Learn Hardcore Czech: Učitel mi dá odpověď a já odpovědi rozumím. - The teacher gives me the answer and I understand the answer.

dát (here dá) – perfective: a single, completed act → will give (once)
dávat (dává) – imperfective: repeated, habitual, or ongoing action → gives / is giving / used to give

In Učitel mi dá odpověď, the idea is “The teacher will give me an answer (on that specific occasion).”

So:

Učitel mi dá odpověď. – The teacher will give me an answer (this time, once).
Učitel mi dává odpovědi. – The teacher gives me answers (regularly / habitually).

Why is it mi and not mě/mne for “me”?

Czech has different forms for “me” depending on the case and whether the pronoun is stressed:

mi / mně – dative (“to me”, “for me”)
mě / mne – accusative/genitive (“me” as a direct object, or after some prepositions)

The verb dát “to give” works like English “to give (something) to someone” → it needs the dative for the person receiving:

Učitel mi dá odpověď. – The teacher will give me an answer.

So mi is correct because it’s dative.
You’d use mě/mne as a direct object, e.g. učitel mě vidí – the teacher sees me.

What’s the difference between odpověď and odpovědi in this sentence? They both mean “answer”, right?

They’re different cases of the same noun odpověď (“answer”):

odpověď – accusative singular (direct object of dá)
- Učitel mi dá odpověď. – The teacher will give me an answer.
odpovědi – dative singular (indirect object of rozumím)
- Já odpovědi rozumím. – I understand the answer.

The verb rozumět governs the dative case, so odpověď has to change to odpovědi.

It looks like a plural form, but in this sentence it is dative singular.

Why does rozumím take dative (odpovědi) instead of accusative, like in English “understand the answer”?

Some Czech verbs simply govern the dative instead of the accusative, and rozumět is one of them:

rozumět komu/čemu – to understand whom/what (in dative)

So you always say:

rozumím učiteli – I understand the teacher.
rozumím odpovědi – I understand the answer.

Using accusative (rozumím odpověď) would be incorrect. It’s just a fixed government pattern you have to memorize with the verb rozumět.

Is odpovědi here singular or plural? It looks like a plural word.

In já odpovědi rozumím, odpovědi is dative singular.

The noun odpověď is feminine and its forms overlap:

Nominative plural: odpovědi (answers)
Dative singular: odpovědi (to/for the answer)

Here the form is required by rozumět + dative, and we’re talking about the answer that was just given, so it’s singular.

You can confirm that by context: the first clause has odpověď (singular), so the second clause naturally refers back to that one answer.

Could I say Učitel mi dá odpověď a já jí rozumím instead of repeating odpověď?

Yes, that’s natural and even more typical:

Učitel mi dá odpověď a já jí rozumím.
- Literally: “The teacher will give me an answer and I understand it.”

Here:

jí is the dative singular of the feminine pronoun “she/it” (ona).
It stands for odpověď (which is feminine).

So both versions are correct:

…a já odpovědi rozumím.
…a já jí rozumím.

The second one just avoids repeating the noun.

Why is the word order odpovědi rozumím and not the “English-style” rozumím odpovědi?

Both word orders are grammatically correct:

Já odpovědi rozumím.
Já rozumím odpovědi.

Czech word order is more flexible than English. The choice affects emphasis rather than basic meaning:

Já odpovědi rozumím. – slight emphasis on odpovědi (the answer) as the known or important information.
Já rozumím odpovědi. – more neutral, similar to English order.

In everyday speech, you might hear:

Odpovědi rozumím. – emphasizing “I do understand the answer (unlike something else)”.

So the given word order is fine; it just highlights odpovědi a bit more.

Do we really need the pronoun já here? Can I just say Odpovědi rozumím?

You don’t need já. The verb ending -ím already shows the subject is I:

(Já) rozumím. – I understand.

Adding já usually gives emphasis:

Já odpovědi rozumím. – I understand the answer (maybe someone else doesn’t).

So all of these are correct:

Odpovědi rozumím. – perfectly natural, neutral.
Já odpovědi rozumím. – emphasizing “I”.

Why is it učitel and not učitele or učiteli?

Učitel is the subject of the sentence, so it’s in nominative singular:

Učitel mi dá odpověď. – The teacher will give me an answer.

Other forms you might see:

učitele – accusative or genitive singular (e.g. vidím učitele – I see the teacher)
učiteli – dative or locative singular (e.g. zavolám učiteli – I’ll call the teacher)

Here we just need nominative because “the teacher” is the one who does the action.

Could we use odpovědět instead of dát odpověď? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say it more simply with the verb odpovědět “to answer”:

Učitel mi odpoví a já odpovědi rozumím.
- odpoví is the future form of odpovědět (perfective).

Difference in style:

dát odpověď – literally “to give an answer”; a bit more formal or explicit.
odpovědět – “to answer”; shorter and very common.

Meaning-wise, Učitel mi dá odpověď ≈ Učitel mi odpoví.

Can I say Učitel dá mi odpověď, or does mi have to come right after učitel?

In Czech, short pronouns like mi, ti, ho, jí, se, si are clitics and typically go in second position in the clause.

So the natural placement is:

Učitel mi dá odpověď. ✅

Učitel dá mi odpověď sounds unnatural or wrong in standard Czech.
If you start the sentence differently, the clitic still tries to be second:

Zítra mi učitel dá odpověď.
Odpověď mi učitel dá zítra.

So: keep mi very early in the sentence, usually right after the first stressed word.

Is there any problem with mixing dá (future) and rozumím (present) in one sentence?

No problem; this is normal in Czech.

dá – perfective present → future meaning (“will give”)
rozumím – imperfective present → current/general state (“I understand”)

The sentence describes:

A specific future action: the teacher will give me an answer.
A general or ongoing ability/state: I understand that answer (when I get it / in general).

You could also make both future if you wanted to stress the future understanding:

Učitel mi dá odpověď a já jí budu rozumět. – The teacher will give me an answer and I will understand it.

But the original mix is perfectly idiomatic.