Chlebové těsto musíme překládat.

must/to have to

Breakdown of Chlebové těsto musíme překládat.

• chlebové těsto: the bread dough
• překládat: to fold (dough)

Questions & Answers about Chlebové těsto musíme překládat.

Why does chlebové těsto come first in the sentence?

Because Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order.

Putting chlebové těsto first makes it the topic of the sentence — the thing we are already talking about. A more neutral, less topicalized order would be:

Musíme překládat chlebové těsto.

Both mean the same basic thing. The version with Chlebové těsto first feels a bit like:

As for the bread dough, we have to fold it.

Is chlebové těsto the subject or the object here?

It is the direct object of překládat.

The subject is only understood from the verb musíme, which means we must / we have to. Czech often leaves subject pronouns unstated because the verb ending already shows the person.

So the structure is basically:

(My) musíme překládat chlebové těsto.
= We have to fold the bread dough.

If chlebové těsto is the object, why does it look like the nominative form?

Because těsto is a neuter singular noun, and for many neuter nouns the nominative singular and accusative singular are identical.

So:

• těsto = nominative singular
• těsto = accusative singular

The adjective matches that too:

• chlebové těsto = nominative singular
• chlebové těsto = accusative singular

So even though it looks like a subject form, in this sentence it is functioning as the accusative direct object.