Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje sestra má hodně práce.

moje is the “full” form of the possessive pronoun and is the most common in everyday speech.
má is a shorter, more literary form. You’ll see it more in written language (stories, poetry, formal style).

So:

Moje sestra má hodně práce. – completely normal, neutral.
Má sestra má hodně práce. – correct, but sounds more bookish or stylized in modern Czech.

But isn’t má also a verb? How do Czechs tell the difference?

Yes, má is also the 3rd person singular of mít (to have): on/ona má (he/she has).

So in writing, Má sestra má hodně práce contains:

first Má = my (possessive pronoun, feminine short form)
second má = has (verb mít)

Czechs tell them apart from context and word order, and in speech also from stress and intonation. However, because this looks and sounds a bit awkward (two má in a row), people usually avoid it and prefer Moje sestra má hodně práce.

Why does sestra end in -a?

Sestra (sister) is:

feminine gender
singular
nominative case (the subject of the sentence)

Many feminine nouns in Czech end in -a in the nominative singular, like sestra (sister), kniha (book), žena (woman). Since sestra is the subject (who has a lot of work?), it appears in the nominative: sestra.

Why is the verb má used and not something like je (is)?

Czech uses the verb mít (to have) for this meaning:

Moje sestra má hodně práce.
literally: My sister has a lot of work.

You do not say something like Moje sestra je hodně práce – that would be incorrect.

Also, Czech does not have a special continuous form like English is having. The present tense má can mean:

she has a lot of work (in general)
she has a lot of work (right now / these days)

Context decides which one is meant.

What exactly does hodně mean, and are there alternatives?

Hodně roughly means a lot (of), much, many.

In hodně práce, it means a lot of work / much work.

Common alternatives with similar meaning:

mnoho práce – more formal, bookish; much work, a lot of work
moc práce – very common in speech; often carries a nuance of too much work, but can also just mean a lot of work in casual language
spousta práce – a load of work / plenty of work

All of these usually take the genitive: mnoho práce, moc práce, spousta práce.

Why is it hodně práce and not hodně prácí or something else?

After hodně (and similar quantity words like mnoho, málo, trochu), the following noun normally goes into the genitive case.

The noun práce (work) is feminine and its forms are:

Nominative singular: práce
Genitive singular: práce

So in this particular word, nominative and genitive look the same. Grammatically, in hodně práce it is genitive singular, even though it looks like nominative.

That’s why you don’t see an extra ending: hodně práce is already the correct genitive form.

Why is práce singular in Czech when English says “a lot of work” (also singular), but sometimes “a lot of things / jobs”?

In both languages here, work / práce is being treated as an uncountable or mass noun:

English: My sister has a lot of work. (not works)
Czech: Moje sestra má hodně práce.

If you switch to countable jobs/tasks, Czech can also use plurals, for example:

Moje sestra má hodně úkolů. – My sister has a lot of tasks.
Moje sestra má hodně zakázek. – My sister has a lot of orders/contracts (depending on context).

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in this sentence?

Czech has no articles (no separate words like a, an, the).

So Moje sestra má hodně práce can mean:

My sister has a lot of work.
My sister has a lot of the work. (if context implies specific work)

The exact nuance (general vs specific) comes from context, not from any article word.

Can I change the word order, or must it be Moje sestra má hodně práce?

Czech word order is relatively flexible. Moje sestra má hodně práce is the most neutral version, but you can change it for emphasis:

Hodně práce má moje sestra.
Emphasizes hodně práce (a lot of work), maybe contrasting with someone else.
Moje sestra hodně práce má.
Sounds more emphatic or stylistic; often used in spoken language with a certain intonation.

However, for learners, it’s safest to stick with the neutral Moje sestra má hodně práce.

Is there a difference between hodně práce and moc práce?

Yes, there is a nuance:

hodně práce – a lot of work (fairly neutral)
moc práce – in modern spoken Czech often too much work, or at least so much work; it can sound more emotional or complaining.

Examples:

Moje sestra má hodně práce. – She has a lot of work (stated as a fact).
Moje sestra má moc práce. – She has too much work / way too much to do (often a negative or sympathetic tone).

In very casual speech, moc can also just mean really a lot, but be aware of the frequent “too much” feeling.

How would the sentence change for other people, like my brother or our mother?

You change the possessive pronoun and the noun, but má stays the same for he/she/it:

Můj bratr má hodně práce. – My brother has a lot of work.
(můj because bratr is masculine)
Naše matka má hodně práce. – Our mother has a lot of work.
(naše because matka is feminine and naše is the full fem/neut form)

Present tense of mít:

já mám – I have
ty máš – you (sg) have
on/ona/to má – he/she/it has
my máme – we have
vy máte – you (pl/formal) have
oni mají – they have

How do you pronounce hodně práce?

Key points:

Czech stress is always on the first syllable of each word.
hodně: HOD-ně
- ho like ho in hot (short)
- ď is a softened d, similar to d in duty in some accents
- ně is like nye in canyon
práce: PRÁ-ce
- á is a long a (like in father, held longer)
- c is pronounced like ts in cats

So you get: MO-je SES-tra MÁ HOD-ně PRÁ-ce, with clear, short, regular rhythm and stress always on the first syllable of each word.