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The two vowels i, and y differ slightly in pronounciation, see Lesson I. I is called měkké i (soft i), y is called tvrdé y. The distinction between these two letters is very important.

h, ch, k, d, t, n, r are called tvrdé souhlásky—hard consonants and they are followed by y or ý.

ž, š, č, c, ď, ť, ň, ř, j, are called měkké souhlásky—soft consonants and are followed by i, or í.

Memorize each set of the consonants and keep well in mind the fundamental distinction between them.

ou is the only diphthong in Bohemian. It is pronounced as o in low. Koule, a ball; louka, a meadow.

ú, ů. If the long u occurs at the beginning of the words the simple long mark ´ is used; úkol, lesson; úterý, Tuesday. If the long u occurs in the middle or at the end of the words a little circle mark ů is used to denote the length, růže, rose; dolů, down; kůže, leather.

Where we have ů at present the old Bohemian had ó, bóh o. B. (bůh), stól o. B. (stůl), table etc.

 ě called and formerly written ie, pronounce iye.

 e is the only vowel taking the hook mark.

ě occurs in the following syllables:

mě (mye),	město, city,	uměti, to know.
bě (bye),	běhám, I run,	oběd, dinner.
vě (vye),	věda, science,	věci, things.
pě (pye),	pět, five,	pěna, foam.
fě (fye),	fěrtoch, an apron.

Syllables dě, tě, ně are pronounced as if written ďe, ťe, ňe. Both di, ti, ni and dě, tě, ně, are exceptional modes of writing.

Distinguish carefully between: dě, tě, ně, and de, te, ne; mě, bě, pě, vě, fě, and me, be, pe, ve, fe.

Vedeme, tebe, tělo, umění, něco, věci, nedělej, pěst, ledy, týrá, udice, utíká, nyní, u vany, voní.