Questions & Answers about Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
Czech doesn’t have a simple one‑word verb that means “to like (something)” in this general sense.
Instead, it often uses the phrase mít rád (literally: “to have [something] as dear/pleasant”).
- mít = to have (here: má = “(she) has”)
- ráda = “glad/pleased/fond” (feminine form)
So má ráda literally means “has (it) as dear”, which we translate as “likes”.
The whole phrase mít rád is treated as one idiomatic expression meaning “to like”.
The word rád / ráda / rádo / rádi agrees with the gender and number of the person who likes something, not with the thing that is liked.
- rád – masculine singular (man/boy)
- ráda – feminine singular (woman/girl)
- rádo – neuter singular (e.g. dítě – child, grammatically neuter)
- rádi – mixed or all‑masculine plural
- rády – feminine plural
In Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj:
- the subject is maminka (mom), which is grammatically feminine
- therefore we use ráda.
If the subject were a man, you’d say:
- Můj tatínek má rád teplý čaj. – My dad likes hot tea.
No. On its own, ráda means something like “glad / with pleasure”, but it does not mean “likes” as a verb.
- Má ráda… = She likes…
- Ráda piju čaj. literally = “I gladly drink tea.” (Often translated as “I like to drink tea,” but grammatically it’s “gladly.”)
For “likes [noun]”, the safest and most typical structure is:
[subject] + mít (conjugated) + rád/ráda/rádo/rádi + [object in accusative]
Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
Both can be translated as “to love” or “to like”, but they differ in strength and typical use:
mít rád
- neutral “to like / to be fond of”
- used for people, animals, things, activities
- e.g. Mám rád čaj. – I like tea.
- Mám rád svoji sestru. – I’m fond of my sister / I love my sister.
milovat
- stronger, more emotional: “to love (deeply, passionately)”
- typical for romance, close family, strong feelings
- e.g. Miluju svou ženu. – I love my wife.
- You can say Miluju čaj, but it sounds like “I absolutely love tea!”, more emphatic than mám rád čaj.
In the sentence Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj, má ráda is the normal, neutral way to say “likes”.
Czech has two sets of forms for “my”:
- long forms (used most of the time):
- můj (masc.), moje / má (fem.), moje / mé (neut.)
- short forms (especially before a noun in formal or more literary style):
- můj, má, mé
In everyday modern Czech:
- Moje maminka = my mom (very normal)
- Má maminka is also correct, but sounds a bit more formal, literary, or old‑fashioned in many contexts.
So Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj is perfectly natural.
You might see Má maminka má ráda teplý čaj in books or more elevated speech.
Czech does not use articles like English “a/an/the”.
- Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
- can mean: “My mom likes (warm) tea”
- or: “My mom likes the warm tea”, depending on context
Whether it’s “the tea” or “tea in general” is understood from context, not from separate words.
In Czech, adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun.
- čaj is a masculine inanimate noun (like “stůl” – table).
- In the accusative singular (the case used for a direct object), masculine inanimate nouns look the same as nominative:
- nominative: čaj
- accusative: čaj
The adjective for masculine inanimate, singular, accusative ends in -ý:
- teplý čaj – warm/hot tea (masc. inanim. sg. acc.)
- teplá voda – warm water (feminine)
- teplé pivo – warm beer (neuter)
So teplý is the correct form because it matches the masculine inanimate čaj.
Literally, teplý means “warm”, but in practice:
- teplý čaj often just means what English speakers call “hot tea” (a normal cup of tea served warm/hot, not cold).
- If you want to emphasize that the tea is very hot, you could say:
- horký čaj – hot tea (really hot)
- For lukewarm or only slightly warm:
- vlažný čaj – lukewarm tea
In many everyday contexts, teplý čaj is simply “a warm/hot (not cold) tea.”
This is about case.
In Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj:
- čaj is the direct object of má ráda → accusative case.
For masculine inanimate nouns like čaj:
- Nominative singular (dictionary form): čaj
- Accusative singular (direct object): čaj (same form)
You would see čaje in other cases or numbers, for example:
- bez čaje – without tea (genitive singular)
- piju dva čaje – I drink two teas (accusative plural)
Here, singular accusative is čaj, so teplý čaj is correct.
Yes, you can.
In many everyday situations, especially in family context, possessive pronouns are often omitted when it’s obvious whose family member you’re talking about.
- Maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
- In context, this will usually mean “(My) mom likes hot tea.”
Whether you include moje depends on:
- clarity (are we sure whose mom we’re talking about?)
- emphasis (you might want to stress that it’s your mom, not someone else’s)
Both Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj and Maminka má ráda teplý čaj are correct.
Yes, Czech word order is more flexible than English. However, changes in word order can add emphasis or sound more/less natural.
Neutral, most typical:
- Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
Other possible orders:
- Moje maminka má ráda čaj teplý. – unusual, emphasizes “warm” in contrast to some other kind.
- Teplý čaj má ráda moje maminka. – could emphasize “it is my mom who likes hot tea (not someone else)” or “the hot tea is what my mom likes”; feels a bit marked.
For a learner, stick to:
- [subject] + má ráda + [object]
i.e. Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj.
Yes. Both relate to “mother,” but the tone is different:
- maminka
- diminutive / affectionate form
- very common in everyday speech
- roughly like “mom / mommy”
- matka
- neutral, more formal or technical
- used in official documents, formal writing, biology (e.g. “mother cell”), etc.
- in casual speech, can sound a bit cold or distant if used about your own mother
So:
- Moje maminka má ráda teplý čaj. – natural, warm, family style.
- Moje matka má ráda teplý čaj. – grammatically correct, but in everyday speech it can feel more formal or emotionally cooler.