Learn Hardcore Czech: Dnes večer bych chtěla jít do té kavárny, ale kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma. - This evening I would like to go to that café, but if it rained, I would stay at home.

Bych chtěla is the conditional form of chtít (“to want”) and is usually translated as “I would like”. It sounds softer, more polite, more hypothetical.

Structure:

chtěla – past participle of chtít (feminine, singular)
bych – conditional particle for já (I)

So:

Chci jít do té kavárny. – I want to go to that café. (stated desire)
Dnes večer bych chtěla jít do té kavárny. – This evening I would like to go to that café. (softer, polite, tentative)

A male speaker would say:

Dnes večer bych chtěl jít do té kavárny.

Why is it chtěla (feminine) when já (I) has no gender in English?

In Czech, first person singular verbs in the past (and in this “bych + participle” conditional) show gender.

Feminine speaker: já jsem chtěla, já bych chtěla
Masculine speaker: já jsem chtěl, já bych chtěl

So the form chtěla tells us the speaker is female. If a man says the same sentence, it would be:

Dnes večer bych chtěl jít do té kavárny, ale kdyby pršelo, zůstal bych doma.

What is the role of bych in bych chtěla and zůstala bych? Why does it move?

Bych is the conditional particle for 1st person singular (já). It’s similar to “would” in English.

In Czech, bych is a clitic – it usually wants to be in the second position in the clause, not necessarily right next to the verb it belongs to.

Typical patterns:

Já bych chtěla… – pronoun + bych in second place
Dnes večer bych chtěla… – time phrase, then bych
Zůstala bych doma. – here the participle zůstala is placed first (for emphasis), bych still ends up in second position in the clause:
- (Ø) Zůstala bych doma. – (I) would stay at home.

Both bych zůstala and zůstala bych are possible, but clitic second position rules strongly affect natural-sounding word order.

Why is it do té kavárny and not do ta kavárna? What is happening to the endings?

The preposition do (“to / into”) requires the genitive case.

Kavárna is a feminine noun (pattern like žena). Its forms:

Nominative (dictionary form): ta kavárna – the café (subject)
Genitive singular: té kavárny – used after do, bez, etc.

And ten / ta / to (the demonstrative “that/the”) also changes case:

Nominative feminine singular: ta
Genitive feminine singular: té

So:

ta kavárna – that café (subject)
do té kavárny – to that café (object of do, so genitive)

Why is the preposition do used with kavárny here and not something like na?

Czech uses different prepositions with places, and they’re not always the same as in English.

Do + genitive is typically used for going into enclosed spaces or interiors:

jít do kavárny – go to a café (into the café)
jít do školy – go to school (into the school building)
jít do kina – go to the cinema

Na + accusative is used in other typical patterns (events, surfaces, institutions, etc.):

jít na koncert – go to a concert
jít na univerzitu – go to university (as an institution)
jít na náměstí – go to the square

With kavárna, the normal choice is do kavárny.

Why jít and not jet or chodit? Don’t they all mean “to go”?

They all mean “to go”, but they have different nuances:

jít – to go on foot, one specific movement (walk, go)
jet – to go by vehicle (car, bus, train, etc.)
chodit – to go repeatedly / habitually (to go somewhere regularly)

In this sentence:

…chtěla jít do té kavárny… – she would like to go (walk) to that café this evening – one occasion, on foot (or neutral).

If the focus is that you’re going by car, bus, tram, etc., you could say:

…chtěla jet do té kavárny… – go there by some vehicle.

If you mean a habit:

Večer často chodím do té kavárny. – In the evening I often go to that café.

Why do we use kdyby here and not když or jestli for “if”?

Czech has several ways to say “if / when”, and they’re not interchangeable:

když – when (general) or if for real, likely conditions
- Když prší, zůstávám doma. – When it rains, I stay at home.
jestli – if (more neutral, about real possibilities)
- Jestli bude pršet, zůstanu doma. – If it rains, I will stay at home.
kdyby – if in unreal / hypothetical conditions, usually with conditional
- Kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma. – If it rained / If it were to rain, I would stay at home.

In this sentence, the speaker talks about a hypothetical possibility and uses the conditional:

kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma – if it rained (hypothetically), I’d stay at home.

Why is it kdyby pršelo and not kdyby pršelo by? Where did by go?

Kdyby already contains the conditional particle by:

kdy (when/if) + by → kdyby

The full conditional of pršet would be pršelo by. When used with kdyby, Czech doesn’t repeat by:

standalone conditional: Pršelo by. – It would rain.
in an if-clause: Kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma. – If it rained, I would stay at home.

So kdyby pršelo by would be incorrect; the by is already inside kdyby.

The verb pršelo looks like past tense. Why is it used for a future hypothetical?

Forms like pršelo are past tense forms, but in combination with kdyby, they function as part of the unreal conditional, similar to English “If it rained / If it were raining…”.

English also often uses a “past” form for unreality:

If it rains, I will stay. – real, future
If it rained, I would stay. – unreal/hypothetical (uses “past” rained)

Czech:

Když bude pršet, zůstanu doma. – real future
Kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma. – unreal / hypothetical future

So pršelo is formally past tense, but with kdyby it expresses unreal condition, not real past time.

Why is it zůstala bych doma and not just zůstanu doma?

Zůstanu doma is simple future:

Zůstanu doma. – I will stay at home.

Zůstala bych doma is conditional:

zůstala – past participle (feminine) of zůstat
bych – conditional particle for já

So zůstala bych doma means “I would stay at home” – hypothetical, dependent on the condition kdyby pršelo.

Pattern:

Když bude pršet, zůstanu doma. – If it rains, I will stay at home. (real)
Kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma. – If it rained, I would stay at home. (hypothetical)

Why do we say dnes večer at the beginning? Could we move it?

Yes, dnes večer (this evening) can move; Czech word order is flexible, but there are preferences.

Common options:

Dnes večer bych chtěla jít do té kavárny… – neutral, time first
Já bych dnes večer chtěla jít do té kavárny… – emphasizes já
Já bych chtěla jít do té kavárny dnes večer… – time at the end

Putting dnes večer at the beginning is very natural; it sets the time frame first.

The main restriction is about clitics like bych (they want to stay in second position), but dnes večer as a time adverbial is free to move around the clause.

Is the comma before ale and before kdyby necessary in Czech?

Yes, in standard Czech spelling the commas here are required:

…, ale … – you must put a comma before ale when it connects two clauses.
…, kdyby pršelo, … – you also put a comma before the conjunction kdyby that introduces a subordinate clause.

So the original sentence is correctly punctuated:

Dnes večer bych chtěla jít do té kavárny, ale kdyby pršelo, zůstala bych doma.