V šest večer budu doma s rodinou.

At six in the evening I will be at home with my family.

Breakdown of V šest večer budu doma s rodinou.

• já: I
• být: to be
• rodina: the family
• s: with
• večer: the evening
• doma: at home
• v: at
• šest: six

Questions & Answers about V šest večer budu doma s rodinou.

Why is the sentence V šest večer budu doma s rodinou and not using a separate word for “at” like in English?

In Czech, the preposition v covers both “in” and “at” depending on context.

• With time expressions, v usually means “at”:
  • v šest (hodin) = at six (o’clock)
  • v pondělí = on Monday
  • v květnu = in May

So V šest večer is literally “At six evening,” which in natural English is “At six in the evening.”

There is no extra little word like “at” because v already does that job.

Why is it V šest and not O šest or something else, since English uses “at six”?

For clock times in Czech, the standard preposition is v:

• v šest (hodin) – at six o’clock
• v devět – at nine
• v jednu – at one

The preposition o is used with some time expressions, but differently:

• o víkendu – at/on the weekend
• o Vánocích – at Christmas
• o půlnoci – at midnight (also o půlnoci is more idiomatic than v půlnoci)

For exact hours like 6:00, you normally use v, not o, so V šest is the natural choice.

What’s the difference between v šest and v šest hodin?

Both are correct and mean essentially the same:

• v šest – at six
• v šest hodin – at six o’clock (literally “at six hours”)

Adding hodin is just a bit more explicit or formal. In everyday speech, people usually drop hodin when the context is clear:

• V šest přijdu. – I’ll come at six.
• V šest hodin přijdu. – I’ll come at six o’clock. (a bit more explicit/emphatic)

In your sentence, V šest večer already clearly refers to a time of day, so hodin is not necessary.

Why is it šest and not some other form like šesti?

Czech numerals change form depending on the case. After v with clock times, you normally use the accusative:

• v jednu (hodinu) – at one o’clock (feminine accusative)
• v dvě / ve dvě (hodiny) – at two o’clock
• v tři (hodiny) – at three
• v šest (hodin) – at six

Here, šest is both the basic (nominative) and the accusative form, so it doesn’t change its shape.

You might see other forms (like šesti) in different grammatical contexts, but for “at six o’clock,” v šest is the standard form.

Why is večer just standing there with no preposition? Why not something like v večer for “in the evening”?

Time-of-day words like večer (evening), ráno (morning), odpoledne (afternoon), v noci (at night) behave a bit differently:

• On their own, they can function as adverbs:
  • Přijdu večer. – I’ll come in the evening.
  • Přijdu ráno. – I’ll come in the morning.

When you combine an exact hour with part of the day, Czech often simply puts them next to each other, without a second preposition:

• V šest večer – at six in the evening
• V sedm ráno – at seven in the morning

So večer here is like an adverb specifying which six: “six in the evening.” Saying v večer is ungrammatical; you say either just večer or večer v šest, depending on word order and emphasis.

Could I also say V šest hodin večer? Is that more correct?

Yes, V šest hodin večer budu doma s rodinou is perfectly correct.

Nuances:

• V šest večer… – very natural, normal spoken Czech.
• V šest hodin večer… – slightly longer, maybe a bit more explicit or formal, but still completely normal.

You don’t change the meaning; you simply spell out “hours.” In many everyday contexts, Czechs prefer the shorter v šest večer.

Can I change the word order, for example: Budu doma s rodinou v šest večer?

Yes. Czech word order is flexible, and all of these are grammatically fine:

• V šest večer budu doma s rodinou.
• Budu doma s rodinou v šest večer.
• Doma budu v šest večer s rodinou. (now emphasizing doma)

The default tendency is:

1. Time expressions often go near the start.
2. The new or emphasized information tends to go later.

Your original V šest večer budu doma s rodinou is neutral: it first anchors the time, then states where you’ll be and with whom. Moving v šest večer to the end would emphasize the time more.

Why is the verb budu used alone? Why not something like budu být (“I will be to be”)?

In Czech, the verb být (to be) has a special future form budu (1st person singular). You don’t add another infinitive být after it.

• jsem – I am
• budu – I will be

So:

• Jsem doma. – I am at home.
• Budu doma. – I will be at home.

You only use budu + infinitive for other imperfective verbs:

• budu pracovat – I will work / I’ll be working
• budu čekat – I will wait / I’ll be waiting

But být itself forms its future directly: budu, budeš, bude, etc., with no extra infinitive.

Why is there no word for “I” in the sentence? Where is the subject?

The subject “I” is built into the verb ending -u in budu. Czech is a pro‑drop language: it usually omits personal pronouns when the subject is clear from the verb form.

• (Já) budu doma. – I will be at home.
• (Ty) budeš doma. – You will be at home.
• (On) bude doma. – He will be at home.

You only explicitly say já when you want to emphasize it:

• Já budu doma s rodinou. – I will be at home with (my) family (implying maybe others won’t).

In your neutral sentence, já is understood and not needed.

What is the difference between doma, domů, and dům?

They all relate to “home / house”, but they’re used differently:

• dům – the noun “house”:

  • To je můj dům. – That is my house.
  • bydlím v domě – I live in a house.

• doma – an adverb meaning “at home” (location, where?):

  • Jsem doma. – I am at home.
  • Budu doma. – I will be at home.

• domů – an adverb meaning “(to) home” (direction, where to?):

  • Jdu domů. – I am going home.
  • Vrátím se domů. – I will return home.

In budu doma, you’re talking about a state/location in the future (“I will be at home”), so doma is the correct choice.

Why is it s rodinou and not something like s rodina?

The preposition s (“with”) in Czech normally takes the instrumental case.

• rodina – family (nominative, basic form)
• s rodinou – with (the) family (instrumental singular)

Instrumental endings for feminine nouns like rodina typically change -a to -ou:

• káva → s kávou – with (the) coffee
• sestra → se sestrou – with (my) sister
• rodina → s rodinou – with (my) family

So s rodina is ungrammatical; the case must match the preposition, hence s rodinou.

Should there be a possessive, like s mojí rodinou or s mou rodinou for “with my family”?

You can add the possessive, but you don’t have to. Both options are natural:

• s rodinou – with (the) family → usually understood as “with my family” from context.
• s mojí rodinou / s mou rodinou – explicitly “with my family.”

Czech often omits possessives when the relationship is obvious (family members, body parts, etc.):

• Jdu k doktorovi s dcerou. – I’m going to the doctor with (my) daughter.
• V šest večer budu doma s rodinou. – At six in the evening I’ll be at home with (my) family.

So s rodinou is completely natural and not ambiguous in normal contexts.

Could I say Večer v šest budu doma s rodinou instead? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, Večer v šest budu doma s rodinou is correct too.

Meaning-wise it’s the same: “In the evening at six I will be at home with my family.” The difference is mainly in information structure:

• V šest večer budu doma… – first emphasizes the exact time (six), then clarifies it’s in the evening.
• Večer v šest budu doma… – first sets the general time frame (in the evening), then specifies which exact time (at six).

Both are natural; Czech allows both orders depending on what you want to foreground.