Já mám ráda studené mléko po obědě.

I like cold milk after lunch.

Breakdown of Já mám ráda studené mléko po obědě.

• já: I
• mít rád: to like
• studený: cold
• po: after
• oběd: the lunch
• mléko: the milk

Questions & Answers about Já mám ráda studené mléko po obědě.

Why does the sentence begin with Já mám ráda instead of just Mám ráda?

In Czech the personal pronoun já (“I”) is usually optional because the verb mám already indicates the first person singular. You include já only for emphasis or clarity. Both of these are correct and mean the same: • Já mám ráda… (stressed “I like …”)
• Mám ráda… (neutral “I like …”)

What exactly does mít rád(a) mean and how does it work?

mít rád(a) literally means “to have fondness (for)” and is how you say “to like.”
• mít is the verb “to have.”
• rád (masculine) / ráda (feminine) is an adjective meaning “fond” or “glad.”
You conjugate mít normally (já mám, ty máš, on/ona má, …) and then use rád/ráda/rádi/rády to agree in gender and number with the subject. The thing you like goes into the accusative case.

Why is the word ráda and not rád?

The adjective rád/ráda must agree in gender with the speaker:
• A male speaker says Mám rád…
• A female speaker says Mám ráda…

How do I know that studené belongs with mléko and why does it end in -é?

mléko is a neuter noun. Czech adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number, and case. Here both words are in the nominative singular:
• Neuter nominative singular of studenný is studené
• Neuter nominative singular of mléko is mléko
So you get studené mléko (“cold milk”).

Why is po obědě used for “after lunch,” and why is obědě in that form?

The preposition po (“after”) always takes the locative case. The noun oběd (“lunch”) in the locative singular becomes obědě. Thus po obědě means “after lunch.”

Can I move the words around? For example, could I say Po obědě mám ráda studené mléko?

Yes. Czech has a fairly flexible word order.
• Po obědě mám ráda studené mléko. (stressing when)
• Studené mléko mám ráda po obědě. (stressing what)
All versions mean essentially the same thing, just with different emphasis.

Why are there no articles like “a” or “the” before studené mléko?

Czech does not use definite or indefinite articles. You simply say studené mléko for “cold milk,” and context tells you whether it’s any cold milk or a specific glass of it.

Is mléko in the accusative case after mám ráda?

Yes. The verb mít takes a direct object in the accusative. For neuter nouns like mléko, the nominative and accusative forms are identical in the singular, but grammatically it is still the accusative case.

Could I express the same idea with líbí se?

Certainly. Using líbí se (“to be pleasing”) you would say:
Líbí se mi studené mléko po obědě.
Here mi is the dative of “me,” and studené mléko remains the subject. Word order can vary for emphasis.