Learn Hardcore Czech: Víkend obvykle trvá dva dny, ale pro mě je někdy příliš krátký. - The weekend usually lasts two days, but for me it is sometimes too short.

víkend is in the nominative singular (basic dictionary form).
It’s the subject of the sentence:
- Víkend (subject) obvykle trvá (verb) dva dny (object/complement).

Starting the sentence with the subject like this is completely normal and neutral in Czech. You could reorder elements for emphasis, but Víkend obvykle trvá dva dny is the default neutral word order.

What does obvykle mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

obvykle means “usually” / “typically” and is an adverb.

In this sentence it modifies the verb trvá (lasts):

Víkend obvykle trvá dva dny. = The weekend usually lasts two days.

Other natural placements:

Obvykle víkend trvá dva dny. – A bit more emphasis on “usually”.
Víkend trvá obvykle dva dny. – Also correct; neutral, maybe slightly stressing the length.

Czech adverbs of frequency (like obvykle, často, někdy) are quite flexible in position, but the given sentence is very standard and natural.

Why is it trvá and not something like trvá se or another form?

trvat is the verb “to last / to take (a certain amount of time)”.

trvat (imperfective) → trvá is the 3rd person singular present:
- on / ona / ono trvá = he/she/it lasts

There is no reflexive form here (trvat se doesn’t exist in this sense). The basic pattern is:

Hodina trvá šedesát minut. – An hour lasts sixty minutes.
Film trvá dvě hodiny. – The movie lasts two hours.
Víkend obvykle trvá dva dny. – The weekend usually lasts two days.

So trvá directly links the subject (víkend) with the duration (dva dny).

Why is it dva dny and not dvě dny or something like dva dnů?

This is about numerals and gender.

den (day) is masculine inanimate.
The numeral “two” in Czech:
- dva for masculine (animate and inanimate)
- dvě for feminine and neuter

So:

dva dny = two days (correct, because den is masculine)
dvě hodiny = two hours (feminine)
dvě auta = two cars (neuter)

After 2, 3, 4, the noun usually appears in a form identical to nominative plural (though formally it’s often analyzed as genitive plural for 2–4; for learners, you can think of it as “the usual plural form”):

den → dny (plural)
dva dny is therefore the normal, correct form.

Why is it ale pro mě je někdy příliš krátký and not something like ale pro já or ale mně?

Several things are happening here:

Preposition + pronoun:
- The preposition pro (“for”) always takes the accusative.
- The accusative of já (I) is mě (colloquial) / mne (more formal).
- So pro mě = “for me” (correct case).
- pro já would be ungrammatical (wrong case).
mě vs. mně:
- mě and mne are accusative (and genitive) forms.
- mně is usually dative or locative (to me / at me).
- After pro, you must use mě/mne, not mně.
Word order:
- ale pro mě je někdy příliš krátký is neutral and common.
- You could also say: ale pro mě je příliš krátký někdy or ale je pro mě někdy příliš krátký, but these versions slightly shift emphasis. The original is the most natural.

Why is krátký masculine? Shouldn’t it agree with víkend somehow?

It does agree with víkend; that’s exactly why it is masculine.

víkend is masculine inanimate, nominative singular.
The adjective krátký (short) must match the noun in:
- gender → masculine
- number → singular
- case → nominative (because it’s part of the subject complement linked by je)

So:

Víkend je krátký. – The weekend is short.
If the noun changed, the adjective would change:
- dovolená je krátká (holiday – feminine)
- léto je krátké (summer – neuter)

In your sentence, the implied subject of je … krátký is still víkend, so krátký must be masculine singular nominative.

What is the difference between někdy and obvykle here? Can they switch places?

Both are adverbs of frequency, but with different meanings:

obvykle = usually, typically, as a rule
někdy = sometimes

In the sentence, they refer to different parts:

obvykle → how often the weekend lasts two days (almost always)
někdy → how often the weekend feels too short (only sometimes, not always)

You can’t just swap them without changing the meaning. For example:

Víkend obvykle trvá dva dny – The weekend usually lasts two days.
Víkend někdy trvá dva dny – The weekend sometimes lasts two days (implies other times it doesn’t, which is odd).

Position:

někdy is quite flexible in the second clause:
- ale pro mě je někdy příliš krátký (very natural)
- ale někdy je pro mě příliš krátký
- ale je pro mě někdy příliš krátký

All are okay; the original is standard.

Could we say ale pro mě je někdy moc krátký instead of příliš krátký? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say moc krátký, and it would sound natural in everyday speech.

Nuances:

příliš krátký – too short, a bit more neutral or standard.
moc krátký – literally also too short, but in spoken Czech moc often feels slightly more informal / emotional (“way too short”, “so short”).

Both are correct; in a textbook-style sentence, příliš is a bit more typical, but you’ll hear moc krátký a lot in conversation.

Why do we need je in pro mě je někdy příliš krátký? Can we drop it like in English (“for me sometimes too short”)?

In Czech, the verb “to be” (být) is normally required in the present tense for sentences like X is Y.

Víkend je krátký. – The weekend is short.
Pro mě je někdy příliš krátký. – For me it is sometimes too short.

You generally cannot drop je here. A version without je:

Pro mě někdy příliš krátký.

would sound incomplete or incorrect except in very clipped, poetic, or telegraphic contexts (headlines, slogans).

So unlike in colloquial English, you can’t just omit “is” in standard Czech sentences.

What is the gender of víkend, and does it affect anything else in this sentence?

víkend is masculine inanimate.

In this sentence, its gender:

Determines the form of the adjective krátký:
- krátký (masc) vs. krátká (fem) vs. krátké (neut).
Affects agreement in any other adjectives or pronouns that might modify it:
- můj víkend je krátký – my weekend is short (můj is masculine)

Here you only directly see the effect in krátký, but in longer sentences, more words would have to agree with víkend.

Can I use bývá instead of je, like ale pro mě bývá někdy příliš krátký? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

ale pro mě bývá někdy příliš krátký.

být = to be (simple state)
bývat = to tend to be, to be usually / often

Subtle difference:

je někdy příliš krátký – it sometimes is too short.
bývá někdy příliš krátký – it tends to be / is often (from time to time) too short; it suggests a recurring pattern a bit more strongly.

Both are correct; the original with je is simpler and a bit more neutral.

How should I pronounce trvá and krátký? I’m confused by the accents.

In Czech, the accent mark (ˇ) over á, í, etc. just shows vowel length (long vowel), not stress.

Stress is almost always on the first syllable of the word, regardless of length.

trvá
- Syllables: tr-vá
- Stress: TR-vá
- á is a long a: like the a in “father”, just held slightly longer.
krátký
- Syllables: krát-ký
- Stress: KRÁT-ký
- Both á and ý are long vowels.
- Final ý sounds like a long ee in “see”, but with the tongue slightly higher/tenser.

So focus on:

stress on the first syllable,
making á and ý clearly longer than their short counterparts a, y.