# vejce vs vajíčko



## Setwale_Charm

Ahoj!! 

What is the difference between these two? "vajíčko" seems to be a diminutive or...?


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## locaporfutbol

Yes, "vajíčko" is diminutive of "vejce".


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## Jana337

It is one of those common diminutives which you can use anytime without appearing infantile.


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## Setwale_Charm

So.. which one is more common? Any rules for choosing one over the other?


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## Jana337

Both are very common. Vejce perhaps more in written Czech and vajíčko in spoken Czech but that's just my impression, not a rule.


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## werrr

Setwale_Charm said:


> So.. which one is more common? Any rules for choosing one over the other?



"Vejce" is the formal term for the reproductive body of birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and egg-laying mammals.
The diminutive "vajíčko" is used to express that the egg is very small (for fishes, amphibians, small birds etc) or in colloquial Czech to avoid the problematic declension of "vejce". Naturally, the diminutive is inappropriate for extremely big eggs, like ostrich eggs.  

"Vajíčko" is also the formal term for the female reproductive cell or gamete.


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## Tagarela

Ahoj,



werrr said:


> The diminutive "vajíčko" is used to express that the egg is very small (for fishes, amphibians, small birds etc) or in colloquial Czech t*o avoid the problematic declension of "vejce".*



I'm sorry, but could you explain what problematic declension is that? 

Na shledanou.:


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## werrr

In standard Czech, it is of model "moře", but for some historical reason, there is a zero suffix in the plural genitive form:

case singular / plural
N vejce / vejce
G vejce	/ vajec
D vejci / vejcím
A vejce	/ vejce
V vejce	/ vejce
L vejci / vejcích
I vejcem / vejci

In addition, there is an irregularity within the word stem. In old Czech there was a sound shift from monosyllabic "aj" to "ej", hence we have "e" in all cases except plural genitive. To make the things worse, this sound shift was ignored by considerable part of Czech dialects.

In colloquial Czech, a lot of people tend to regularize the declension in the plural genitive to "vejcí" (as "moří"), or to infect the declension by the model "kuře" (vejce, bez vejcete, k vejceti...).

As result we have a chaotic system of colloquial declensions for "vejce/vajce", so no wonder a lot of people like to avoid the problems by using the diminutive "vajíčko" which is of standard model "město" and has no monosyllabic "aj".


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## Setwale_Charm

Mockrat dekuji.


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## Tagarela

Ahoj,

Werr, it seems to be really complicated.

I didn't understand the ej/aj part very well. *ej* should sound like *aj* or the other way round? 

So, for example, for _beans with egg_ it is better to say _Fazole *s vajíčkem*_ than _Fazole *s vejcem*_ ?

Děkuji za pomoc!

Na shledanou.:


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## jazyk

> I didn't understand the ej/aj part very well. *ej* should sound like *aj* or the other way round?


Neither. He just said the genitive plural has an unexpected aj, which doesn't come up in any of the other cases.



> So, for example, for _beans with egg_ it is better to say _Fazole *s vajíčkem*_ than _Fazole *s vejcem*_ ?


S vajíčkem (instr. sing.), s vajíčky (instr. pl.), s vejcem (instr. sing.), s vejci (instr. pl.).


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## cajzl

In Old Czech "*aj*" has changed to "*ej*", e.g. _daj!_ -> _dej!_ (give!), _vaj-ce_ -> _vej-ce _(egg).

But in plural genitive *vajec* and in the word *vajíčko* the "a" and "j" are not in the same syllable.

Therefore *va-jec* and *va-jíčko* has "*a*" unchanged.

The change aj -> ej originated in the Central Bohemia (Prague) area and never reached Moravia. Later the change was incorporated in Literary Czech.


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## Tagarela

Ahoj,



jazyk said:


> Neither. He just said the genitive plural has an unexpected aj, which doesn't come up in any of the other cases.
> 
> 
> S vajíčkem (instr. sing.), s vajíčky (instr. pl.), s vejcem (instr. sing.), s vejci (instr. pl.).



Thank you, Jazyk, but I'd like to know what is the most common way to say it, for example, how is it shown in restaurant menus -

_Něco s vajíčkem/vajíčky/vejcem/vejci._

Děkuji znovu za trpělivost

Na shledanou.:


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## winpoj

I think, Tagarela, that you can come across all the four options in menus and recipes. Like in English in fact, vejce and vajíčko can be uncountable so they can be used for dishes containing either one egg or multiple eggs. If you see something "s vejci" or "s vajíčky" you can be pretty sure that more than one egg has been used.


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## cajzl

In menus, *s vejcem/s vejci* is the commonest form:

čočka s vejcem
knedlíky s vejci
šunka s vejci
etc.

adjective is *vaječný* or *vajíčkový*

vaječný likér
vaječné těstoviny
vajíčkový salát

(*vejcový *or* vejčitý *means oviform, ovate)


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