Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

How much time this evening will you sit by the TV?

Breakdown of Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

• být: to be
• sedět: to sit
• dnes: today
• večer: the evening
• ty: you
• televize: the television
• u: at
• čas: the time
• kolik: how much

Questions & Answers about Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

What does Kolik času literally mean, and why is času in that form?

Kolik času literally means “how much of time”, i.e. “how much time”.

• Kolik = how much / how many.
• čas = time (basic dictionary form).
• času is the genitive singular of čas.

In Czech, kolik is followed by the genitive case, so:

• kolik vody – how much (of) water
• kolik peněz – how much (of) money
• kolik času – how much (of) time

So the form času is required by kolik.

Could I say Jak dlouho dnes večer budeš sedět u televize? instead? What’s the difference between Kolik času and Jak dlouho?

Yes, you can say:

• Jak dlouho dnes večer budeš sedět u televize? – How long will you sit in front of the TV this evening?

Meaning-wise, they are almost the same.

Nuance:

• Kolik času…? literally focuses on the amount of time (how much time).
• Jak dlouho…? focuses on the duration (how long).

In everyday speech, both are very natural, and in this sentence they are practically interchangeable.

Why is budeš sedět used? Why not just sedíš for the future?

Budeš sedět is the future tense of the imperfective verb sedět (to sit).

Czech usually forms the future of imperfective verbs with být (to be) + infinitive:

• budeš sedět – you will sit
• budu pracovat – I will work
• budeme čekat – we will wait

Using the present sedíš usually refers to now:

• Dnes večer sedíš u televize. – This sounds more like a fixed arrangement (“This evening you’re sitting at the TV,” almost like a schedule).

With dnes večer, both are technically possible, but budeš sedět is the clear, neutral future: you will be sitting.

What is the function of dnes večer? Does it literally mean “today evening”?

Yes. Dnes večer literally is “today evening”, and it corresponds to English “this evening / tonight” (in the sense of the evening of today).

• dnes = today
• večer = evening

Word order is flexible:

• Dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?
• Budeš dnes večer sedět u televize?

Both are fine and mean the same. Dnes večer just sets the time when the action will happen.

Why is there no pronoun ty in budeš sedět? How do we know it’s “you”?

In Czech, personal pronouns are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person.

• budeš sedět – you (singular) will sit
  The ending -eš marks 2nd person singular.

You can add the pronoun ty for emphasis:

• Ty budeš dnes večer sedět u televize? – You will be sitting at the TV tonight? (implies surprise or contrast)

But the neutral, normal sentence omits ty:
Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

What exactly does u televize mean? Why u and not na?

u televize literally means “at the television / by the television”, i.e. physically near the TV set.

• u
  • genitive = at / by / near something
    
    • u stolu – at the table
    • u okna – by the window
    • u televize – at the TV

na televizi would mean “on the TV” (e.g. a vase is standing on top of the TV) or, in another context, “on television” (on TV as a medium), but for sitting in front of the TV the standard phrase is u televize or před televizí (“in front of the TV”).

So here, u televize = sitting at / by / in front of the TV.

Could I also say před televizí instead of u televize?

Yes:

• Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět před televizí?

This is also correct and very common.

Nuance:

• u televize – at the TV (neutral, idiomatic for “spending time with the TV on”)
• před televizí – literally in front of the TV (more spatial/visual)

In practice, both are frequently used to mean “watching TV” or “sitting by the TV”.

Why is the word televize in the form televize and not something like televizí here?

Televize is a feminine noun.

The preposition u requires the genitive case:

• u + genitive → at / by something.

The genitive singular of televize happens to be televize as well (same form as the nominative):

• nominative: televize – the television
• genitive: u televize – at the television

If you use před (in front of), it takes the instrumental:

• před televizí – in front of the television (here the ending -í shows instrumental).

Can I drop the word času and just say Kolik dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

You can, and people do say that:

• Kolik dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

In context, it will be understood as “How long will you sit…?”, because kolik plus a time context naturally suggests duration.

However, this use of kolik without a noun can sound a bit colloquial or incomplete in careful speech.

If you want a fully clear, standard form, use either:

• Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?
• Jak dlouho dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?

Is sedět u televize the usual way to say “to watch TV”?

It’s understandable, but more literally it means “to sit at/by the TV”, emphasizing the sitting.

The most typical expressions for “to watch TV” are:

• dívat se na televizi – to watch TV
• sledovat televizi – to watch/follow TV (often programs)

So a more idiomatic “watch TV” version of the sentence would be:

• Kolik času dnes večer budeš koukat na televizi? (colloquial)
• Kolik času dnes večer se budeš dívat na televizi?
• Kolik času dnes večer budeš sledovat televizi?

What aspect does sedět have, and could I use something like posedíš instead?

Sedět is imperfective – it focuses on the ongoing action or state (sitting).

• budeš sedět – you will be (in the state of) sitting.

Posedět is perfective and usually means “to sit for a while / to have a sit-down”:

• Kolik času dnes večer posedíš u televize?
  This sounds unusual, because posedět normally implies a single, somewhat limited event (e.g. Let’s sit for a bit).

For the idea of “spend time sitting/watching TV”, the imperfective sedět (or dívat se / sledovat) is more natural.

Is the word order Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize? fixed, or can I move the parts around?

Czech word order is relatively flexible, so several variants are possible:

• Kolik času budeš dnes večer sedět u televize?
• Kolik času budeš sedět dnes večer u televize?
• Dnes večer budeš sedět u televize jak dlouho? (more marked/emphatic)

The version in your sentence,

• Kolik času dnes večer budeš sedět u televize?
  is very natural: Kolik času (what is being asked about) stands at the beginning, followed by the time phrase dnes večer, then the verb and the rest.

Different orders can slightly change emphasis, but they keep the same basic meaning.