Learn Hardcore Czech: Pro mě je ten film nudný, protože už ho znám. - For me that film is boring because I already know it.

Pro mě je ten film nudný…
– Starts with “for me”, so it highlights that this is your personal opinion, possibly different from others.
Ten film je pro mě nudný…
– Starts with “that film”, more neutral focus on the film itself, then adds “for me”.

Czech word order is quite flexible. Both versions are natural; the difference is in emphasis, not in grammar.

Why is it „ten film“ and not just „film“?

The word ten literally means “that”, but in Czech it’s very common to use ten (or ta, to) similarly to a definite article “the” in English.

ten film – a specific film that both speakers know about.
just film – sounds more general, like “film as a type of thing” or “films in general”.

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific film, so ten film is very typical.

Could I also say „Pro mě je to nudný film“ instead of „Pro mě je ten film nudný“? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

Pro mě je ten film nudný.
– Focuses on a specific film and describes its property: “that film is boring (for me)”.
Pro mě je to nudný film.
– Sounds more like a classification: “for me, this is a boring kind of film / it counts as a boring film”.

In everyday speech, both are fine; the difference is subtle.

Why does the adjective end in -ý: „nudný“?

Because it has to agree with „film“ in:

gender: masculine
number: singular
case: nominative (subject)

film = masculine inanimate singular nominative → the basic form of an adjective is nudný (boring).

So we get: ten film je nudný.
For example:

ta kniha je nudná (feminine)
to město je nudné (neuter)

Could I also say „Ten film mě nudí“ instead of „ten film je nudný“?

Yes, and it’s a very natural alternative:

Ten film je nudný. – “The film is boring.” (adjective)
Ten film mě nudí. – “The film bores me.” (verb nudit, to bore).

Your original sentence could be rephrased as:

Ten film mě nudí, protože už ho znám.
(“The film bores me because I already know it.”)

Why is there a comma before „protože“?

In Czech, protože (“because”) almost always introduces a subordinate clause, and you normally separate subordinate clauses with a comma.

So:

Pro mě je ten film nudný, protože už ho znám.

This is a standard rule in written Czech, unlike English, where you can sometimes skip the comma before “because”.

Can I put the because-clause first, like in English: „Protože už ho znám, je pro mě ten film nudný.“?

Yes, that’s fully correct and quite natural:

✅ Protože už ho znám, je pro mě ten film nudný.

Starting with protože… puts stronger emphasis on the reason (“because I already know it”) and then gives the result.

What exactly does „už“ add in „protože už ho znám“?

už means “already”, and it adds the idea that this is not new for you anymore.

protože ho znám – because I know it
protože už ho znám – because I already know it / I’ve known it before → that’s why it’s boring now.

Without už, the sentence is still correct, but it loses that “it’s not new anymore” nuance.

Why is it „znám“ and not something like a present perfect (“I have known / I have seen”)?

Czech doesn’t have a present perfect tense like English.
The verb znát in the present tense expresses a current state that often comes from past experience.

už ho znám literally = “I already know it”
But in context of a film, it usually implies:
→ I’ve already seen it / I’m already familiar with it.

English uses present perfect for this; Czech just uses simple present.

Why do we use „znát“ and not „vědět“?

Because in Czech:

znát + accusative → to be familiar with a person or thing
- znám ten film – I know that film / I’m familiar with it
vědět → to know a fact / information, used with clauses or question words
- vím, že ten film je nudný – I know that the film is boring
- nevím, kdy ten film začíná – I don’t know when the film starts

You cannot say *vědět film. That’s ungrammatical.

What does „ho“ refer to, and why is it „ho“, not „to“ or „jeho“?

ho here is a short object pronoun meaning “him/it”, referring back to ten film.

ten film is masculine singular
the unstressed object pronoun for masculine singular is ho (from jeho)

So:

už ho znám – I already know it (the film).

Why not the others?

to – neuter, doesn’t match the gender of film; also znát to feels more like “know about that thing (in general)”, not a specific movie.
jeho – full (stressed) form; usually used for possessive (“his”) or when you really want to emphasize the object. Here we want a normal, unstressed pronoun, so ho is standard.

Can I say „Protože ho už znám“ instead of „protože už ho znám“? How free is the word order there?

Yes, you can say:

✅ protože už ho znám
✅ protože ho už znám

Both are grammatical. The differences:

protože už ho znám – very typical; už (= already) is highlighted a bit more.
protože ho už znám – slightly more emphasis on ho (“him/it I already know”), but in everyday speech the difference is small.

In both cases, the short pronoun ho must stay in an early position in the clause (Czech has rules about clitics appearing near the beginning).