Breakdown of Na letišti se často ptají lidé, kteří se bojí létat letadlem, co mají dělat.
Questions & Answers about Na letišti se často ptají lidé, kteří se bojí létat letadlem, co mají dělat.
It means:
“At the airport, people who are afraid of flying often ask what they should do.”
More literally:
“At the airport, people who are afraid to fly by plane often ask what they are supposed to do.”
Czech often uses na (on/at) for certain public places and institutions, where English just says at:
- na letišti – at the airport
- na nádraží – at the (train) station
- na poště – at the post office
- na univerzitě – at the university
So na letišti is the idiomatic way to say at the airport.
V letišti would sound strange, like inside the physical building/structure of the airport and is not how Czechs normally talk about the location in general.
Letiště (airport) is a neuter noun ending in -e / -ě.
Its locative singular (used after na, v in the “where?” sense) takes -i:
- nominative: letiště – the airport
- locative: na letišti – at the airport
This is a regular pattern:
- moře → v moři (in the sea)
- náměstí → na náměstí (in/on the square)
- letiště → na letišti (at the airport)
Both are grammatically correct. The difference is information focus.
Na letišti se často ptají lidé…
Literally: At the airport, often ask people…
This structure emphasizes the situation (“at the airport it often happens that people ask…”). It sounds a bit more written/formal or stylistic.Na letišti se lidé často ptají…
More neutral word order; the subject lidé (people) is in its usual position, and často (often) is just modifying the verb.
In everyday speech, Na letišti se lidé často ptají… is probably more common. The sentence given is perfectly correct, just a bit more stylized.
The verb is ptát se = to ask (a question).
- ptát se literally “to ask oneself,” but functionally: to ask (someone).
- It is always used with se when it means “to ask” in the sense of asking a question.
Compare:
- ptát se někoho (na něco) – to ask someone (about something)
- zeptat se někoho (na něco) – to ask someone (once, a single act)
So se ptají = (they) ask. You can’t say ptají alone in this meaning; you must include se.
Kteří is a relative pronoun meaning “who / which / that” and it must agree with the noun it refers to:
- lidé – people → masculine animate plural
→ relative pronoun: kteří
Examples:
- lidé, kteří se bojí – people who are afraid
- muži, kteří pracují – men who work
- stroje, které pracují – machines that work (neuter plural → které)
So here:
- lidé (masc. animate plural) → kteří is the correct form.
Se is a clitic – a short unstressed word that usually comes very early in the clause, normally in “second position” after the first stressed element.
In kteří se bojí:
- kteří – first stressed word in the relative clause
- se – clitic in second position
- bojí – main verb
✅ kteří se bojí – correct, natural
❌ kteří bojí se – sounds wrong in modern Czech
So se has to be early in the clause; you can’t just put it after the verb like in English.
The verb is bát se = to be afraid, to fear. The se is an integral part of the verb; there is no simple verb bát with the same meaning.
- bojím se – I am afraid
- bojíš se – you are afraid
- bojí se – he/she/they are afraid
So:
- kteří se bojí létat letadlem
= who are afraid to fly by plane
You cannot omit se here; bojít létat or bojí létat is incorrect.
Czech distinguishes between repeated / habitual action and one specific instance:
- létat – to fly in general, repeatedly, habitually
- letět – to fly once, to be in the process of a specific flight
Here we talk about flying as an activity in general:
- lidé, kteří se bojí létat letadlem
= people who are afraid of flying by plane (in general)
If it were letět, it would sound more like they are afraid of one concrete flight (e.g., they are afraid to fly today), which is not what this sentence is about.
Letadlem is instrumental singular of letadlo (airplane).
Instrumental is often used for means/method:
- jet autem – to go by car
- jet vlakem – to go by train
- létat letadlem – to fly by plane
So létat letadlem literally means “to fly by means of an airplane”, which we translate as to fly by plane.
Co mají dělat literally means “what they are to do / what they have to do”, and in natural English: “what they should do / what they’re supposed to do.”
- mít
- infinitive can express obligation / recommendation:
- Máš to udělat. – You should do it / You’re supposed to do it.
- Mají přijít v šest. – They are supposed to come at six.
- infinitive can express obligation / recommendation:
So:
- co mají dělat – what they should do
- ptají se, co mají dělat – they ask what they should do
You could say simply ptají se, co dělat, but:
- co mají dělat is clearer and more natural here as “what they should do,” not just “what to do” in a neutral sense.
In Czech, subject pronouns (já, ty, on, oni…) are usually omitted when they’re clear from context or from the verb ending.
- mají already tells you the subject is oni / lidé (they / people).
Adding oni is possible but usually unnecessary and can sound emphatic:
- ptají se, co mají dělat – neutral
- ptají se, co oni mají dělat – what *they should do* (contrasted with someone else)
Since no contrast is needed here, the simple co mají dělat is normal.
Yes, this reordering is completely grammatical and probably sounds more natural in everyday language:
- Na letišti se lidé, kteří se bojí létat letadlem, často ptají, co mají dělat.
Differences:
- subject lidé is closer to the verb ptají → clearer structure
- často (often) is next to the verb, as in many standard sentences
- commas marking the relative clause and the indirect question are clearer
Czech word order is relatively flexible; shifts like this usually change emphasis more than basic meaning.