how we have spelling rules in English, Czech also has rules for how words are spelled.

Czech uses a special alphabet called the Czech alphabet. It has some letters that are different from English letters. For example, the letter "č" makes a "ch" sound, like in the word "church". The letter "ě" makes a sound that doesn't exist in English, like a mix between "e" and "y".

One of the special things about Czech orthography is that it has something called "diacritics". These are little marks above or below some letters that change the sound of the letter. For example, the letter "á" has an accent mark above it, and it makes an "ah" sound, like in the word "father".

Another important thing to know is that Czech words have a stress pattern. This means that one syllable in the word is pronounced louder and longer than the others. The stress pattern is usually on the first syllable in a word.

Overall, Czech orthography can seem tricky at first with its different letters and diacritics, but it follows rules just like English spelling does. So keep practicing and you'll get the hang of it!