Breakdown of Dědeček teď není v práci, sedí doma vedle babičky.
Questions & Answers about Dědeček teď není v práci, sedí doma vedle babičky.
In Czech, close family members are very often understood as “my X” from context, so you don’t have to say můj (my) every time.
- Dědeček není v práci.
= Grandpa / my grandfather is not at work.
If you need to be explicit (for contrast or clarity), you can add the possessive:
- Můj dědeček teď není v práci.
= My grandfather is not at work now (as opposed to someone else’s).
So dědeček alone is perfectly normal and natural in Czech in a family context.
Czech has several words for “grandfather,” with slightly different tones:
- dědeček – neutral, standard, a bit affectionate (literally a diminutive of děd, but this is the usual word)
- děda – more informal/colloquial, like grandpa / granddad
- děd – archaic or poetic, rarely used in everyday speech
In ordinary conversation, dědeček and děda are both common; dědeček sounds a bit more “proper” or childlike-affectionate, děda more casual.
The sentence has two main clauses:
- Dědeček teď není v práci,
- (dědeček) sedí doma vedle babičky.
In English you might connect them with and:
- Grandpa is not at work now, *he is sitting at home next to Grandma.*
In Czech, it is very common to connect short main clauses with just a comma, without a conjunction:
- Dědeček teď není v práci, sedí doma vedle babičky.
You could add a (and) – Dědeček teď není v práci a sedí doma vedle babičky – but the version with a comma is completely normal and very natural in narrative style.
Czech normally omits the subject when it is clear from context. Once dědeček is mentioned, it is understood that he is still the subject:
- Dědeček teď není v práci, (on) sedí doma vedle babičky.
(on = he)
Adding on or repeating dědeček is possible but would usually sound heavy or emphatic:
- Dědeček teď není v práci, on sedí doma vedle babičky.
– emphasises he, maybe contrasting with someone else.
Yes, sedí means he/she/it sits and also he/she/it is sitting, depending on context. Czech does not have a separate continuous tense like English.
- sedí doma
= he sits at home OR he is sitting at home (now)
The idea of “right now” is expressed by context or by adverbs like teď (now), právě (just/at the moment). In your sentence, teď earlier in the sentence sets up the “now” context for the whole thing:
- Dědeček teď není v práci, sedí doma vedle babičky.
= Grandpa is not at work right now; he is sitting at home next to Grandma.
The noun práce (work) is feminine. Its locative singular form is práci, and the preposition v (in/at) often uses the locative to express location.
- práce – nominative (dictionary form)
- v práci – locative after v, meaning at work (the workplace / job)
So:
- Dědeček není v práci.
= Grandpa is not at work.
This is an idiomatic phrase meaning “at his job,” not literally “inside the work.”
Both are related to “home / house,” but they differ in meaning:
doma – an adverb meaning at home (where someone lives; home as a place of belonging)
- Jsem doma. – I am at home.
v domě – literally in the house (building), focusing on the physical building rather than the idea of “home”
- Jsem v domě. – I am in the house.
In your sentence, sedí doma means he is at home, not just somewhere inside some building.
The preposition vedle (next to, beside) always takes the genitive case.
The noun babička (grandma) is feminine:
- nominative singular: babička – used as subject
- genitive singular: babičky – used after vedle
So:
- babička – Grandma (as subject)
- vedle babičky – next to Grandma
That’s why the ending changes from -a to -y.
Both versions are grammatically correct:
- Dědeček teď není v práci.
- Dědeček není teď v práci.
The most neutral is probably the one you have: Dědeček teď není v práci, where teď (now) naturally comes early, setting the time frame.
Putting teď after není slightly highlights the negation in connection with now, like:
- Dědeček není teď v práci – more like He is not at work now (even though he might normally be).
The difference is subtle; both are understood the same in most contexts.
Teď and teďka both mean now.
- teď – neutral, standard, used everywhere
- teďka – more colloquial / informal, like right now or nowadays in some contexts, depending on tone and region
In this sentence, teď is perfectly normal. You could say:
- Dědeček teďka není v práci, sedí doma vedle babičky.
That would just sound a bit more informal or conversational.
Both are understandable and grammatically correct. Word order in Czech is flexible, but influences emphasis and flow.
- sedí doma vedle babičky – the more natural order here; doma comes first, giving the general place (at home), then vedle babičky narrows it down (next to Grandma).
- sedí vedle babičky doma – grammatically OK, but sounds a bit less natural; it emphasizes next to Grandma first and adds at home at the end, almost as an afterthought.
In everyday speech, sedí doma vedle babičky is the preferred, smooth version.
Approximate English-based guidance (Czech is more phonetic than English):
dědeček – [ˈɟɛdɛtʃɛk]
- dě – like dye but with the tongue closer to the y in yes (soft ď
- e)
- de – like de in desert (short e)
- ček – chek, with č like ch in church
Roughly: DYE-de-chek (all syllables short and clear)
- dě – like dye but with the tongue closer to the y in yes (soft ď
babička – [ˈbabɪtʃka]
- ba – like ba in bat
- bi – like bi in bit
- čka – chka, with č as in church, then ka
Roughly: BA-bi-chka (again, short vowels, no English-style diphthongs)
Listening to native recordings will help the most, but this gives a first approximation.