Starého

Starého is a grammatical form of the Czech and Slovak adjective starý, meaning old. It is used as the genitive singular and the accusative singular masculine form when the adjective modifies a masculine singular noun. For example, dům starého muže means “the house of an old man,” and starého psa means “an old dog” (accusative of a masculine animate noun).

Because the endings change with gender and grammatical case, starého does not appear with feminine or neuter nouns in the same way. Other forms of the adjective include starý muž (nominative masculine), stará žena (nominative feminine), and staré dítě (nominative neuter). The phrase starého času is a common idiomatic use meaning “of old times,” illustrating genitive usage with a masculine noun.

In addition to ordinary grammar, starého also appears in possessive constructions involving surnames. The surname Starý exists in Czech and Slovak, and in phrases such as domu pana Starého the form Starého denotes the genitive of the surname, indicating ownership or association.

Etymology traces starý to Proto-Slavic *starъ, with cognates across Slavic languages (e.g., Slovak starý, Polish stary, Russian staryy). The form starého thus reflects historical inflectional patterns shared by these languages and remains in current use to mark masculine genitive or accusative singular in Czech and Slovak.