Learn Hardcore Czech: Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině. - I would like to talk about family.

Chci mluvit o rodině. = “I want to talk about family.” (more direct)
Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině. = “I’d like to talk about family.” (more polite, tentative)

So we use chtěl bych to sound less blunt, especially with people you don’t know well or in more formal situations.

Why is chtěl in the past tense if the sentence is about now?

Chtěl is indeed the masculine past form of chtít (“to want”). But in the combination chtěl bych, it doesn’t express real past time.

This structure works as a conditional polite form, much like English “I would like” (which also uses a past form would).

So:

Chtěl = “(I) wanted” (past) in other contexts
Chtěl bych = “I would like” (polite, conditional), not really past in meaning

What’s the role of bych here, and where does it go in the sentence?

Bych is a clitic form of the auxiliary verb být (“to be”) used to form the conditional (“would”).

chtěl bych ≈ “I would want / I would like”

About position:

Bych almost always comes right after the main verb or after the first stressed word of its clause.
In this sentence, chtěl is the main verb, so chtěl bych is the natural order.

You generally cannot move bych to the end or separate it oddly:

❌ *Bych chtěl mluvit… (sounds wrong)
✅ Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.

How would this sentence change if the speaker is a woman?

Only the form of chtěl changes to agree with the speaker’s gender:

Man: Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.
Woman: Chtěla bych mluvit o rodině.

Everything else (bych mluvit o rodině) stays the same.

Why is it o rodině and not o rodina? What case is rodině?

The preposition o (“about”) requires the locative case.

The base word is rodina (family), feminine noun.
Locative singular of rodina is rodině.

So:

rodina (nominative, dictionary form)
o rodině (locative, after o = about family)

This is the same pattern in many words:

škola → o škole (school → about school)
práce → o práci (work → about work)

Does o rodině mean “about family in general” or “about my family”?

It can mean either, depending on context.

Czech often omits possessive pronouns when it’s obvious whose thing it is, especially with things like family, house, parents, children, etc.

Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.
- could be “I’d like to talk about my family.”
- could be “I’d like to talk about (the topic of) family.”

If you want to be explicit:

Chtěl bych mluvit o své rodině. = I’d like to talk about my (own) family.
Chtěl bych mluvit o rodinách obecně. = I’d like to talk about families in general.

Why is the verb mluvit used here, and not something like říct or povědět?

Mluvit = “to speak, to talk” in general, ongoing speech. It focuses on the activity, not on a specific message.

Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.
= “I’d like to talk (have a conversation) about family.”

Říct / povědět = “to say, to tell” (usually specific information):

Chtěl bych ti něco říct o rodině.
= “I’d like to tell you something about family.”

So mluvit o + locative is the natural way to say “to talk about X” as a topic.

How do you conjugate mluvit? Is this the infinitive?

Yes, mluvit is the infinitive form of the verb “to speak / to talk”. Basic present conjugation:

(já) mluvím – I speak
(ty) mluvíš – you speak (sg, informal)
(on/ona/ono) mluví – he/she/it speaks
(my) mluvíme – we speak
(vy) mluvíte – you speak (pl / formal)
(oni) mluví – they speak

In Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině, we use the infinitive because it follows “I’d like (to do something)”:

chtěl bych + infinitive = “I’d like to ...”

Is there any difference between Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině and Rád bych mluvil o rodině?

Both are polite and close to “I’d like to talk about family.”, but there’s a nuance:

Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.
– neutral polite “I’d like to talk about family.”
Rád bych mluvil o rodině.
– slightly more personal: literally “I would gladly / happily talk about family.”
– can sound a bit more formal or elegant in some contexts.

Grammar difference:

chtěl bych + infinitive (mluvit)
rád bych + past participle (mluvil)

Can I say Já chtěl bych mluvit o rodině or should I omit já?

Normally you omit já here:

Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině. (most natural)

You can say Já bych chtěl mluvit o rodině, but it puts emphasis on já (“I would like to talk about family” – implying maybe someone else doesn’t).

Já chtěl bych… is not natural; the clitic bych should follow chtěl, not já.

So:

✅ Chtěl bych mluvit… (neutral)
✅ Já bych chtěl mluvit… (emphatic “I”)
❌ Já chtěl bych mluvit… (wrong word order)

Is the word order fixed? Could I say O rodině bych chtěl mluvit?

Czech word order is flexible, but not free. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.
– neutral, standard order. Topic at the end.
O rodině bych chtěl mluvit.
– emphasizes “about family”; like “It’s about family that I’d like to talk.”
Mluvit o rodině bych chtěl.
– sounds marked/poetic or used for contrast, not typical everyday speech.

For a learner, stick to: Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině.

What gender is rodina, and what are some important forms I should know?

Rodina is feminine. Basic singular cases:

rodina – nominative (subject): Moje rodina je velká. (My family is big.)
rodiny – genitive: bez rodiny (without a family)
rodině – dative/locative: k rodině, o rodině (to the family, about the family)
rodinu – accusative: mám rodinu (I have a family)
rodino! – vocative: Rodino, pojďte sem! (Family, come here!)
rodinou – instrumental: s rodinou (with (my) family)

In our sentence, o rodině = locative after o.

How would I make this sentence formal, addressing someone with vy?

The sentence Chtěl bych mluvit o rodině. already only refers to yourself, so vy vs ty doesn’t change it.

If you want a polite suggestion in a formal conversation, you might say:

Chtěl bych s vámi mluvit o rodině.
= “I’d like to talk with you about family.”

Here s vámi (“with you” formal/plural) makes it clear you’re speaking politely to someone.