Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje babička je ráda, když je tu celá rodina. - My grandmother is happy when the whole family is here.

Moje babička má ráda čokoládu. – My grandmother likes chocolate.
Moje babička má ráda, když je tu celá rodina. – My grandmother likes it when the whole family is here.

In your original sentence, je ráda focuses on her emotional state at that moment: she feels happy/pleased whenever that situation happens.
Má ráda would sound a bit more like a general preference: she likes that situation as a type of thing she enjoys. Both are possible, but je ráda is very natural here.

Why is it ráda (with -a) and not rád or rádo?

The form of rád / ráda / rádo / rádi agrees in gender and number with the grammatical subject:

masculine singular: rád
feminine singular: ráda
neuter singular: rádo
plural (mixed group or masculine animate): rádi
plural (all women or non‑masculine animate): rády

Here the subject is babička (grandmother), which is feminine singular, so you must use:

Moje babička je ráda…

Some more examples:

Táta je rád. – Dad is glad. (masculine)
Dítě je rádo. – The child is glad. (neuter)
Moji rodiče jsou rádi. – My parents are glad. (plural)

Can you drop je and just say Moje babička ráda, když…?

No, you cannot drop je here.

In Czech, je rád / je ráda behaves like an adjective with the verb být (to be). You need the verb být to form the predicate:

Moje babička je ráda, když je tu celá rodina. ✅
Moje babička ráda, když je tu celá rodina. ❌ (incorrect)

It’s similar to English: you can’t say “My grandmother happy when…”; you must say “My grandmother *is happy when…”*.

You can drop je in some other patterns (e.g. in very short answers), but not in this full sentence.

What nuance does když have here? Is it “when” or “whenever”? Could I use kdykoliv?

Když is very flexible. Here, it can be understood as either:

when (referring to specific occasions), or
whenever (a general, repeated situation).

Context decides how you interpret it. In this sentence, it most naturally means something like:

“My grandmother is happy whenever the whole family is here.”
or
“My grandmother is happy when the whole family is here.”

You could say:

Moje babička je ráda, kdykoliv je tu celá rodina.

Kdykoliv emphasizes “at any time / every time” more explicitly.
With plain když, the “whenever” meaning is already very natural and common; you don’t have to add kdykoliv unless you really want to stress “every single time”.

Why is it je tu and not je tady? What’s the difference between tu and tady?

Both tu and tady mean roughly “here”, and in many contexts they are interchangeable:

Je tu celá rodina.
Je tady celá rodina.

Both can mean: “The whole family is here.”

Subtle differences:

tady is slightly more neutral and often very common in spoken language.
tu can sound a bit more compact or slightly more literary in some contexts, but is also completely normal in everyday speech.

In your sentence, je tu celá rodina and je tady celá rodina are both fine.
The choice here is mostly about style and rhythm, not about meaning.

Can we change the word order, for example Moje babička je ráda, když celá rodina je tu or když tu je celá rodina?

Yes, Czech word order is relatively flexible, but it changes what is emphasized.

Your original version:

…když je tu celá rodina.
– Very natural, neutral emphasis.

Other possibilities:

…když je tady celá rodina.
– Same structure; just tady instead of tu.
…když tu je celá rodina.
– Also correct. This can put a tiny bit more emphasis on tu (“here”), but in everyday speech it doesn’t feel very different.
…když je celá rodina tu.
– Possible, but sounds less neutral; tu is more stressed.
…když celá rodina je tu.
– Grammatically okay, but feels slightly marked; celá rodina gets stronger emphasis.

The most natural everyday versions are:

…když je tu celá rodina.
…když je tady celá rodina.

Those are good default choices.

What case is celá rodina in, and how does agreement work here?

Celá rodina is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the verb je in the dependent clause:

(když) je tu celá rodina – (when) the whole family is here
- subject: celá rodina
- verb: je

Agreement:

rodina is a feminine singular noun.
celá is the adjective celý (whole, entire), declined to feminine singular nominative to match rodina.

That’s why it is:

celá rodina (not celý rodina or celé rodina).

Why is it moje babička and not má babička? What is the difference between moje and má?

Moje and má are both forms of “my”. The difference is mainly style and position:

moje – full (long) form, very common and neutral.
má – short form, often used before the noun, sounds a bit more formal or literary, or sometimes more emphatic.

With babička you can say:

Moje babička je ráda… – very standard, neutral.
Má babička je ráda… – also correct; may feel a bit more formal, bookish, or perhaps slightly more expressive (“my grandmother” as a more marked topic).

In everyday spoken Czech, moje babička is more typical.
Má babička is not wrong; it just has a different stylistic flavor.

Why is there a comma before když in Czech?

In Czech, subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like když, protože, že etc. are normally separated by a comma from the main clause.

So:

Moje babička je ráda, když je tu celá rodina.

Main clause: Moje babička je ráda
Subordinate clause (introduced by když): když je tu celá rodina

In English, you might or might not use a comma with when depending on style, but in Czech this comma is standard and expected in written language.

You could drop it sometimes in very informal text messages, but in correct writing, it should be there.

Could I say Moje babička má ráda, když je tady celá rodina instead? How does it differ?

Yes, you can say:

Moje babička má ráda, když je tady celá rodina.

This is grammatically correct and understandable. The nuance:

je ráda – focuses on her emotional state at those times:
She is glad / happy when the whole family is here.
má ráda, když… – describes a general liking of that situation:
She likes it when the whole family is here.

In practice, both sentences are very close in meaning.
Je ráda, když… often feels a bit more like describing how she feels in those moments, while má ráda, když… can sound slightly more like describing her preferences.

Both are good Czech; the original with je ráda is particularly natural.

Is babička used like “grandma” in English, or is it more neutral like “grandmother”?

Babička can cover both English ideas, depending on context:

In many contexts, it’s as warm and familiar as “grandma / granny / nan”.
It is also the normal everyday word for “grandmother”, not overly childish.

More formal options:

babička – everyday, affectionate, standard.
bába – very colloquial/slangy, can sound rough or even rude depending on tone.
In legal or very formal language, you might see babička or paraphrases like matka otce / matka matky, but babička is still widely used even in neutral/formal writing.

So Moje babička je ráda… is perfectly natural, like “My grandma is happy when…” in normal conversation, and also acceptable as “My grandmother is happy when…” in less informal writing.