Questions & Answers about Můj bratr má kolo.
Word by word:
- můj – my (masculine singular form)
- bratr – brother
- má – has (3rd person singular of mít = to have)
- kolo – literally wheel, but very commonly bicycle / bike in everyday speech
So the sentence is literally My brother has a bike.
Czech possessive pronouns change their form according to the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.
- bratr (brother) is masculine animate, singular, nominative.
- For masculine singular nominative, my is můj.
Some basic forms of my:
- můj – masculine singular (e.g. můj bratr – my brother)
- moje – feminine singular OR neuter plural (e.g. moje sestra – my sister, moje kola – my bikes)
- mé (written) / mý (spoken in some dialects) – alternative forms you’ll see, but start with můj / moje.
So moje bratr is ungrammatical; the noun is masculine, so you must use můj.
- Můj bratr is the subject → it is in the nominative case (who/what is doing the action? my brother).
- kolo is the direct object of the verb má → it is in the accusative case (what does he have? a bike).
For neuter inanimate nouns like kolo, the nominative and accusative singular forms look the same, so you only know it’s accusative from its role in the sentence.
The verb mít (to have) is conjugated according to the subject. Here the subject is můj bratr = he.
Present tense of mít:
- (já) mám – I have
- (ty) máš – you (sg., informal) have
- (on/ona/ono) má – he/she/it has
- (my) máme – we have
- (vy) máte – you (pl. or formal) have
- (oni/ony/ona) mají – they have
So with můj bratr (he), you must use má: Můj bratr má kolo.
Czech has no articles (no equivalent of a/an or the).
- Můj bratr má kolo. can mean:
- My brother has a bike.
- My brother has the bike.
- My brother has a bicycle.
Context tells you whether you should translate with a or the in English. In simple, context-free examples, we usually translate kolo as a bike.
kolo has a few common meanings:
wheel – the general object
- přední kolo – front wheel
bicycle / bike – in everyday talk, kolo almost always means a bike:
- jedu na kole – I’m riding a bike
“round” / “cycle” / “stage” in some fixed phrases:
- první kolo voleb – first round of the elections
For a more formal or technical term for bicycle, Czech also has bicykl, and very specifically jízdní kolo (“riding wheel/bike”), but most people just say kolo.
kolo is a neuter noun.
This matters because:
Neuter nouns use neuter forms of adjectives and pronouns:
- moje kolo – my bike (neuter)
- velké kolo – big bike/wheel (neuter adjective)
As mentioned, neuter nominative and accusative singular often look the same (kolo/kolo), which is why the direct object in Můj bratr má kolo. does not change form compared to subject position.
Yes, in the right context.
- Můj bratr má kolo. – clearly my brother, regardless of context.
- Bratr má kolo. – literally (The) brother has a bike.
You might say Bratr má kolo. when:
- It’s clear from context which brother you’re talking about (e.g. within your family, when everyone knows you mean “our brother”).
- You’re speaking about “the brother” as a known person in the conversation.
However, as a learner, it’s safer to keep the possessive (můj) when you really mean my and the context is not crystal clear.
Czech word order is fairly flexible, but there is a neutral pattern:
- Neutral: Můj bratr má kolo. (subject – verb – object)
Other orders are possible but usually change emphasis:
- Bratr můj má kolo. – sounds poetic/archaic, or strongly emphasizing my.
- Můj bratr kolo má. – can emphasize that he does have a bike (perhaps in contrast to someone else not having one).
- Kolo má můj bratr. – emphasizes kolo (the bike), like “It’s my brother who has the bike (not someone else).”
As a learner, use Můj bratr má kolo. as your default word order.
The possessive pronoun must match the gender of the noun:
- bratr (brother) – masculine → Můj bratr má kolo.
- sestra (sister) – feminine → Moje sestra má kolo.
Some common patterns:
- Můj otec má kolo. – My father has a bike. (masculine)
- Moje matka má kolo. – My mother has a bike. (feminine)
- Moje dítě má kolo. – My child has a bike. (neuter)
So the noun’s gender controls whether you use můj, moje, etc.
You need plural forms for brother, my, and have:
- bratr (sg.) → bratři (pl.)
- můj (my, masc. sg.) → moji (my, masc. pl. animate)
- má (he has) → mají (they have)
For the object kolo:
- kolo (one bike) → kola (bikes) in the plural
Possible sentences:
- Moji bratři mají kolo. – My brothers have a bike. (one bike jointly)
- Moji bratři mají kola. – My brothers have bikes. (at least one each / more than one in total)
Approximate pronunciation (in simple English terms):
- Můj – [mooy], but with a long “oo” sound: [muːj]
- ů is a long u sound
- bratr – roughly [bruttr], but with a rolled r and a short a:
- more precisely: [bratr̩] (the last r acts as a syllable)
- má – [maa], long “a”: [maː]
- kolo – [ko-lo], both o sounds are short: [kolo]
Stress in Czech is almost always on the first syllable:
- Můj bratr má kolo.
- MŮJ BR-atr má KO-lo.
mít is the general verb to have, and it can cover both:
Possession/ownership:
- Můj bratr má kolo. – My brother has/owns a bike.
Temporary having/holding:
- Mám u sebe peníze. – I have money on me.
- Má u sebe klíče. – He/She has the keys with him/her.
If you specifically want to stress legal/official ownership, Czech also has vlastnit (to own):
- Můj bratr vlastní kolo. – My brother owns a bike.
But in everyday speech, mít is usually enough. Context tells whether it’s about permanent ownership or just having something.