Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

I like dark trousers.

Breakdown of Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

• já: I
• mít rád: to like
• kalhoty: the trousers
• tmavý: dark

Questions & Answers about Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

Why do we say Mám rád and not just rád in this sentence?

With a noun (like tmavé kalhoty), Czech usually uses the construction mít rád = “to like”.

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty. = I like dark trousers.
• If you use rád with a verb, you don’t need mít:
  
  • Rád nosím tmavé kalhoty. = I like wearing dark trousers.

So:

• mít rád + noun
• rád + verb

What changes if the speaker is a woman?

The word rád agrees with the gender of the subject.

• Man: Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.
• Woman: Mám ráda tmavé kalhoty.

Other forms (for reference):

• Neuter subject: Mám rádo…
• Group with at least one man: Máme rádi…
• Group of only women: Máme rády…

Why does tmavé end with -é and not -ý or -á?

The ending of the adjective tmavé agrees with kalhoty:

• kalhoty are grammatically feminine plural.
• Feminine plural nominative/accusative adjective ending is -é.

Basic pattern for the adjective tmavý (“dark”):

• Masculine singular: tmavý kabát
• Feminine singular: tmavá sukně
• Neuter singular: tmavé tričko
• Feminine plural (like kalhoty): tmavé kalhoty

So tmavé is the correct form to match kalhoty.

Why is kalhoty plural? Is there a singular form?

Kalhoty is one of those Czech nouns that exists only in the plural, like English “trousers” or “pants”.

• You normally cannot say *kalhota to mean “a pair of trousers”; that sounds wrong in standard Czech.
• If you really need to talk about “one leg” of the trousers, you can say nohavice (pant leg).

So even for one pair, you still use the plural form: ty kalhoty.

What case is tmavé kalhoty, and why?

Tmavé kalhoty is in the accusative plural:

• The verb mít (“to have”) and the expression mít rád take their object in the accusative.
• Pattern: Mám rád + accusative
  
  • Mám rád kávu. (accusative singular)
  • Mám rád tmavé kalhoty. (accusative plural)

For feminine plural nouns like kalhoty, nominative and accusative look the same, so you have to see the case from the function in the sentence (direct object).

What’s the difference between Mám rád tmavé kalhoty and Líbí se mi tmavé kalhoty?

Both can be translated as “I like dark trousers”, but the nuance is different:

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

  • A general preference or affection.
  • Sounds like a stable taste: “I’m a fan of dark trousers.”

• Líbí se mi tmavé kalhoty.

  • Literally: “Dark trousers please me / are pleasing to me.”
  • Often used for appearance or first impression: “I find dark trousers nice / attractive.”

If you mean a general preference, Mám rád tmavé kalhoty is the safest, most neutral choice.

Can I say Miluju tmavé kalhoty instead of Mám rád tmavé kalhoty?

You can, but it’s much stronger and can sound a bit exaggerated or funny.

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty. = I like dark trousers. (normal, neutral)
• Miluju tmavé kalhoty. = I love dark trousers. (very strong, emotional, often stylistic/hyperbolic)

Use mít rád for normal “like”; use milovat / miluju when you really want to stress how much you love something (or for people, romantic love, etc.).

Can I leave out mám and just say Rád tmavé kalhoty?

No, that’s not correct Czech.

• With a noun, you need the verb mít:
  
  • Mám rád tmavé kalhoty. ✅
  • Rád tmavé kalhoty. ❌

You can leave out mít only when rád goes with another verb:

• Rád nosím tmavé kalhoty. = I like wearing dark trousers.
• Rád kupuju tmavé kalhoty. = I like buying dark trousers.

Can I add já and say Já mám rád tmavé kalhoty?

Yes, but it changes the emphasis:

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

  • Neutral statement, “I like dark trousers.”

• Já mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

  • Emphasis on já = “I like dark trousers (maybe others don’t).”

In Czech, subject pronouns (já, ty, on, ona…) are usually dropped unless you want to stress or contrast them.

Can I change the word order, for example Tmavé kalhoty mám rád?

Yes, Czech word order is more flexible, and changes usually affect emphasis, not grammar:

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty.

  • Neutral: general statement.

• Tmavé kalhoty mám rád.

  • Emphasis on tmavé kalhoty:
    “Dark trousers, I like (those).”
    Implies contrast: maybe light ones you don’t like.

Other variants are possible but may sound unusual in isolation. Use the basic order Mám rád tmavé kalhoty as your default.

Is rád an adjective or an adverb in Czech? It looks like “glad”.

Historically it’s an adjective (it has gender forms: rád, ráda, rádo, rádi, rády), but its function is a bit like an adverb in English.

• With mít rád + noun:

  • Mám rád tmavé kalhoty. = I like dark trousers.

• With another verb:

  • Rád čtu. = I like reading.
  • Ráda zpívám. = I like singing.

So you can think of rád as an adjective that behaves somewhat like “gladly / with pleasure” but is best translated as “like to” or “like”.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before tmavé kalhoty?

Czech has no articles (“a/an/the”).

• Tmavé kalhoty can mean:
  • “dark trousers”
  • “the dark trousers”
  • “some dark trousers”

The exact meaning comes from context, not from an article. So Mám rád tmavé kalhoty is naturally understood as “I like dark trousers” in general.

How would I say “I like dark trousers, but I don’t like light ones”?

You can say:

• Mám rád tmavé kalhoty, ale nemám rád světlé.
  
  • If the speaker is a woman: Mám ráda tmavé kalhoty, ale nemám ráda světlé.

Here:

• světlé = light (in color), and the noun kalhoty is understood from context and omitted in the second part.