Learn Hardcore Czech: Pro moje zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce. - For my health, mainly vegetables and fruit are important.

For neuter nouns like zdraví, the nominative and accusative singular look the same (zdraví), so you can’t see the case difference from the form; you know it is accusative only because of the preposition pro.

Other, similar options with slightly different nuance:

kvůli zdraví – “because of / for the sake of health” (often when health is the reason for some action)
na zdraví – “to (our) health” (toast), or “for health” in some fixed phrases

What is the difference between moje and mé in pro moje zdraví? Could I say pro mé zdraví?

Both moje zdraví and mé zdraví mean “my health”. The difference is mostly style, not meaning.

moje – the long form, more neutral/colloquial, very common in speech.
mé – the short form, a bit more formal or literary; you see it more often in writing.

For a neuter singular noun like zdraví, both are correct:

pro moje zdraví
pro mé zdraví

Both will sound natural; a textbook or formal article might slightly prefer mé, but in everyday speech moje is extremely common.

Is zdraví here a noun or an adjective? How is it different from zdravý / zdravá / zdravé?

In this sentence, zdraví is a noun meaning “health”.

Compare:

zdraví – noun: health
- Moje zdraví je důležité. – My health is important.
zdravý / zdravá / zdravé – adjective: healthy
- Zelenina je zdravá. – Vegetables are healthy.
- Jsem zdravý. (man) / Jsem zdravá. (woman) – I am healthy.

So:

Pro moje zdraví = For my health (noun)
Zdravá zelenina = healthy vegetables (adjective + noun)

Why is the verb je (is) singular, even though we have zelenina a ovoce (two things)? Could I say jsou (are)?

Both are possible, but they feel a bit different.

The given sentence:

Pro moje zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce.

uses je (is, singular). This treats zelenina a ovoce more like one general kind of food that is important (and it slightly puts the focus on zelenina).

You could also say:

Pro moje zdraví jsou důležité hlavně zelenina a ovoce.

with jsou (are, plural), which is very clear and fully standard. It treats zelenina and ovoce as two separate items that are important.

A good rule for learners:

If the subject is clearly plural and in front of the verb: use jsou.
- Zelenina a ovoce jsou pro moje zdraví důležité. – safest, textbook‑style version.
When the subject comes after the verb, native speakers sometimes use je in sentences like this, treating the whole phrase as one “category” of food. Your original sentence is natural Czech.

Why is it důležitá and not důležité in je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce?

In principle, adjectives should agree with the subject in gender and number.

Here the logical subject is zelenina a ovoce (two nouns joined by a), so the most straightforward agreement would be:

jsou důležité – plural: are important

However, in the original sentence, the predicate adjective důležitá is placed before the subject, and Czech often lets it agree with the nearest noun instead – here zelenina, which is feminine singular:

zelenina – feminine singular → důležitá (feminine singular)

This kind of “agreement with the nearer noun” is very common in real speech and is accepted:

Pro moje zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce.

As a learner, if you want to stay on the safe, textbook side, you can use the fully regular plural form:

Pro moje zdraví jsou důležité hlavně zelenina a ovoce.
Zelenina a ovoce jsou pro moje zdraví důležité.

Both will sound perfectly natural and are grammatically clear.

Why doesn’t the sentence start with Zelenina a ovoce? What is the effect of starting with Pro moje zdraví?

Czech word order is quite flexible and is often used to mark emphasis (what is “known” vs. what is “new” information).

Original:

Pro moje zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce.

Here:

Pro moje zdraví is at the beginning → it is the topic (“regarding my health”).
zelenina a ovoce comes at the end → it is the new, emphasized information: what is important.

If you say:

Zelenina a ovoce jsou pro moje zdraví důležité.

then the emphasis shifts:

You start by talking about zelenina a ovoce (vegetables and fruit), and only then add “for my health”.

Both sentences mean essentially the same thing, but:

Pro moje zdraví ... → “For my health, (what matters is)…”
Zelenina a ovoce ... → “Vegetables and fruit, (as for them)… they are important for my health.”

