# Grammar: split a phrase



## Riveritos

Hello everybody.
Someone told me that when you need to split a phrase containing the preposition "z" in Czech language it is absolutely necessary to put this preposition at the beginning of the line, therefore it is a mistake to write:
"*Olej extrahovaný** z 
plody palmy*"
And the correct form would be:
"*Olej extrahovan**ý** 
z plody palmy*"
Is that true? is it a grammar mistake? 
Could you please tell me where can I find the rules for splitting the phrases in Czech language? 
Thanks in advance.


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## Lukiz

It is probably mixture of grammatical and typographical error. Some rules you could find here: http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/?id=880


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## winpoj

As an aside:

Olej extrahovaný z *plodů *palmy.

It could also be more natural to say "z kokosových ořechů" as I suppose that fruits of the palm tree are coconuts.


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## Riveritos

I have read a lot about grammar but I haven't found anything about splitting a phrase.
Is it possible to say that when you have a phrase with the preposition "*z*",  if you don't have enough space in a line and you have to split it into 2 lines, you can't leave the preposition "z" at the end of the first line but at the beginning of the second line?
Does it happen with all the prepositions?
Is it a big mistake to write
Olej extrahovaný *z 
*plodů palmy?
Leaving the preposition at the end of the first line? 
Thank you.


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## K.u.r.t

It is indeed true that "z" needs to be on the same line as the noun. Czech prepositions can be divided into two groups

1. z, s, v, k - these cannot be on the separate line
2. u, nad, pod, ... all the others - these can be on a separate line

The first group consists of prepositions that do not form a syllable on their own. When pronounced, this prepositions is amalgamated to the 1st syllable of the following noun. So when the reader gets to the end of line he does not need to read "z" followed by a moment of silence (during which his gaze goes to the beginning of the next line)

The second group is made up of the prepositions that do form a syllable on its own and can thus be left alone at the end of the line.


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## Riveritos

Thank you so much for your help K.u.r.t.


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## werrr

This is more about the typographic culture than about grammar. Sometimes, it is acceptable to break line between non-syllabic preposition and the following word. In thin columns, for instance. Also in plain text files.

You can prevent the line breaking with the hard space. Better text editors (with support for Czech language!) automatically insert hard space if necessary.


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## Fantomas.CZ

It's probably not a mistake. In primary school we were taught to write the preposition always at the beginning od the new line, in case it would remain stuck in the end. But you see very often that this rule is disregarded...

BTW - there are maybe 2 groups of prepositions, but if you're reading correctly (i. e. according to "Česká výslovnostní norma"), you can never separate a preposition from the following word, regardless what type is it...


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## bibax

There are indeed two groups of prepositions:

- primary (from proto-IE language): v, s, k, pro ...

- secondary (usually derived from nouns): proti, mezi, kolem, okolo, ...

You can separate the secondary (usually two-syllable) prepositions from the following noun.

In primary school I was taught to write only the *one-syllable* preposition (including u, nad, pod, ...) at the beginning of the new line, in case it would remain stuck in the end.


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