Learn Hardcore Czech: V naší vesnici není tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna jako někde v centru. - In our village there is no café as good and as empty as somewhere in the center.

Naše is the basic (nominative) form of the possessive pronoun náš / naše / naši.
But after the preposition v meaning in (location, no movement), Czech normally uses the locative case.

vesnice (village) is feminine.
Feminine locative singular ends in -i: vesnici.
The possessive pronoun must agree with the noun in gender, number and case, so it also goes to feminine locative singular: naší.

So:

Nominative: naše vesnice – our village (as a subject)
Locative: v naší vesnici – in our village

Why is vesnici used here and not vesnice?

Vesnice is the nominative (dictionary form). After v with a static meaning (in somewhere, no movement), Czech usually uses the locative case.

Nominative sg: vesnice – the village (as subject)
Locative sg: vesnici – in (the) village

Because the sentence talks about where something is (location), we say:

V naší vesnici = In our village

What exactly does není do here? Why not something like “there is no” literally?

Czech often uses být (to be) to express existence, like English there is / there are.

je kavárna – there is a café
není kavárna – there is no café / there isn’t a café

So V naší vesnici není … kavárna is literally In our village is not … a café, but idiomatically it means “There isn’t a café … in our village.”

The negative form není often corresponds to English “there isn’t / there is no”.

Why is it není tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna and not plural like nejsou tak dobré a tak prázdné kavárny?

Czech can use a singular noun in a general sense to talk about the type of thing:

není tak dobrá kavárna ≈ there is no café that is that good (no such café exists)
nejsou tak dobré kavárny = there are no cafés that are that good (emphasis on multiple cafés)

In this sentence, the focus is on the existence of such a café at all (even one), so singular kavárna feels natural:
není tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna – there is no café (of that kind).

What does tak … jako mean here? Is it the same as English “as … as”?

Yes. Tak + adjective + jako is the standard way to say “as … as” in comparisons of equality:

tak dobrý jako – as good as
tak velký jako – as big as

In the sentence:
není tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna jako někde v centru

= there isn’t a café as good and as empty as (one) somewhere in the center.

Why is tak repeated before both adjectives: tak dobrá a tak prázdná? Can you drop the second tak?

Both are possible:

tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna – as good and as empty (each quality is emphasized separately)
tak dobrá a prázdná kavárna – so good and (so) empty (the second so is understood)

Repeating tak:

Sounds a bit more balanced and rhythmic.
Stresses that both properties are included in the comparison: as good and as empty as somewhere in the center.

Omitting the second tak is grammatically fine and also common in speech.

What is the difference between tak and takový in this kind of sentence?

Both can relate to the idea of “such” or “that … as”, but they behave differently:

tak + adjective + jako = as + adj + as
- tak dobrá kavárna jako… – a café as good as…
takový + noun + jako = such a … as
- taková kavárna jako… – such a café as…

So you could also say:

V naší vesnici není taková dobrá a prázdná kavárna jako někde v centru.

That sounds a bit heavier; the original tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna is smoother and directly compares the qualities (good, empty), not just “such a café”.

Why is kavárna in the nominative when the sentence is negative? In English, I’d expect something like “any café”.

Czech doesn’t need a special “any” word here. The structure is:

(V naší vesnici) není [kdo / co]? – tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna.

The verb není is third person singular, and kavárna is the subject in the nominative (just as it would be with je):

je kavárna – there is a café
není kavárna – there is no café

The negation plus absence of articles naturally gives the meaning “no / any” in English. Context turns kavárna into any café of that kind.

What does někde v centru add? How is it different from just v centru?

v centru = in the center (more definite: specifically in the city center)
někde v centru = somewhere in the center (more vague/indefinite)

někde means somewhere, so někde v centru suggests:

The speaker doesn’t specify which café.
They just know that such a café exists somewhere downtown, but they aren’t pointing to a particular place.

Why is it v centru and not v centrum?

Like vesnice → vesnici, the noun centrum also changes case.

centrum (nominative sg, neuter): the center
v centru (locative sg): in the center

The preposition v with static location (“in, inside”) normally takes locative. So:

centrum → v centru
město → ve městě (city → in the city)

You cannot say v centrum for location; that would be wrong.

Why do adjectives come before the noun in dobrá kavárna, not after, like in some other languages?

In Czech, the normal position of descriptive adjectives is before the noun:

dobrá kavárna – a good café
velký dům – a big house

You can place the adjective after the noun (kavárna je dobrá, kavárna dobrá), but:

After the noun it often sounds more emphatic, poetic, or stylistically marked.
In neutral prose, for basic descriptions, adjectives usually precede the noun.

So tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna is the standard, neutral order.

Could I say V naší vesnici není kavárna tak dobrá a tak prázdná jako někde v centru? Does the meaning change?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct, but the nuance is slightly different.

V naší vesnici není tak dobrá a tak prázdná kavárna jako někde v centru.
- Focus: the existence of such a café at all in the village.
- There is no café as good and as empty…
V naší vesnici není kavárna tak dobrá a tak prázdná jako někde v centru.
- Focus: how cafés in the village compare in quality.
- No café in our village is as good and as empty…

The first sounds like: “That type of café simply doesn’t exist here.”
The second: “Even the best café here doesn’t reach that level.”