Learn Hardcore Czech: Brzy ráno půjdu pěšky do práce. - Early in the morning I will go to work on foot.

půjdu is 1st person singular future, so it can only mean I will go.
Adding já (I) is only needed for emphasis or contrast, e.g. Já půjdu pěšky do práce = I (as opposed to someone else) will go on foot to work.

So the subject I is “inside” the verb form půjdu.

What exactly does půjdu mean, and why is it future even though it doesn’t use budu?

Půjdu is the 1st person singular future tense of jít (to go on foot).

Most Czech imperfective verbs form the future with budu + infinitive, e.g. budu dělat (I will do). But a small group of very common verbs has a special simple future form, and jít is one of them:

jdu – I go / I am going (now)
půjdu – I will go (in the future)

So půjdu on its own already means I will go, without budu.

What’s the difference between půjdu and pojedu?

Both are future forms of “go”, but they differ in mode of transport:

půjdu – I will go on foot (walking)
pojedu – I will go by vehicle (car, bus, train, etc.)

Since the sentence already has pěšky (on foot), půjdu is the natural verb here.
You wouldn’t normally say pojedu pěšky – that’s contradictory (go by vehicle on foot).

Why is pěšky needed if půjdu already suggests going on foot?

Půjdu by itself just means I will go, and often it does imply walking, but not always. Context can be vague.

Adding pěšky makes it absolutely explicit:

Brzy ráno půjdu do práce. – I’ll go to work early in the morning. (How? not specified)
Brzy ráno půjdu pěšky do práce. – I’ll go to work early in the morning on foot.

Native speakers commonly add pěšky when they specifically want to contrast with going by car, bus, etc.

What does brzy ráno literally mean, and how is it used?

Brzy ráno literally means early (in the) morning.

brzy – early / soon
ráno – morning

Together they form a fixed time expression brzy ráno: early in the morning. You’ll also see similar patterns:

pozdě večer – late in the evening
včera ráno – yesterday morning
zítra ráno – tomorrow morning

So Brzy ráno at the start of the sentence sets the time frame: Early in the morning.

Why is it brzy and not brzo? Is there a difference?

Brzy and brzo are basically synonyms, both meaning soon / early.

In modern standard Czech, brzy is a bit more common and slightly more “standard”.
brzo is also correct and widely used in speech.

Both are fine in this sentence:

Brzy ráno půjdu pěšky do práce.
Brzo ráno půjdu pěšky do práce.

Why is ráno used without a preposition? In English we say in the morning.

Czech often uses bare time nouns (without a preposition) as adverbials of time.

Ráno is a neuter noun meaning morning, but in sentences like this it functions adverbially, meaning in the morning by itself:

Ráno vstávám v šest. – I get up at six in the morning.
Večer se učím. – I study in the evening.
V poledne mám pauzu. – At noon I have a break.

So Brzy ráno is literally early morning, but it’s understood as early in the morning without needing a preposition.

Could you also say Ráno brzy instead of Brzy ráno?

Brzy ráno is the normal, fixed order; Ráno brzy sounds unusual or poetic.

Brzy ráno – very natural, standard.
Ráno brzy – technically possible, but marked: it might appear in poetry, songs, or for stylistic effect.

In everyday speech and writing, use brzy ráno.

Why is it do práce and not something like na práci?

The choice of preposition depends on the meaning:

do práce (literally “into work”) is the standard phrase for going to one’s workplace.
- Jdu do práce. – I’m going to work (to my job / office).
na práci would mean onto work / for work and is not used for going to your job.
You might see na práci only in other meanings, like:
- nemám čas na práci – I don’t have time for work.

So when you mean “to work” as a destination (your workplace), always use do práce.

Why is práce in that form? What case is it?

In do práce, the noun práce is in the genitive singular.

do is a preposition that normally requires the genitive to express movement into / to somewhere.
The genitive singular of práce happens to look the same as the nominative: práce.

Pattern:

nominative: práce – work
genitive: práce – (to) work, of work

So do práce = to work (place), literally “into work”.

Can I change the word order, for example: Brzy ráno půjdu do práce pěšky?

Yes. Czech has relatively flexible word order, especially for adverbs like pěšky and prepositional phrases like do práce.

All of these are grammatically correct:

Brzy ráno půjdu pěšky do práce. (very natural, neutral)
Brzy ráno půjdu do práce pěšky. (also fine)
Do práce půjdu brzy ráno pěšky. (emphasizes “to work” first)
Pěšky půjdu brzy ráno do práce. (emphasizes “on foot” first)

The given sentence Brzy ráno půjdu pěšky do práce. is a very typical, neutral order: time → verb → manner → destination.

How would I say “I usually go to work on foot” instead of a single future event?

For a habitual or repeated action, Czech prefers present tense or budu + chodit with the verb chodit (to go repeatedly, on foot):

Do práce chodím pěšky. – I go to work on foot. / I usually walk to work.
Budu chodit do práce pěšky. – I will (from now on) go to work on foot regularly.

In contrast:

Půjdu pěšky do práce. – I’ll walk to work (once, a specific future occasion).

How do you pronounce půjdu and ráno?

Approximate pronunciation (with main stress always on the first syllable in Czech):

půjdu – POOY-doo
- pů = long “oo” with a slight y-glide: like poo
  - y: pooy
- j is like English y in yes.
ráno – RAA-no
- rá – long “aa”, rolled or tapped r
- no – like English no but shorter.

Stress pattern: BRzy RÁno PŮJdu PĚŠky DO PRÁce (always on the first syllable of each word).