tretích

Tretích, often written as třetích with diacritics, is the genitive plural form of the Czech ordinal numeral třetí, meaning “the third.” It is used in contexts where the noun it modifies is in the genitive plural or when the numeral participates in a phrase that requires genitive case. As an ordinal numeral, tretích functions like an adjective and agrees with the noun in number, gender and case.

In Czech, ordinal numerals such as třetí decline like adjectives. The base form is třetí; other forms vary by gender and case. The genitive plural form, used in phrases requiring genitive, is tretích. The diacritics-correct form is třetích, while non-diacritic spellings appear in plain-text or data-only contexts as tretich or similar variants depending on the system.

Tretích is commonly encountered in formal, historical, or legal writing, as well as in enumerations that call for precise ordering within a group. It appears most often when the noun it modifies is plural and in the genitive case, such as phrases describing positions, sequences or quantities within a larger set.

Etymology traces tretích to the Proto-Slavic word for “third” and to cognate forms in other Slavic languages, such as Polish trzeci, Russian третий (tretij), and Slovene tretji. The form tretích reflects typical Czech patterning for ordinal numerals in the genitive plural. Related forms include the base třetí and other inflected variants used across grammatical cases.

See also: třetí, Czech grammar, numerals.