Breakdown of Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu a má raději maso.
Questions & Answers about Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu a má raději maso.
Má is the 3rd person singular of mít – to have.
Rád = gladly / with pleasure → together mít rád literally means to have gladly, but idiomatically it means to like.
- mít rád = to like
- mít raději = to like more / to prefer
So:
- má ráda maso = she likes meat
- má raději maso (než zeleninu) = she prefers meat (to vegetables)
In your sentence, má raději maso = she prefers meat or she likes meat better.
All three forms exist, but they’re used in different cases or styles.
The possessive můj (my) has these common feminine singular forms:
- nominative (who/what?): moje / má sestra
- moje sestra = neutral, everyday
- má sestra = a bit shorter, slightly more formal / bookish
- genitive/dative/locative/instrumental (other cases): mojí sestry, k mojí sestře, s mojí sestrou, etc.
In your sentence, sestra is the subject (nominative), so you must use moje or má, not mojí.
All of these are correct in the right context:
- Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu.
- Má sestra nejí často zeleninu. (a bit more formal)
Because zeleninu is the accusative singular of zelenina (vegetable, in general).
Czech verbs like jíst (to eat) take a direct object in the accusative:
- nominative: zelenina (as the subject)
- Zelenina je zdravá. – Vegetables are healthy.
- accusative: zeleninu (as the object)
- Jím zeleninu. – I eat vegetables.
In your sentence zeleninu is what she (doesn’t often) eat, so it has to be accusative:
Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu.
Maso is a neuter noun. For many neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative singular look the same:
- nominative: maso – Maso je drahé. (Meat is expensive.)
- accusative: maso – Jím maso. (I eat meat.)
So in má raději maso, maso is also accusative (object of mít raději), it just happens to have the same form as the nominative.
Both are grammatically correct, but they differ in emphasis, very similarly to English:
Nejí často zeleninu.
= She doesn’t eat vegetables often.
→ low frequency; eating vegetables is rare.Často nejí zeleninu.
= She often doesn’t eat vegetables.
→ on many occasions she doesn’t eat them (but it doesn’t say how often she does).
Native Czech speakers hear the same nuance as:
- I don’t often eat vegetables.
- I often don’t eat vegetables.
Your sentence nejí často zeleninu suggests that eating vegetables is not a frequent habit.
Yes, it’s correct, but you slightly change the meaning:
Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu.
→ Eating vegetables is something she doesn’t do very often.Moje sestra často nejí zeleninu.
→ On many occasions / in many situations, she doesn’t eat vegetables (for example at lunch, at dinner, at restaurants).
Context usually makes both easy to understand, but if you want to say “she doesn’t eat vegetables very often”, nejí často zeleninu is closer.
Často has flexible word order, but not all positions sound equally natural here.
Most natural options:
- Moje sestra často nejí zeleninu.
- Moje sestra nejí často zeleninu.
Moje sestra nejí zeleninu často is grammatically possible, but it sounds a bit marked / unusual; it would put strong emphasis on často, similar to English She doesn’t eat vegetables often with stress on often. Learners are safer using one of the first two word orders.
The infinitive is jíst – to eat.
Present tense (singular):
- já jím – I eat
- ty jíš – you eat (sg.)
- on/ona/ono jí – he/she/it eats
Negation is made with the prefix ne-:
- já nejím – I don’t eat
- ty nejíš – you don’t eat
- on/ona/ono nejí – he/she/it doesn’t eat
So in your sentence:
- nejí = (she) doesn’t eat
a usually means and, while ale means but.
… nejí často zeleninu a má raději maso.
= she doesn’t often eat vegetables and (simply adds) she prefers meat.… nejí často zeleninu, ale má raději maso.
= she doesn’t often eat vegetables, but she prefers meat (contrasts two facts a bit more).
Both are possible.
With a, you just list two related facts.
With ale, you highlight the contrast between not eating vegetables and preferring meat.
Yes, Czech word order is flexible here. All of these are possible:
- má raději maso
- raději má maso
- má maso raději
Differences:
- má raději maso – most neutral and common.
- raději má maso – puts extra focus on raději (the preference).
- má maso raději – sound is acceptable, but less common in this short sentence; might be used in a longer sentence or to stress maso.
As a learner, má raději maso is the safest and most natural choice.
má ráda maso = she likes meat
- neutral liking, not necessarily compared with anything.
má raději maso = she prefers meat / likes meat more (usually: more than something else, e.g. vegetables).
You’d typically use má raději maso (než zeleninu) when you’re contrasting two options.
They mean the same thing: rather / preferably / more gladly.
- raději – slightly more neutral / standard
- radši – a bit more colloquial / informal
Both are very common in speech:
- Má raději maso.
- Má radši maso.
In writing or formal Czech you’ll see raději more often, but radši is absolutely fine in everyday conversation.
Yes, that’s possible if the context already makes it clear whose sister you’re talking about.
Czech often omits possessives when the owner is obvious (family members, body parts, etc.):
- Sestra nejí často zeleninu. – (My) sister doesn’t often eat vegetables.
- Bratr má raději maso. – (My) brother prefers meat.
If you’re introducing the person for the first time or you want to be explicit, moje sestra / má sestra is clearer. If everyone knows you’re talking about your sister, just sestra is natural.