What exactly does hlavně mean here, and why is it hlavně and not hlavní?

hlavně is an adverb meaning:

“mainly, especially, primarily, above all”

It modifies the adjective důležitá and the whole statement:

je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce
≈ it is mainly vegetables and fruit that are important

hlavní is an adjective meaning “main / principal”, and it must agree with a noun:

hlavní problém – the main problem
hlavní jídlo – main course
Moje hlavní starost je zdraví. – My main concern is health.

In our sentence we are not describing a noun like “main vegetables”; we are qualifying how they are important. So the adverb hlavně is correct, not the adjective hlavní.

Can hlavně be placed in other positions in the sentence? Does the meaning change?

Yes, hlavně is quite flexible in word order. All of these are possible and natural, with slightly different nuances:

Pro moje zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce.
– Neutral, very natural. Emphasis: out of all foods, mainly vegetables and fruit are important.
Pro moje zdraví je hlavně důležitá zelenina a ovoce.
– Emphasis shifts a bit to důležitá (“the important thing, mainly, is vegetables and fruit”), but in practice this is very similar to (1).
Hlavně pro moje zdraví je důležitá zelenina a ovoce.
– Emphasizes “mainly for my health” (perhaps as opposed to for taste, pleasure, etc.).
Pro moje zdraví je zelenina a ovoce hlavně důležitá.
– Grammatically OK, but this order is less natural; Czech usually keeps hlavně near the verb/adjective or before the phrase it modifies.

So yes, you can move hlavně, but the most standard versions are (1) and (2).

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before zelenina a ovoce?

Czech has no articles like “the” or “a/an”. Definiteness and general/specific meaning are inferred from context, not from a special word.

zelenina a ovoce can mean:
- “vegetables and fruit” (in general)
- “the vegetables and fruit” (if the context makes them specific)

In this sentence, the meaning is general: vegetables and fruit as kinds of food.

If you really need to make them specific, you can add a demonstrative:

ta zelenina a to ovoce – those (particular) vegetables and that fruit

Are zelenina and ovoce singular or plural in Czech? They look singular but mean “vegetables and fruit”.

Grammatically:

zelenina – feminine singular noun
- literally “vegetable/vegetables”, but usually a mass / collective noun = vegetables in general.
ovoce – neuter, used mostly as a mass noun; its singular and plural forms look the same (like “fruit” in English).

Examples:

Zelenina je drahá. – Vegetables are expensive. (feminine singular verb & adj)
Ovoce je drahé. – Fruit is expensive. (neuter singular verb & adj)

In our sentence, zelenina a ovoce are two singular nouns joined by a, but semantically they refer to two groups of foods. That’s why the more regular agreement would be plural (jsou důležité), even though each word alone is grammatically singular.

Could I drop moje and just say Pro zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce?

Yes, that is natural Czech:

Pro zdraví je důležitá hlavně zelenina a ovoce.

Without moje, it means more “For (one’s) health in general, vegetables and fruit are important.” It can still include your own health, but it sounds more general, almost like advice.

Czech often omits possessive pronouns where English would use my/your:

Bolí mě hlava. – My head hurts. (literally “Head hurts me.”)
Myslím na zdraví. – I’m thinking about (my) health.

So:

Pro moje zdraví – explicitly “for my health”.
Pro zdraví – more general: “for (good) health” / “for health in general”.

What is the difference between hlavně and words like především or zejména in this kind of sentence?

All of these can translate “mainly / especially” and are often interchangeable:

hlavně – very common, neutral, slightly more colloquial in feel.
především – “above all, first of all”, a bit more formal or emphatic.
zejména – “especially, in particular”, often used in more careful or written style.

You could say:

Pro moje zdraví je hlavně důležitá zelenina a ovoce.
Pro moje zdraví je především důležitá zelenina a ovoce.
Pro moje zdraví je zejména důležitá zelenina a ovoce.

All are acceptable; the meaning is practically the same, with only a slight shift in style/feel.