Learn Hardcore Czech: Pro moji babičku je kniha zajímavější než film a televize je pro ni nudná. - For my grandmother a book is more interesting than a film and television is boring for her.

Pro moji babičku… = For my grandmother… / From my grandmother’s point of view…
This stresses that what follows is true specifically for her, not necessarily in general.
Moje babička si myslí, že kniha je zajímavější… = My grandmother thinks that the book is more interesting…
This focuses on her as the thinker of the opinion.

In Czech, „pro + accusative“ is very common to express things like:

pro mě – for me / in my opinion
pro tebe – for you
pro děti je to těžké – it’s hard for children

So „Pro moji babičku je kniha zajímavější…“ literally means: > For my grandmother, the book is more interesting…

Why is it „babičku“ and not „babička“?

Because of the preposition „pro“.

pro always takes the accusative case.
babička is the nominative (dictionary form).
The accusative singular of babička is babičku.

Declension (singular) of babička (a regular feminine noun like žena type):

Nominative (who? what?): babička – Babička čte. (Grandma is reading.)
Accusative (whom? what?): babičku – Vidím babičku. (I see Grandma.)
After pro → must be pro babičku, not pro babička.

So:

Pro moji babičku = For my grandmother
Moje babička = My grandmother (as the subject)

Why „moji babičku“ and not „moje babičku“? What’s going on with moje / moji / mou?

This is a classic confusion point.

The possessive „můj“ (my) has several forms. For feminine singular:

Nominative: má / moje – Moje babička… (My grandmother…)
Accusative: mou / moji (also written mojí) – pro mou / moji babičku

Key points:

Here we need the accusative (because of pro), so:
- ✅ pro mou babičku
- ✅ pro moji (mojí) babičku
- ❌ pro moje babičku ← wrong case form
„Moje“ is nominative (e.g. Moje babička bydlí v Brně.),
but after pro we can’t use nominative.
„moji“ is a bit tricky because:
- It is accusative feminine singular here (pro moji babičku),
- but „moji“ is also nominative masculine animate plural:
  moji bratři – my brothers.

Context tells you which is which.

So your options in this sentence are:

Pro mou babičku je kniha…
Pro moji (mojí) babičku je kniha…

All are correct and natural.

Could I move „pro moji babičku“ to a different place in the sentence?

Yes. Czech word order is flexible, and changes the emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Possible variants:

Pro moji babičku je kniha zajímavější než film.
Neutral: For my grandmother, the book is more interesting than the film.
Kniha je pro moji babičku zajímavější než film.
More focus on kniha (the book): The book is more interesting for my grandmother than the film is.
Kniha je zajímavější než film pro moji babičku.
Grammatically OK, but sounds a bit clumsy; we usually keep „pro někoho“ near the adjective.

In general, for this kind of sentence you’ll most often hear:

Pro moji babičku je kniha…
Kniha je pro moji babičku…

How is „zajímavější“ formed, and why don’t we say something like „více zajímavá“?

„Zajímavější“ is the comparative of the adjective „zajímavý“ (interesting).

Formation:

zajímavý → zajímavější (more interesting)

Many Czech adjectives form the comparative with the suffix ‑ejší / ‑ější, for example:

krásný → krásnější (more beautiful)
drahý → dražší (more expensive)
zajímavý → zajímavější

Using „více zajímavý“ is understandable, but:

In standard, natural Czech, you normally prefer the single-word comparative:
zajímavější rather than více zajímavý.
„více + adjective“ is used mainly for emphasis or in some stylistic contexts, not as the default.

So in this sentence, „kniha je zajímavější než film“ is the normal way to say “the book is more interesting than the film.”

Why is the comparison „zajímavější než film“ and not something like „zajímavější jak film“?

In standard Czech:

The usual word for “than” in comparisons is „než“.
„jak“ / „jako“ is used for equality, not inequality.

Examples:

Je vyšší než já. – He is taller than me.
Je stejně vysoký jako já. – He is as tall as I am.

So with comparatives (‑ší, ‑ější forms or with víc(e)), use:

než → zajímavější než film, lepší než já, větší než dům

Using „jak“ instead of „než“ (e.g. zajímavější jak film) is common in some dialects and informal speech, but it’s considered non‑standard or colloquial. For learners, stick to „než“ in comparisons.

Could it be „zajímavější než filmem“ or some other case for „film“?

