"Whose tree is it?"
Translation:Čí je ten strom?
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Reading this answer I was a bit surprised but I guess it just means that the following sentences are semantically equivalent:
- Čí je ten strom?
- Čí je to strom?
Still, the grammatical structure is different, right? In the first case the subject is “ten strom” (whose is (that tree)), in the second it's just “to” (literally “whose is (that one) (a tree) = whose tree is that).” After all, “ten” can modify “strom” but “to” cannot, as “strom” is masculine (inanimate).
I would appreciate a correction if I am wrong.
"ten strom" is a fixed unit (that tree), with "ten" being the demostrative pronoun acting as a determiner, it can't be moved anywhere.
Instead of literally "Whose is that tree?" (Čí je ten strom?), we also have the option of saying literally "Whose tree is it/that?" -- and that translates to "Čí strom je to?" or "Čí je to strom?" -- here we have two word order choices, because the "to" is not a determiner of "strom" (note that it doesn't even match its gender), it just means "it".