Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře a ví, kdy má schůzky. - My mom looks in the calendar in the morning and knows when she has meetings.

podívat se is perfective (one completed action, “to have a look once”).
podívá se literally is “she looks (will look)”, but because it’s perfective, it naturally means “she will look (once)”.

If you wanted a present, ongoing meaning, you’d use the imperfective partner:

dívá se do kalendáře – “she is looking / she looks (habitually) at the calendar”

So:

Moje maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře… = My mom will look at the calendar in the morning (completed future action).

Why do we need se in podívá se? What does se mean here?

In podívat se, the se is a lexical reflexive: it’s part of the verb, not a separate word with its own meaning like “herself”.

podívat se = “to have a look”
You normally don’t say ✗ podívat do kalendáře in this sense.
You almost always use the combination podívat se na / do něco when you mean “take a look at / into something”.

So you should treat podívat se as one verb, just like an English phrasal verb (e.g. look up, look after).

What’s the difference between podívat se and dívat se?

They form an aspect pair (perfective vs imperfective) and also differ slightly in meaning:

dívat se (imperfective)
- focus on process or repetition: “to look, to watch”
- dívá se do kalendáře – she is looking / she looks (routine)
podívat se (perfective)
- focus on one completed act of looking: “to have a look” (once)
- podívá se do kalendáře – she will have a (quick) look

In your sentence, podívá se fits because it’s about a single act done each morning: each morning she takes a look (not continually watches the calendar).

Why is it do kalendáře and not something like na kalendář?

Both do and na can be used with verbs of looking, but they have different nuances:

podívat se do kalendáře
- literally: “look into the calendar”
- suggests you’re checking the contents, reading what’s written inside (appointments, notes).
podívat se na kalendář
- literally: “look at the calendar”
- more about the object as a thing (e.g. to see what day it is, to see the picture).

In your sentence we’re talking about checking when the appointments are, so do kalendáře (into the calendar, into its contents) is natural.

Why does do kalendáře use this -e ending? What case is kalendáře?

Kalendář is a masculine inanimate noun. After do we must use the genitive case.

Singular declension (important forms):

Nominative: kalendář (basic form)
Genitive: kalendáře – used after do

So do + genitive = do kalendáře.

The -e ending here just shows genitive singular: “into the calendar”.

Why is there no preposition before ráno? Why not v ráno?

Words like ráno (morning), večer (evening), odpoledne (afternoon) often work as adverbs of time by themselves, without a preposition, when you mean “in the morning / evening, etc.”:

ráno vstávám v šest – I get up at six in the morning
večer čtu – I read in the evening

So se ráno podívá simply means “she’ll look in the morning”.

You would only use a preposition if you expressed something more specific, e.g.:

v tomhle rániu – in this morning (very unusual and marked)
more common is: tohle ráno – this morning

Could the word order be ráno se podívá instead of se ráno podívá?

Yes, both are possible:

Moje maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře…
Moje maminka ráno se podívá do kalendáře…

But normally clitics (short unstressed words like se, si, mi, ti, ho, jí …) tend to come early in the clause, usually after the first stressed element.

In practice, the most natural are:

Moje maminka se ráno podívá…
Ráno se moje maminka podívá…

Ráno se podívá is extremely normal; ráno podívá se sounds unusual in standard Czech.

Why is it Moje maminka and not Má maminka?

Both forms are grammatically correct:

moje maminka
má maminka

Differences:

moje is the full form, stressed; neutral or slightly more emphatic.
má is the short form, usually unstressed, and sounds a bit more formal / bookish in the modern language, especially in speech.

In everyday spoken Czech, moje maminka is more common and natural. Má maminka would be fine in writing, stories, or a bit more formal speech.

Can I drop moje and just say Maminka se ráno podívá…?

Yes, you can. In many contexts, maminka (or máma) by itself is clearly “my mom” from the speaker’s point of view.

Maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře…

This is very natural in conversation. The possessive moje is only needed if you want to be explicit or contrast with someone else’s mom:

Moje maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře, ale tvoje ne.
My mom looks at the calendar in the morning, but yours doesn’t.

Why is there no comma before a ví?

In Czech, you usually do not put a comma before the coordinating conjunctions:

a (and)
i (and / also)
ani (nor)
nebo (or)

when they connect clauses of the same type.

Your sentence:

Moje maminka se ráno podívá do kalendáře a ví, kdy má schůzky.

has two main clauses:

(Moje maminka) se ráno podívá do kalendáře
(Moje maminka) ví, kdy má schůzky

They are joined by a, so no comma before a.

There is a comma before kdy má schůzky, because kdy starts a subordinate clause (an object clause: she knows when she has appointments).

Why is it ví, kdy má schůzky, not ví, kdy bude mít schůzky?

Both are possible, but the meaning is a bit different:

ví, kdy má schůzky
- literally: “she knows when she has appointments”
- sounds like her appointments are regularly or generally scheduled; this can refer to the future timetable as something fixed.
ví, kdy bude mít schůzky
- literally: “she knows when she will have appointments”
- emphasizes that these are future events (maybe one-off future meetings).

Because the calendar usually contains future plans, Czech can comfortably use present tense for those scheduled events, hence má schůzky.

Why is there no ona in ví, kdy má schůzky? How do we know it’s “she”?

Czech is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (já, ty, on, ona…) are often omitted when the subject is clear from context or verb endings.

The context is moje maminka (she).
Both podívá se and ví have 3rd person singular endings.
It’s natural to understand she without saying ona again.

You could say:

Ona ví, kdy má schůzky.

but in neutral Czech that would often sound a bit heavy / emphatic, like stressing she as opposed to someone else.

Why is it má schůzky and not something like schůzky má?

Both word orders are grammatically possible, but the neutral one here is:

má schůzky – “(she) has appointments.”

Czech word order is flexible and is used to express focus and emphasis:

má schůzky – neutral, stating a fact.
schůzky má – puts emphasis on schůzky (appointments), as if contrasting:
- Nemá volno, schůzky má. – She doesn’t have free time; she has appointments.

In your sentence, there’s no contrast, so kdy má schůzky is the normal, unmarked order.

What’s the difference between schůzka and schůze?

They’re related but not the same:

schůzka
- usually a smaller, more personal meeting:
  - a work meeting with a few people
  - a doctor’s appointment
  - even a date
- in your sentence, schůzky = her appointments.
schůze
- a more formal or official meeting of a committee, organization, parliament, etc.
- e.g. schůze výboru, parlamentní schůze.

So kdy má schůzky is about her everyday scheduled appointments, not big official assemblies.