Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje učitelka říká, že je jí třicet let a že má ráda svoji práci. - My female teacher says that she is thirty years old and that she likes her work.

Je mi zima. = I am cold. (literally: It is cold to me.)
Je mu špatně. = He feels bad. (literally: It is bad to him.)
Je jí třicet let. = She is thirty. (literally: It is thirty years to her.)

So jí marks the person who “has” that age.

Why is it třicet let, not třicet roků?

Both rok and roků mean “years” in different forms, and let is a special plural form of rok used mainly in counting and expressions of duration or age.

rok – year (basic form)
roky – nominative plural (two, three, four years: dva roky)
roků / let – genitive plural (five or more: pět let, pět roků)

For numbers 5 and above, the noun goes to the genitive plural. With rok, the usual everyday form in this context is let, so:

třicet let is the standard way to say “thirty years (of age).”
třicet roků is grammatically OK but less common and sounds a bit heavier or more emphatic.

Why is “likes” expressed as má ráda? How does this construction work?

Má ráda literally means “has gladly” and is the normal way to say “likes”:

mít rád / ráda / rádo / rádi / rády
- accusative object

For example:

Mám rád kávu. = I like coffee. (speaker male)
Mám ráda kávu. = I like coffee. (speaker female)
Moje učitelka má ráda svoji práci. = My teacher likes her job.

So má = “has,” ráda = “gladly.” Together they function as one unit meaning “likes.”

Why is it má ráda, not má rád?

The word rád/ráda/rádo/rádi/rády behaves like an adjective that agrees with the subject in gender and number:

On má rád kávu. – He likes coffee. (masculine singular)
Ona má ráda kávu. – She likes coffee. (feminine singular)
Dítě má rádo kávu. – The child likes coffee. (neuter singular)
Oni mají rádi kávu. – They like coffee. (mixed / masculine plural)
Ženy mají rády kávu. – The women like coffee. (feminine plural)

Because učitelka is feminine, the correct form is ráda:

Moje učitelka má ráda svoji práci.

Why is svoji used instead of její for “her” in má ráda svoji práci?

Czech has a special reflexive possessive pronoun svůj (with forms svůj, svoje/svá, svoji/svou etc.) which must be used when the possessor is the subject of the sentence.

Moje učitelka má ráda svoji práci.
= My teacher likes her own job.

If you said:

Moje učitelka má ráda její práci.

a Czech listener would normally understand:

My teacher likes her (another woman’s) job.

So:

svůj / svoje / svoji / svou… → possession by the subject
její → possession by some other female, not the subject (unless context makes clear you’re stressing it in a special way)

What form is svoji práci in, and why?

Svoji práci is in the accusative singular feminine:

svůj (reflexive possessive) → feminine accusative singular form svoji (alternative standard form: svou)
práce (work, job) → accusative singular is práci

You use the accusative because práci is the direct object of má ráda:

(Who?) Moje učitelka
(likes what?) svoji práci → accusative object

So the structure is: má ráda + [accusative].

Why does the sentence repeat že twice: že je jí třicet let a že má ráda svoji práci? Could you drop the second že?

You can say it both ways:

With repeated že (as in the original):
- …říká, že je jí třicet let a že má ráda svoji práci.
With že only once:
- …říká, že je jí třicet let a má ráda svoji práci.

Both are grammatically correct. Repeating že:

slightly emphasizes that there are two separate clauses (“that she is thirty” and “that she likes her job”)
sounds a bit more careful or explicit.

Leaving the second že out is very common in speech and feels a bit lighter and more fluent.

Why isn’t ona used? Why not …říká, že ona je jí třicet let…?

In Czech, subject pronouns (já, ty, on, ona, etc.) are normally omitted unless you want to emphasize or contrast something, because the verb ending already shows the person and sometimes the gender.

So:

Je jí třicet let. is the normal, unmarked form.
Ona je jí třicet let. would sound unusual here; it would suggest some special emphasis like “she, in particular, is thirty…”

In this sentence, there’s no contrast or emphasis intended, so ona is left out.

Why is it moje učitelka and not můj učitel or má učitelka?

There are two separate points:

učitelka vs učitel
- učitel = male teacher
- učitelka = female teacher
Since moje učitelka is clearly a woman (she says je jí třicet and later uses ráda, which matches feminine), učitelka is appropriate.
moje vs má
Czech has long and short forms of possessives:
- můj / moje (my) – long forms, very common in speech
- můj / má – short forms, more formal/literary, especially má
In everyday modern Czech, moje učitelka is much more natural than má učitelka.
Má učitelka sounds more formal, poetic, or old-fashioned.

Why is the word order je jí třicet let and not jí je třicet let?

Pronouns like mi, ti, mu, jí, nám, vám, jim are clitics in Czech:

They tend to appear in the second position of the clause, right after the first stressed element.
They also like to go after the finite verb if possible.

In že je jí třicet let:

že – subordinating conjunction (often treated as position 0)
je – finite verb (first “slot”)
jí – clitic pronoun (second “slot”)

So je jí is the natural, neutral order.

You can sometimes move jí earlier (e.g. Že jí je třicet let) to emphasize jí, but že je jí třicet let is the normal, unmarked pattern.

What exactly does říká express here? How is it different from řekla?

Říká is the present tense of the imperfective verb říkat (to say, to tell repeatedly/habitually):

Moje učitelka říká…
= My teacher says / keeps saying / tells us (habitually) that…

It can mean:

something she says regularly (“She says that she is thirty and likes her job” – maybe whenever it comes up), or
something she is saying right now (“She is saying that…”).

Řekla is the past tense of the perfective verb říct:

Moje učitelka řekla, že je jí třicet let…
= My teacher said (once) that she is thirty…

So:

říká → ongoing / repeated saying (present, imperfective)
řekla → one completed act of saying (past, perfective)