di/ti/ni vs dy/ty/ny

After d, t, and n, i/í makes a soft sound. y/ý keeps the consonant hard.

Soft i, hard y

With d/t/n, the vowel letter is also a pronunciation cue: di/ti/ni are soft, but dy/ty/ny are hard.

Clue / sound

di / dí

Written form

dívka

Note

di/dí sounds soft, close to ďi/ďí.

Clue / sound

dy / dý

Written form

kdy

Note

dy keeps a hard d sound.

Clue / sound

ti / tí

Written form

ticho

Note

ti/tí sounds soft, close to ťi/ťí.

Clue / sound

ty / tý

Written form

Note

ty keeps a hard t sound.

Clue / sound

ni / ní

Written form

nic

Note

ni/ní sounds soft, close to ňi/ňí.

Clue / sound

ny / ný

Written form

noviny

Note

ny keeps a hard n sound.

Clue / sound	Written form	Note
di / dí	dívka	di/dí sounds soft, close to ďi/ďí.
dy / dý	kdy	dy keeps a hard d sound.
ti / tí	ticho	ti/tí sounds soft, close to ťi/ťí.
ty / tý	ty	ty keeps a hard t sound.
ni / ní	nic	ni/ní sounds soft, close to ňi/ňí.
ny / ný	noviny	ny keeps a hard n sound.