The article deals with differences between languages, the differences between lexical systems of English and Czech. I focus on compound substantives, which provide interesting material for studying such differences because they choose a combination of meanings to denote the particular element of extralinguistic reality. Two language communities do not have the same needs. Various features or phenomena are important in language speaking communities and thus this combination is not the same in different languages. I compared English compound substantives to their Czech equivalents to fi nd out, describe and analyse semantic differences in expressing the components of the English compound in Czech. The study shows the differences in the combinations of meanings the two languages use to denote the same element of extralinguistic reality and the differences in the perception of extralinguistic reality by the speakers of the two languages compared. Zdroj anotace: OKCZ - ANOTACE Z WEBU