No. After „zajímavější než…“, the standard form is nominative or accusative (the basic form of the noun), not instrumental.

You say:

zajímavější než film – more interesting than the film
vyšší než dům – taller than the house
lepší než já – better than me (here já is in accusative, but the form looks the same)

Instrumental (like filmem) is not used with „než“ to express “than”.
So:

✅ zajímavější než film
❌ zajímavější než filmem

Why do we repeat „pro“ in the second part: „…a televize je pro ni nudná“? Could we just say „…a televize je nudná“?

You could say „a televize je nudná“, but the meaning shifts slightly.

a televize je nudná
→ Sounds more like a general statement: TV is boring (in general).
a televize je pro ni nudná
→ Clearly keeps the focus on your grandmother’s opinion:
TV is boring for her.

The sentence is organised like this:

Pro moji babičku → sets up whose perspective we are talking about.
kniha je zajímavější než film → positive side (book).
a televize je pro ni nudná → negative side (TV), explicitly tied back to her again.

So repeating „pro ni“ keeps the connection to your grandmother and avoids the reading “TV is boring for everyone.”

Why is it „pro ni“ and not „pro ji“ or „pro jí“?

This is about pronoun forms after prepositions.

For the pronoun „ona“ (she), some forms:

Nominative: ona
Accusative: ji / ni
Dative: jí / ní
Genitive: jí / ní
Locative: (o) ní
Instrumental: jí / ní

Rule:
After any preposition, you must use the forms with initial „n‑“:

pro ni
bez ní
k ní
o ní
s ní

So:

✅ pro ni
❌ pro ji
❌ pro jí

In this sentence, „pro ni“ = “for her” (accusative after pro).

What’s the difference between „ni“ and „ní“? Could we say „pro ní“?

They are closely related forms of the same pronoun, but with different typical uses.

For ona after prepositions:

Accusative (whom?): usually „ni“ → pro ni, na ni
Genitive, dative, locative, instrumental: usually „ní“
→ bez ní, k ní, o ní, s ní

In everyday speech, people sometimes say „pro ní“ too, especially when they want to stress it, but the most standard and neutral form is:

pro ni (here, accusative)

So for learners:

Learn „pro ni“ for “for her”.
Use „ní“ with other prepositions: bez ní, k ní, s ní, o ní.

Why is „nudná“ with ‑á, but „zajímavější“ looks the same no matter what it describes?

This is about adjective agreement and comparative forms.

„nudná“ is a plain adjective in the positive degree:
- Base form: nudný – boring
- Feminine singular nominative: nudná (ending ‑á)
It agrees with „televize“, which is:
- feminine
- singular
- nominative (subject)
So:
- nudná televize
- Televize je nudná.
„zajímavější“ is a comparative:
- Base form: zajímavý – interesting
- Comparative: zajímavější – more interesting
In Czech, many comparative forms do not show gender in their ending; they look the same for masculine/feminine/neuter in nominative singular:
- kniha je zajímavější
- film je zajímavější
- televize je zajímavější

So:

„nudná“ changes according to gender.
„zajímavější“ is already a special comparative form and doesn’t show gender difference in this position.

Why do we have „je“ twice: „…je kniha zajímavější než film a televize je pro ni nudná“? Could it be only once?

You can say it with or without the second „je“, but the style changes.

As given:
- …kniha je zajímavější než film a televize je pro ni nudná.
- Two separate clauses:
  - the book is more interesting than the film
  - and TV is boring for her
This is clear and natural.
Without repeating „je“:
- …kniha je zajímavější než film a televize nudná.
- Grammatically possible, but sounds more written, compressed, or stylistic, not typical for everyday speech.

Repeating „je“ in coordinated clauses is very common and keeps the sentence easy to process, especially for learners. Most natives would naturally include the second „je“ here.

Is „televize“ singular or plural here, and what exactly does it mean?

In this sentence, „televize“ is singular feminine.

It can mean either:

the medium – “television” as a form of entertainment in general, or
the physical device – the TV set

Context usually clarifies it. Here:

televize je pro ni nudná
→ Naturally understood as television (as a medium) is boring for her.

Some useful pairs:

televize – TV (medium or device, often context-dependent)
televizor – TV set (the physical appliance; a bit more technical/precise)

So grammatically:

ta televize – that TV (feminine singular)
Televize je nudná. – TV is boring.