Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.

My head and one eye hurt, so today I don’t want to go to work.

Breakdown of Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.

• já: I
• chtít: to want
• a: and
• jít: to go
• do: to
• práce: the work
• dnes: today
• mě: me
• proto: so
• jeden: one
• bolet: to hurt
• hlava: the head
• oko: the eye

Questions & Answers about Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.

Why is it “Bolí mě hlava” and not something like “Já mám bolest hlavy” or “mám bolavou hlavu”?

Czech usually talks about pain differently from English.

• English: I have a headache.
• Czech: literally “My head hurts me” → Bolí mě hlava.

Key points:

• Bolí = hurts / is hurting (3rd person singular).
• hlava = the subject (nominative).
• mě = the person who feels the pain (object).

So the structure is:

[subject = body part] + bolí + [object = person]
Hlava bolí mě. → neutral spoken form: Bolí mě hlava.

You can say things like mám bolavou hlavu, but:

• Bolí mě hlava is the most natural and common.
• Já mám bolest hlavy sounds formal/medical and not like everyday speech.

What case is “mě” in “Bolí mě hlava”, and why not “mně”?

In Bolí mě hlava, the word mě is in the accusative case (object).

For the pronoun já (“I”), the forms are:

• Nominative: já (I)
• Accusative / Genitive: mě / mne
• Dative / Locative: mně

With bolet, the person who feels the pain is treated as an object, so we use accusative:

• Bolí mě hlava. = My head hurts me.
• Longer / more formal: Bolí mne hlava.

Mně would be dative/locative and is not correct here in standard grammar, even though you may hear some speakers mix mě/mně in informal speech.

Can I also say “Hlava mě bolí” or “Mě bolí hlava”? Does the word order change the meaning?

All of these are grammatically correct, but the word order changes the emphasis:

1. Bolí mě hlava.
   – Neutral, standard way to say I have a headache.

2. Hlava mě bolí.
   – Emphasis on hlava (the head):
   It’s my head that hurts (not something else).

3. Mě bolí hlava.
   – Emphasis on mě (“me”):
   It’s *me who has the headache (maybe not other people).*

In everyday conversation, Bolí mě hlava is the most typical neutral phrase; the other two usually appear when you are contrasting or stressing something.

Why is there no word for “my” in “hlava” and “jedno oko”? How do I know it means my head and my eye?

Czech usually does not use possessive pronouns (můj, moje, mojeho…) with body parts when the owner is clear from context.

The pronoun mě already shows who is affected:

• Bolí mě hlava.
  literally: The head hurts me → understood as my head hurts.
• Bolí mě jedno oko.
  literally: One eye hurts me → understood as one of my eyes hurts.

You would typically add můj/moje only for contrast or emphasis:

• Bolí mě moje hlava, ne tvoje.
  It’s my head that hurts, not yours.

So in normal sentences like this, no “my” is needed; Czech relies on the pronoun and context.

Why is it “jedno oko” and not just “oko”? Does “jedno oko” really mean “one of my eyes”?

Yes. Jedno oko here means “one of my eyes”.

• oko = (one) eye
• jedno oko = one eye (as opposed to both eyes)

By saying jedno oko, the speaker clarifies that:

• Not both eyes hurt.
• Only one eye is the problem.

Also, jedno is the neuter form of the numeral jeden (“one”), agreeing with oko, which is a neuter noun:

• jedno oko (one eye – neuter)
• jedna ruka (one hand – feminine)
• jeden zub (one tooth – masculine)

So jedno oko is both grammatically correct and semantically specific: one (of my) eye(s).

Why is the conjunction “proto” used here and not “protože” or “takže”?

These three words are related but used differently:

1. proto = therefore / that’s why

   • It introduces a result and starts a new main clause.
   • Example in your sentence:
     Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.
     My head and one eye hurt; therefore I don’t want to go to work today.

2. protože = because

   • It introduces a subordinate clause (reason).
   • Same meaning rephrased:
     Dnes nechci jít do práce, protože mě bolí hlava a jedno oko.

3. takže = so / so that / and so (often colloquial)

   • Often similar to “so” in English speech.
   • You could say:
     Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, takže dnes nechci jít do práce.
     This is also OK, a bit more conversational.

So:

• Use protože = because (joins clauses as reason).
• Use proto = therefore / that’s why (introduces result).
• Use takže in spoken language similarly to English “so”.

Why is it “nechci jít do práce” and not “nepůjdu do práce”? Both can be translated as “I don’t want to / I won’t go to work”, right?

They are not the same in Czech.

• nechci jít do práce
  – literally: I don’t want to go to work.
  – Focus on volition (want / don’t want).

• nepůjdu do práce
  – literally: I will not go to work.
  – Future tense of jít; focus on the fact that I will not go, regardless of desire.

In your sentence:

Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.

the speaker is giving a reason for not wanting to go.
If they said:

…, proto dnes nepůjdu do práce.

it would sound more like a decision or plan: therefore I will not go to work today (maybe already decided, maybe even telling the boss).

So nechci jít = I don’t want to go,
nepůjdu = I’m not going (future fact).

Why is it “do práce” and not something like “na práci” or “do práci”?

The phrase “go to work” is almost always “jít do práce” in Czech.

1. Preposition “do”

   • Means “to / into” when moving into a place / institution.
   • It requires the genitive case.

   Examples:

   • jít do školy (to go to school)
   • jít do města (to go to town)
   • jít do nemocnice (to go to the hospital)
   • jít do práce (to go to work)

2. Case of “práce”

   • práce is feminine.
   • Genitive singular = práce (same form as nominative).
     That’s why it looks the same, but grammatically it is genitive after do.

3. Why not “na práci”?

   • na práci usually means “for work” / “for working” (purpose), not to the workplace as a destination.
   • So jdu na práci is not used for I’m going to work.

4. Why not “do práci”?

   • Because do + práce requires genitive, and “práci” is accusative/dative, not genitive.

So “do práce” is the fixed, correct way to say “to work” as a place you go to.

Why is it “jít do práce” and not “jet do práce”?

Czech distinguishes between going on foot and going by vehicle:

• jít = to go on foot, to walk.
• jet = to go by transport (car, bus, train, etc.).

Your sentence:

… nechci jít do práce.

literally means “I don’t want to go (on foot) to work.”

If you want to say you don’t want to travel to work (by any means), in real life people often still say jít do práce in a general sense. But if you specifically want to stress by vehicle, you can say:

• nechci jet do práce – I don’t want to go to work (by car/bus/etc.).

In many contexts, jít do práce just means “go to work”, not necessarily literally walking, unless the context makes the difference important.

Can I move “dnes” and say “Proto dnes nechci jít do práce”, “Proto nechci dnes jít do práce”, or “Dnes proto nechci jít do práce”? Are they all correct?

Yes, they are all grammatically correct, but the rhythm and emphasis change slightly.

Possible variants:

1. Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto dnes nechci jít do práce.
   – Very natural. Slight emphasis on dnes as part of the consequence.

2. Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, proto nechci dnes jít do práce.
   – Also correct; dnes is closer to jít, subtly highlighting “go today”.

3. Bolí mě hlava a jedno oko, dnes proto nechci jít do práce.
   – More marked word order; dnes is emphasized (as in: today, for that reason, I don’t want to go).
   – Used when you contrast today with other days.

In everyday conversation, the first two versions are the most neutral. Czech word order is relatively flexible, but moving adverbs like dnes usually changes focus/emphasis, not the basic meaning.