Learn Hardcore Czech: Teď mám kurz češtiny každý večer a učitel je velmi trpělivý. - Now I have a Czech course every evening and the teacher is very patient.

čeština – noun, “the Czech language”
- Mluvím dobře česky, ale moje čeština není perfektní.
  “I speak Czech well, but my Czech isn’t perfect.”
češtiny – genitive form of čeština (“of Czech”)
- kurz češtiny – a Czech course, course of Czech
- učebnice češtiny – a Czech textbook
česky – adverb, “in Czech”
- Mluvím česky. – I speak Czech.
- Píšu to česky. – I write it in Czech.

So in this sentence, you need the noun in genitive (češtiny) to say “course of Czech”.

Could I say Teď mám kurz češtiny každý večer and Mám teď kurz češtiny každý večer? Are both correct?

Yes, both are grammatically correct. The difference is nuance and emphasis:

Teď mám kurz češtiny každý večer…
– Neutral, common word order. Teď (“now”) sets the time frame at the start: Right now, I have a Czech course every evening…
Mám teď kurz češtiny každý večer…
– Also fine. The focus is slightly more on mám kurz (“I have a course”), with teď inserted after the verb.

In everyday speech, both versions sound natural. Czech word order is flexible; adverbs like teď can move around quite a bit without changing the basic meaning.

Which case is každý večer in, and why is there no preposition like “v” (“in”)?

Každý večer is in the accusative case used as a time expression.

večer is a masculine inanimate noun.
- Nominative: večer
- Accusative: večer (same form for masculine inanimate)
každý is the masculine inanimate form of “every” in the nominative/accusative.

Czech often uses bare accusative to talk about how often / when something happens:

každý den – every day
každý týden – every week
každé ráno – every morning
příští pátek – next Friday

You don’t usually say v každý večer; that sounds wrong. You just say každý večer to mean “every evening”.

Does Mám kurz češtiny mean “I own a Czech course”?

In this context, mám kurz does not mean “I own a course”.
The verb mít (“to have”) is very often used for things like:

scheduled lessons or classes
obligations
arranged activities

Examples:

Mám dneska angličtinu. – I have English (class) today.
Zítra nemáme matematiku. – We don’t have math tomorrow.
Mám teď hodně práce. – I have a lot of work now.

So Teď mám kurz češtiny každý večer means:

I’m currently taking a Czech course every evening.
I have a Czech class every evening now.

Native speakers will not interpret it as “I own a course”.

Why doesn’t the Czech sentence use words for “a” or “the” before kurz and učitel?

Czech has no articles (no direct equivalent of a/an or the).

So:

kurz can mean “a course” or “the course”, depending on context.
učitel can mean “a teacher” or “the teacher”.

Czech shows definiteness mostly through:

context (what has already been mentioned)
word order
sometimes pronouns or demonstratives:
- ten kurz – that/the course
- ten učitel – that/the teacher

In your sentence, kurz and učitel are understood from context, so no extra word is needed.

Is učitel always a male teacher? How do you say “female teacher”?

Grammatically:

učitel is masculine (“teacher”, usually male).
The female form is učitelka.

Examples:

Můj učitel je velmi trpělivý. – My (male) teacher is very patient.
Moje učitelka je velmi trpělivá. – My (female) teacher is very patient.

In everyday speech, if people know the teacher is a woman, they normally say učitelka, not učitel.

Why is it učitel je velmi trpělivý and not trpěliví?

This is about adjective agreement with the noun:

učitel – masculine singular
The adjective in nominative masculine singular takes -ý:
- trpělivý – patient (masculine singular)
- trpělivá – patient (feminine singular)
- trpělivé – neuter singular
- trpěliví – masculine animate plural

So:

Učitel je trpělivý. – The teacher is patient. (one male teacher)
Učitelé jsou trpěliví. – The teachers are patient. (several male / mixed teachers)

In your sentence it’s one teacher, so trpělivý is the correct form.

What does velmi mean exactly, and can I replace it with moc or hodně?

All three can translate as “very”, but they differ in style:

velmi – “very”, neutral to formal, a bit more bookish:
- učitel je velmi trpělivý – standard, fine in writing and speech.
moc – “very, really”, colloquial, often emotional or emphatic:
- učitel je moc trpělivý – sounds more casual, like “really very patient”.
hodně – literally “a lot”, but often used as “very” in informal speech:
- učitel je hodně trpělivý – casual, “very patient / super patient”.

Your original velmi is safe everywhere, including more formal contexts.

Why isn’t češtiny capitalized, while in English “Czech” is?

Czech capitalization rules are different:

Languages and adjectives of nationality are not capitalized:
- čeština, angličtina, němčina – Czech, English, German (languages)
- český, anglický, německý – Czech, English, German (adjectives)
Country names and proper names are capitalized:
- Česko, Česká republika, Anglie, Německo

So kurz češtiny is correctly lowercase, even though in English you write “Czech course”.

How do you pronounce tricky parts like Teď, češtiny, and trpělivý?

Approximate guides for an English speaker:

Teď
- One syllable.
- T as in “ten”.
- e as in “bed”.
- ď is a “soft d” made with the tongue a bit further back and with the middle of the tongue raised; at the end of the word it sounds close to “tch”.
- Roughly: “tetch”, but with a softer consonant.
češtiny – če-šti-ny (3 syllables, stress always on the first syllable in Czech)
- č = ch in “church”.
- e as in “bed”.
- š = sh in “ship”.
- ti sounds like tyi, close to “ty” in “tiara” but softer.
- y here is pronounced like i in “sit” for English ears.
- Roughly: “CHESH-ti-ni”.
trpělivý – tr-pě-li-vý (4 syllables, stress on tr): TR-pye-li-vee
- r is rolled/flapped.
- ě after p is pronounced like pje, so pě ≈ pye.
- Final ý is a long ee sound.
- Roughly: “TR-pye-li-vee” (with rolled r and long final ee).

Remember: in Czech, stress is always on the first syllable of the word.

Could I also say this using a verb like “to go to a course”?

Yes. A very natural alternative is:

Teď chodím každý večer na kurz češtiny a učitel je velmi trpělivý.
– “Now I go to a Czech course every evening and the teacher is very patient.”

Difference in nuance:

Mám kurz češtiny každý večer
– Focus on having the class in your schedule.
Chodím na kurz češtiny každý večer
– Focus on going regularly to the course.

Both are common and correct; your original sentence is perfectly natural.

Is there any difference between teď, nyní, and zrovna?

They are close in meaning (“now”), but differ in tone and nuance:

teď – the most common, neutral “now” in everyday speech:
- Teď mám kurz češtiny. – I have a Czech course now.
nyní – also “now”, but sounds more formal / written:
- You’ll see it in news, official texts, announcements.
zrovna – often “right now / just now / at the moment”:
- Zrovna mám kurz češtiny. – I’m in the middle of a Czech course right now / at this moment (more “just now” feeling).

In your sentence, Teď mám kurz… is the most natural everyday choice.