Questions & Answers about Můj syn dnes spí dobře.
Can I change the word order, for example to Dnes můj syn spí dobře or Můj syn spí dnes dobře? Are they all correct?
Yes, Czech word order is fairly flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:
- Můj syn dnes spí dobře. – Neutral: a simple statement of fact.
- Dnes můj syn spí dobře. – Emphasizes dnes (today), e.g. compared to other days.
- Můj syn spí dnes dobře. – Slight emphasis on dnes or on the combination spí dnes; still natural, though a bit less neutral than the first.
Czech tends to keep the subject–time–verb–manner ordering in neutral sentences, but shifting elements earlier in the sentence is a common way to emphasize them.
Why is it Můj syn, and not something like Mého syna?
Because můj syn is the subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative case.
- Můj syn – nominative (who is sleeping?) → My son (subject)
- Mého syna – genitive/accusative (of my son / my son as an object)
- e.g. Vidím mého syna. – I see my son.
In this sentence, you are saying who is sleeping well, not referring to him as an object, so nominative (můj syn) is required.
How does the possessive pronoun můj change with different genders and cases?