Breakdown of Pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu, večeře je hotová.
Questions & Answers about Pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu, večeře je hotová.
Pojďte is the plural / polite form of the imperative of jít (to go / come).
- Pojď = 2nd person singular (informal “come!” to one person you know well: a friend, child, family).
- Pojďte = 2nd person plural or formal “you” (either several people, or one person politely/formally).
In this sentence, the speaker is either:
- talking to more than one person, or
- talking politely to one person (guest, stranger, someone older, etc.).
Czech always marks this difference in the verb; English just says “come in” for both.
Dál is an adverb that literally means “further” or “onwards”, but in this context it idiomatically means “(come) in” or “come further inside”.
- Pojďte dál. – natural, very common way to invite someone into a room/flat/house.
- Pojďte dovnitř. – also correct, a bit more literal: “come inside”.
They are both acceptable. Pojďte dál is probably the most standard phrase you’ll hear when someone opens the door and invites you in.
The full verb here is sednout si = “to sit down” (to take a seat).
In the imperative:
- Sedněte si. – “Sit down.” (take a seat)
- Sedněte. – sounds incomplete / odd in most contexts if you mean “sit down”.
The “si” is a reflexive clitic that often appears with verbs describing actions you do for yourself or to your own body position (sit down, lie down, take something for yourself, etc.):
- lehnout si – to lie down
- dát si kávu – to have (order) a coffee
- sednout si – to sit down (to seat yourself)
So sedněte si ke stolu is literally “seat yourselves at the table; sit down at the table.”
The preposition is k/ke + dative and means “to(wards)”, or in many contexts for people and furniture it corresponds to English “to / at”:
- ke stolu – literally “to the table”, understood as “(go) to the table / (sit) at the table”.
Ke is just a variant of “k” used for euphony before certain consonant clusters or words where plain k would sound awkward:
- k domu but ke stolu
- k bance but ke škole
So it is the same preposition; the form ke stolu is simply what sounds natural in Czech.
Czech often distinguishes movement toward a place vs. being already there:
- sednout si ke stolu – to sit down at the table (movement to the table, taking a seat there)
- sedět u stolu – to sit at the table (already seated there)
In your sentence, the action is: come in → move to the table → sit down.
That’s why ke stolu (towards the table) is used, not u stolu.
The adjective hotový (ready, finished, done) has to agree in gender and number with the noun:
- masculine singular: hotový (ten oběd je hotový)
- feminine singular: hotová (ta večeře je hotová)
- neuter singular: hotové (to jídlo je hotové)
- plural (mixed or masculine animate): hotoví
Večeře is grammatically feminine singular, so the correct form is hotová:
- Večeře je hotová. – “Dinner is ready (finished).”
The other forms would be grammatically wrong here.
Both can often be translated as “dinner is ready”, but there is a nuance:
- večeře je hotová – focuses on the process being finished: the cooking is done, everything is ready to eat.
- večeře je připravená – focuses on it being prepared / set up: could include being cooked, placed on the table, plates ready, etc.
In many everyday contexts they are interchangeable, but “večeře je hotová” is a very standard way to announce that dinner is ready to eat.
In Czech, it is normal to connect two independent clauses just with a comma, where English usually requires a conjunction like “and”, “because”, etc.
Your sentence has two independent clauses:
- Pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu – (Come in and sit down at the table)
- večeře je hotová – (dinner is ready)
They are simply placed next to each other with a comma:
- Pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu, večeře je hotová.
In English, you’d usually say:
“Come in and sit down at the table, dinner is ready.” or
“Come in and sit down at the table; dinner is ready.”
The comma here in Czech is normal and not considered a mistake.
Yes, that is also grammatically correct:
- Večeře je hotová, pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu.
The difference is mostly about information flow and emphasis:
Original: Pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu, večeře je hotová.
- First: invitation and instructions (come in, sit at the table)
- Second: explanation/reason (because dinner is ready)
Reordered: Večeře je hotová, pojďte dál a sedněte si ke stolu.
- First: announcement (dinner is ready)
- Second: what to do (come in, sit)
Both are natural; the original sounds very typical as something said when you open the door and greet a guest.
Both are imperatives of the verb jít (“to go”), but they have slightly different feel:
Pojďte dál. – inviting, friendly: “Come in.”
Often implies the speaker is in some way involved or nearby, like English “Come (on) in.”Jděte dál. – more neutral “go on / go ahead / proceed further”.
It can sound more directive or businesslike (e.g. at an office, in a queue, at passport control).
In everyday invitations into a home or room, Pojďte dál is much more common.
Czech usually omits subject pronouns (já, ty, on, my, vy, oni) when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.
In the imperative:
- Pojďte – clearly 2nd person plural / polite “you (all) come”
- Sedněte si – clearly 2nd person plural / polite “you (all) sit down”
Adding vy (Vy pojďte dál…) is possible but usually adds emphasis (e.g. contrasting “you” with others). Normally, it is left out, where English must say “you”.