Breakdown of Když jdu do práce, beru si telefon s sebou.
Questions & Answers about Když jdu do práce, beru si telefon s sebou.
Czech has two different verbs for “go (on foot)”:
- jít – jdu = to go (one specific time, “I’m going / I go this time”)
- chodit – chodím = to go repeatedly, habitually, “I (usually) go”
So:
- Když jdu do práce… – “When I go to work (on that occasion / whenever I’m on my way to work).”
- Když chodím do práce… – “When I (usually) go to work / When I’m commuting to work (as a habit).”
Both are possible, but:
- „Když jdu do práce…“ is very natural for “whenever I’m on my way to work (on any given day), I take my phone with me.”
- „Když chodím do práce…“ would sound a bit more like emphasising the habit of commuting as a regular activity.
Not really. In Czech, present tense in a „když“‑clause is normally:
- generic (“whenever”, habitual): Když jdu do práce, beru si telefon.
- talking about a current/typical situation.
For a specific future time, Czechs would usually use future in the „když“‑clause:
- Když půjdu do práce, vezmu si telefon.
= “When I go to work (later/tomorrow), I will take my phone.”
So:
- Když jdu do práce → “when(ever) I go to work” (general)
- Když půjdu do práce → “when I (will) go to work (this one time in the future)”
The preposition do is used for movement into / towards a place:
- jdu do práce – I’m going to work (to my workplace)
- jdu do školy – I’m going to school
- jdu do obchodu – I’m going to the shop
„Práce“ here means “place of work / job” as a location. With do + práce, práce is in the genitive case.
Na práci would mean “onto the work” or “for the work” and doesn’t mean “to work (the place)” in this context.
Breaking it down:
do práce – genitive singular of práce after do
(movement to a place → do + genitive)telefon – accusative singular, direct object of beru (si)
s sebou – s normally takes instrumental, but sebou is a special reflexive form that doesn’t change; you just memorise s sebou as a set phrase.
So the cases:
- práce → genitive (after do)
- telefon → accusative (object)
- sebou → special reflexive form used after s
„Si“ is a reflexive pronoun. In „beru si telefon“ it has a dative reflexive function, often translated loosely as:
- “I’m taking myself the phone” → “I’m taking the phone with me / for myself.”
Differences:
- beru telefon – “I’m taking the phone” (very neutral; could be any context)
- beru si telefon (s sebou) – I’m taking the phone for myself / with me, typically for my own use.
In practice, with „s sebou“, „beru si“ is much more natural than plain „beru“:
- Když jdu do práce, beru si telefon s sebou.
sounds like normal, everyday Czech.
Yes, it is grammatically correct:
- Když jdu do práce, beru telefon s sebou.
However, in everyday speech Czechs strongly prefer „beru si“ in this “take something with me” meaning. Without „si“, it may sound a bit more neutral, slightly less “for myself”.
So:
- Best / most natural: „beru si telefon s sebou“
- Correct but slightly less idiomatic: „beru telefon s sebou“
Literally:
- s = with
- sebou = “oneself” in this fixed reflexive form
→ s sebou ≈ “with oneself”
Usage:
s sebou – used when you are taking/bringing something with yourself:
- Vzal jsem si svačinu s sebou. – I took a snack with me.
- Neberu si počítač s sebou. – I don’t take my computer with me.
se mnou – “with me” (explicit „me“, 1st person singular):
- Kdo půjde se mnou? – Who will go with me?
- Vezmi někoho se mnou. – Take someone with me.
So in our sentence:
- „beru si telefon s sebou“ = “I take the phone with me (with myself).”
„se mnou“ would not be used there.
You must write it as two words:
- ✅ s sebou
- ❌ ssebou
- ❌ se bou
The first word is the preposition s, the second is sebou. In spelling they stay separate, even though they flow together in speech.
Czech has a rule that short unstressed pronouns (like si, se, mi, ti, ho…) usually go in second position in the clause, right after the first stressed element.
In the main clause:
- First stressed word: beru
- So clitic pronoun si goes right after it: beru si
Then the rest of the elements follow:
- beru si telefon s sebou
„beru telefon si s sebou“ is ungrammatical because si is in a forbidden position; it should not stand that late in the clause.
Yes, that’s also correct and quite natural:
- Beru si s sebou telefon.
- Beru si telefon s sebou.
Both are used. The slight feeling:
- Beru si s sebou telefon. – a bit more emphasis on “with me”.
- Beru si telefon s sebou. – maybe a bit more neutral.
But in everyday usage both orders sound fine; you don’t need to worry about a big difference.
In Czech, a clause introduced by „když“ (“when, whenever”) is a subordinate clause, and it is normally separated by a comma from the main clause.
Structure:
- Když jdu do práce, – subordinate clause (condition/time)
- beru si telefon s sebou. – main clause
The comma is always written there in standard Czech spelling.
They differ in aspect:
brát – beru (si) = imperfective
– ongoing or repeated action
– “I take / I am taking (habitually)”vzít – vezmu (si) = perfective
– a single, completed action in the future or past
– “I will take / I took (once)”
So:
Když jdu do práce, beru si telefon s sebou.
= “When I go to work, I (usually) take my phone with me.” (habit)Když půjdu do práce, vezmu si telefon s sebou.
= “When I go to work (that one time in the future), I will take my phone with me.” (one future event)
Yes, for example:
Když jdu do práce, vždycky si beru telefon s sebou.
– “When I go to work, I always take my phone with me.”Do práce si beru telefon s sebou.
– “To work, I take my phone with me.” (no „když“-clause, just a statement of habit)Když chodím do práce, beru si s sebou telefon.
– using chodím to emphasise the regular commuting.
All of these are natural; the original sentence is one of the most standard and neutral ways to express this idea.