Questions & Answers about Mám ji moc rád.
Literally, the sentence is:
- Mám – I have
- ji – her (object pronoun)
- moc – very / a lot
- rád – glad, fond (used in the phrase mít rád = “to like”)
So word-for-word: “I have her very fond.”
Natural English translations:
- “I like her very much.”
- In a more emotional context, it can also be understood as “I really love her.”, but grammatically it’s “like”.
In Czech, the verb “to like” is usually expressed as a combination:
- mít + rád = to like / to be fond of
Literally: “to have [someone/ something] gladly / fondly.”
Examples:
- Mám ji rád. – I like her.
- Mám to město rád. – I like this town.
- Mám kávu moc rád. – I like coffee very much.
So rád on its own means something like “glad / pleased / fond”, but with mít it forms a fixed expression meaning “to like.”
Both can be translated as “I love her” in some contexts, but they are not the same:
Mám ji rád.
- Basic meaning: “I like her.”
- Can be affectionate, but is slightly softer and more neutral.
- Could be used for friends, relatives, or even someone you love romantically, but it doesn’t have to be romantic.
Miluju ji.
- Direct, strong: “I love her.”
- Clearly romantic / very strong emotional love.
- Usually not used for casual liking.
So:
- Friendly / milder: Mám ji moc rád. – I like her very much.
- Strongly romantic: Miluju ji. – I love her.
Context and tone decide how emotional “Mám ji moc rád” sounds.
The form rád agrees with the speaker, not with the person you like.
- Mám ji rád. – Said by a man (masculine singular).
- Mám ji ráda. – Said by a woman (feminine singular).
So:
- Subject = “I” (a man) → rád
- Subject = “I” (a woman) → ráda
Who you like (she, he, them) does not change the form of rád; only the gender and number of the person speaking does.
Ji is the accusative form of the pronoun ona (she):
- Nominative: ona – she
- Accusative: ji – her (as a direct object)
Jí is the dative form (“to her / for her”):
- Dative: jí – (to) her
Compare:
- Mám ji rád. – I like her. (accusative – direct object)
- Dám jí dárek. – I’ll give her a present. (dative – indirect object)
So in Mám ji moc rád, ji is correct because she is the object of “liking”.
Word order in Czech is more flexible than in English, but not completely free. Also, “ji” is a clitic pronoun and prefers a “second position” in the clause.
Mám ji moc rád.
- Neutral, natural, common.
Já ji mám moc rád.
- Also correct, slightly emphasizes “já” = I (as opposed to someone else).
- Still very natural.
Ji mám moc rád.
- Grammatically possible in strong contrast/emphasis (e.g. “Ji mám moc rád, ale jeho ne.” – I like her a lot, but not him.)
- More marked and less neutral; not a basic learner pattern.
Mám rád ji.
- Grammatically possible in special emphasis (e.g. contrast: “Nemám rád lidi obecně, ale mám rád ji.” – I don’t like people in general, but I like her.)
- For normal, neutral speech, you should stick to Mám ji (moc) rád.
As a learner, use:
- Mám ji moc rád.
- Já ji mám moc rád. (for emphasis on “I”)
In this sentence, moc is an adverb meaning roughly:
- “very / very much / a lot.”
So:
- Mám ji moc rád. – I like her very much / a lot.
Common alternatives with similar meaning:
- hodně – Mám ji hodně rád. (very much, a lot)
- velmi – Mám ji velmi rád. (more formal: I like her very much.)
- strašně (colloquial) – Strašně ji mám rád. (literally “terribly”; like “I like her so much.”)
- fakt (slangy) – Fakt ji mám rád. (I really like her.)
They all intensify “mám ji rád.”
Moc is very common and neutral in spoken language.
You don’t need the subject pronoun já in Czech, because the verb ending -ám already tells us the subject is “I”.
- Mám ji moc rád. – Completely normal and natural.
Adding já is optional and adds emphasis:
- Já ji mám moc rád. – I like her very much (maybe in contrast to someone else).
So:
- Neutral: Mám ji moc rád.
- Emphatic: Já ji mám moc rád.
Only rád changes to ráda to match the speaker’s gender:
- Man speaking: Mám ji moc rád.
- Woman speaking: Mám ji moc ráda.
Everything else stays the same:
- Mám – I have
- ji – her
- moc – very
So a woman says ráda, a man says rád.
You keep mám … moc rád/ráda, and just change the object pronoun:
- Singular, informal “you” (ty):
- Man speaking: Mám tě moc rád. – I like you very much.
- Woman speaking: Mám tě moc ráda.
- Plural or formal “you” (vy):
- Man speaking: Mám vás moc rád. – I like you (all) very much / I like you (formal) very much.
- Woman speaking: Mám vás moc ráda.
Pattern:
- Mám + [object pronoun] + moc rád / ráda.
You just negate mám:
- Man speaking: Nemám ji moc rád. – I don’t like her very much.
- Woman speaking: Nemám ji moc ráda.
Notes:
- ne- is the negation prefix: mám → nemám
- The rest of the structure stays the same.
If you want it even stronger, you could say:
- Vůbec ji nemám rád. – I don’t like her at all.
- Vůbec ji nemám ráda. (woman speaking)
Key points:
- Mám – long á (like “maaam”), final m is clearly pronounced.
- ji – like English “yee”.
- moc – sounds roughly like “mots”:
- o is short (like “o” in “hot”).
- Final c is [ts], not [k] or [s].
- rád – long á again; final d is often devoiced and can sound like “t” in casual speech.
Natural rhythm groups it into two chunks:
- Mám ji | moc rád
Try to keep mám and rád with clearly long á, and pronounce c as [ts] in moc.