Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí. - My grandmother is still calm, even when she loses something.

vždy – clearly always, often more absolute: always, in every case.
pořád – all the time / constantly, quite colloquial.
stále – neutral, a bit more formal than pořád, and can often be translated as still (as in still not finished) or continually / always, depending on context.

Here the idea is: she remains calm even in situations where many people would not.

Why is it klidná and not klidný?

Adjectives in Czech must agree with the noun in:

gender
number
case

Babička (grandmother) is:

feminine
singular
nominative (subject of the sentence)

So the adjective klidný (calm) must take its feminine singular nominative form:

masculine: klidný
feminine: klidná
neuter: klidné

Because babička is feminine, the correct form is klidná:

Moje babička je klidná. – My grandmother is calm.
If this were about a grandfather (dědeček, masculine), it would be:
Můj dědeček je klidný.

Can you drop je and just say Moje babička stále klidná?

No, in standard Czech you cannot normally omit je in this type of sentence.

Czech usually needs the verb být (to be) in the present tense, unlike some other Slavic languages where it can often be left out.

So:

✅ Moje babička je stále klidná. – correct
❌ Moje babička stále klidná. – sounds wrong / incomplete

You can sometimes omit je in very informal speech in very short phrases (e.g. To je fajn → To fajn), but with a normal descriptive sentence like this, je is required.

What exactly does i když mean, and how is it different from když?

Když by itself usually means when or if:

Když něco ztratí, je smutná. – When she loses something, she is sad.

I když is a fixed phrase meaning even though / although / though. The i intensifies the idea, similar to even in English:

Moje babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí.
→ My grandmother stays calm, even when she loses something.
→ …although she loses something.

So:

když – neutral when/if (time or condition)
i když – although / even though, introduces something surprising or contrary to expectation

In this sentence, i když stresses that her calmness is surprising given the situation of losing something.

Why is it ztratí and not ztrácí? And doesn’t ztratí mean future tense?

Czech verbs have aspect:

ztrácet – imperfective (ongoing / repeated process)
ztratit – perfective (a completed event)

Ztratí is the 3rd person singular present form of the perfective verb ztratit. For perfective verbs, the present tense form usually refers to the future:

Ztratí to. – She will lose it.

So why is it used in a sentence that in English feels general and present (like whenever she loses something)?

Because Czech often talks about typical repeated situations using:

když / i když + perfective to mean whenever / in any case when this (completed) event happens.

So:

i když něco ztratí = even when she loses something (on any given occasion)

You could say i když něco ztrácí, but:

i když něco ztrácí focuses on the process of losing (in the middle of losing things, being in a state of losing).
i když něco ztratí focuses on the fact that each loss is a completed event – more natural for describing a typical reaction each time a loss happens.

In this context (a characteristic reaction each time she loses something), ztratí is the normal and idiomatic choice.

Why is there no ona (she)? Where is the subject of ztratí?

Czech is a pro‑drop language: you usually omit subject pronouns (já, ty, on, ona…) because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

In ztratí, the -í ending in this verb form clearly shows 3rd person singular (he/she/it). From the context of the sentence, it is obviously still babička who is the subject.

So:

Moje babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí.
literally: My grandmother is still calm, even when (she) loses something.

You could explicitly say:

…i když ona něco ztratí.

but this is unnecessary and would only be used for special emphasis (e.g. contrast: ona vs někdo jiný). In normal speech, you leave ona out.

What case is něco here, and why use něco instead of something like nějakou věc?

In i když něco ztratí, něco is the direct object of ztratí, so it is in the accusative case.

For the pronoun něco (something), the nominative and accusative forms are identical:

nominative: něco – something (is happening)
accusative: něco – lose something, see something, buy something

You could say:

i když ztratí nějakou věc – even if she loses some thing

but něco is:

shorter
more natural
less specific (any kind of thing)

So něco is the usual, neutral way to say something as an object here.

Is the comma before i když necessary?

Yes, the comma is required in standard Czech spelling here.

Reason: i když něco ztratí is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause) introduced by the conjunction i když. In Czech, subordinate clauses are normally separated from the main clause with a comma.

Moje babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí. ✅

If you moved the i když clause to the front, you would still keep the comma:

I když něco ztratí, moje babička je stále klidná. ✅

So: main clause , i když + subordinate clause
or: I když + subordinate clause , main clause

In both word orders, the comma stays.

Can I say I když něco ztratí, moje babička je stále klidná instead? Does the meaning change?

Yes, that word order is perfectly correct:

Moje babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí.
I když něco ztratí, moje babička je stále klidná.

The basic meaning is the same in both: her calmness is surprising given that she sometimes loses things.

The difference is mostly about focus / information structure:

Moje babička je stále klidná…
→ Starts by highlighting her and her calmness, and then adds the surprising condition.
I když něco ztratí…
→ Starts by highlighting the condition (losing something), then presents her calmness as the main point of the sentence.

Both are natural; which you choose depends on what you want to emphasize first.

What’s the difference between moje babička and má babička? And can I just say Babička je stále klidná without moje?

Czech has two forms for my:

moje babička – long form
má babička – short form

They mean the same thing; the difference is:

moje – neutral, very common in everyday speech.
má – a bit more formal / literary, often used in written language, fixed expressions, or when you want a slightly more elevated style.

So:

Moje babička je stále klidná. – very normal in speech.
Má babička je stále klidná. – feels slightly more formal or stylized, but also correct.

As for omitting the possessive:

Yes, you can say:

Babička je stále klidná, i když něco ztratí.

In context, this usually still means your own grandmother, because close family relationships are often clear from context and don’t need a possessive pronoun in Czech. Including moje just makes it explicit and can sound a bit more personal or specific, especially in isolation.