Learn Hardcore Czech: Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny. - Our children are now waiting in the waiting room and are reading old newspapers.

dítě (child) is neuter singular, but its plural děti behaves grammatically like feminine plural.
For feminine plural in the nominative (the subject case), we use naše:
- naše děti – our children
- naše auta – our cars (neuter plural)
- naše knihy – our books (fem. plural)

The other forms are different cases:

naší – e.g. feminine singular genitive/dative/locative, or feminine plural dative/locative
našich – plural genitive/locative for all genders

Since dětí is the subject in nominative, we need naše.

Why isn’t there any word like “are” (as in “are waiting” / “are reading”)?

In Czech, the present tense form of the verb is used alone, without an auxiliary verb, to express both:

English “wait” / “read” (simple present)
and “are waiting” / “are reading” (present continuous)

So:

čekají = “(they) wait” or “(they) are waiting”
čtou = “(they) read” or “(they) are reading”

You only use a form of být (to be) as an auxiliary in other structures (e.g. past tense, passive: jsou pozvaní – “they are invited”), not for normal present continuous like in English.

Why is the tense here used for “are waiting / are reading” and not just for general habits?

Czech doesn’t grammatically separate present simple and present continuous like English.

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.
By context and with teď (now), this clearly refers to an action happening right now.

The same verb forms could also describe regular actions if the context said so:

Naše děti vždycky čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.
“Our children always wait in the waiting room and read old newspapers.” (habit)

So the same present form covers both meanings; adverbs like teď, vždycky, často etc. and context tell you which one it is.

What does teď do here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Teď means “now” and marks the actions as happening at this moment.

In this sentence, it’s placed near the beginning:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.

You could also say:

Teď naše děti čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.
Naše děti čekají teď v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.

All are grammatically correct. Word order changes the focus / emphasis slightly:

Teď naše děti… – emphasizes “right now (it is our children that…)”.
Naše děti teď čekají… – neutral: “our children are now waiting…”
Naše děti čekají teď v čekárně… – mild emphasis on “now in the waiting room (not somewhere else / not at another time).”

But in everyday speech, they all convey essentially the same idea.

Why is it v čekárně and not something like v čekárna or na čekárně?

The preposition v (“in”) requires the locative case when it expresses location.

čekárna (waiting room) is feminine singular, nominative.
Its locative singular is čekárně.

So:

v čekárně = “in the waiting room”

We use v + locative for being inside something:

v čekárně – in the waiting room
v domě – in the house
v autě – in the car

Na is used more for on / at surfaces or certain set phrases:

na stanici – at the (train/bus) station
na zastávce – at the (bus/tram) stop
na poště – at the post office

So for a room that you are inside of, v čekárně is the normal choice.

What grammatical gender and number is děti, and how does that affect the sentence?

Děti is plural, and grammatically it behaves as feminine plural, even though dítě (child) is neuter singular.

Consequences:

The possessive pronoun is naše (fem./neut. plural nominative).
The verb is 3rd person plural:
- čekají – they wait / are waiting
- čtou – they read / are reading

So the agreement works like:

Naše děti (fem. plural) čekají (3rd pers. plural) a čtou (3rd pers. plural)…

What does čtou si mean exactly? Why is si there, and can we leave it out?

Si is a reflexive dative pronoun, roughly meaning “for themselves”.
It often indicates that the action is done for the subject’s own benefit or pleasure.

čtou noviny – they read newspapers (neutral statement)
čtou si noviny – they are reading (some) newspapers for themselves / for fun

In many cases, si is optional and just makes the sentence:

more colloquial or natural
sound a bit more relaxed / “for pleasure”

Here:

a čtou si staré noviny has the nuance: “and they are (sitting there) reading some old newspapers (for themselves, to pass the time).”

You can say:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou staré noviny.

This is correct, just a bit more neutral or “bare.”

Why is it staré noviny and not stará noviny or starý noviny?

Because staré must agree with noviny in:

gender
number
case

Noviny (newspaper) is a plural-only noun (pluralia tantum), treated as feminine plural.

For feminine plural accusative (direct object), the adjective starý becomes:

staré noviny (“old newspapers”)

Some patterns:

nominative plural fem.: staré noviny jsou na stole. – old newspapers are on the table.
accusative plural fem.: čtu staré noviny. – I read old newspapers.

So both as subject and as object, you see the form staré noviny.

Is noviny always plural? How do you say “a newspaper” in Czech?

Yes, noviny is almost always used in the plural form, but it can mean either:

“newspapers” (in general or more than one copy), or
“a newspaper” (one publication), depending on context.

Examples:

Kupuje si noviny. – He buys a newspaper / newspapers.
Čtu jedny staré noviny. – I’m reading an old newspaper.
(literally “one set of old newspapers”)

If you really want to make clear it’s just one copy, you can add:

jedny noviny – one newspaper
dvoje noviny – two newspapers (two copies)

But in many real situations, noviny alone works fine and context tells you whether it’s one newspaper or more.

Why is there only one teď? Does it apply to both čekají and čtou si?

Yes, the teď (“now”) naturally applies to both verbs in this coordinated sentence:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.

This is understood as:

“Our children are now waiting in the waiting room and (are) reading old newspapers.”

You could repeat teď:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a teď čtou si staré noviny.

But that sounds unusual and heavy in Czech; it would suggest a strong contrast in time or a special emphasis. Normally, one teď is enough for both actions in the same time frame.

Could we change the word order, for example: V čekárně teď naše děti čekají a čtou si staré noviny? Is that still correct?

Yes, word order in Czech is flexible, and your example is grammatically correct:

V čekárně teď naše děti čekají a čtou si staré noviny.

All of these are possible:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.
V čekárně teď naše děti čekají a čtou si staré noviny.
Teď naše děti čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.

The main differences are in information structure and emphasis:

Starting with Naše děti… – neutral focus on who is doing it.
Starting with V čekárně… – focus more on where this is happening.
Starting with Teď… – focus primarily on when it is happening.

But all are normal, and in casual conversation you’ll hear variations like this often.

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” before čekárně and staré noviny?

Czech has no articles (the, a, an). Nouns stand without them:

v čekárně – “in a waiting room” or “in the waiting room”
staré noviny – “old newspapers” / “the old newspapers”

Whether English would use “the” or “a” is determined by context, not by any special Czech word. If you need to be explicit, you can use demonstratives:

v té čekárně – in that/the waiting room
ty staré noviny – those/the old newspapers

But in many sentences, plain čekárna, noviny without articles is all you need.

Could we use perfective verbs like počkají or přečtou si instead of čekají and čtou si?

You could, but the meaning would change:

čekají – imperfective: emphasizes the ongoing process of waiting.
“they are (currently) waiting”
počkají – perfective: emphasizes the result/completion:
“they will wait (for some time / until something happens)”
čtou si – imperfective: they are reading (ongoing, process).
přečtou si – perfective: they will read through / finish reading.

So:

Naše děti teď čekají v čekárně a čtou si staré noviny.
Focus: what they are doing now.

If you said:

Naše děti si počkají v čekárně a přečtou si staré noviny.
That sounds more like a plan or a statement about what they will do and complete (they’ll wait there and will read the newspapers through).

For describing the current ongoing situation, the imperfective forms čekají, čtou si are the natural choice.