obdobou

Obdobou is the instrumental singular form of the Czech noun období, which means a period, epoch, or era. The word refers to a defined stretch of time and is used to describe events, conditions, or developments that occur within that stretch.

In contemporary Czech, obdobou appears mainly in written, formal, or historical contexts. It expresses ideas such as “during the period of” or “throughout a period.” The form is used in constructions that require the instrumental case and can be found in phrases where emphasis is placed on the time span being discussed. It is often encountered in literary or scholarly prose and in historical narratives.

Etymology and related forms: období is built from the root doba (time) with the prefix ob-, forming a term that designates a specific phase or interval. The noun is related to other Czech words such as doba (time) and obdoba (analogue, counterpart), and Slovak uses obdobie with a similar meaning. The instrumental form obdobou follows Czech inflection patterns for neuter nouns in this stem class, and it contrasts with the nominative/accusative form období.

Usage notes: obdobou is primarily a formal or literary option for indicating a time span. In everyday speech, speakers more commonly use phrases like v období or během období to express a similar idea, depending on the preferred cadence and register. As a grammatical form, obdobou is one of several ways Czech writers can foreground temporal context in a sentence.

See also: období, doba, obdoba, obdobie (Slovak).