Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje babička chce mluvit o rodině. - My grandmother wants to talk about the family.

moje is the “long” form and is the most neutral and common in everyday speech.
má is a shorter form, a bit more literary or stylistic, and used only before a noun (you can’t say babička je má, only babička je moje).

In most spoken situations, learners are safest using moje babička. You’ll meet má babička more in written or somewhat elevated style, or when a speaker wants a slightly “poetic” or expressive tone.

Do I have to say moje babička, or can I just say Babička chce mluvit o rodině?

You can absolutely say just Babička chce mluvit o rodině.

In Czech, possessive pronouns (like moje, tvůj, jeho) are often left out when it’s clear from context whose relative is meant. For example, in a family conversation it’s obvious that babička is “my/our grandma”.

Adding moje puts a bit more emphasis on my grandmother (not someone else’s). Leaving it out makes the sentence slightly more neutral and is very natural in Czech.

What gender and case is babička in this sentence?

babička is:

Gender: feminine
Case: nominative singular

It’s the subject of the verb chce (who wants?), so it appears in the nominative. The ending -čka here is just part of the noun; babička is a familiar form meaning “grandma / granny”, from bába (an older word for “woman; grandmother”).

What verb is chce from, and why is it this form?

chce is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb chtít (to want).

The present tense of chtít is:

já chci – I want
ty chceš – you (sg.) want
on/ona/ono chce – he/she/it wants
my chceme – we want
vy chcete – you (pl./formal) want
oni chtějí – they want

Because the subject is moje babička (she), you use chce = she wants.

Why is mluvit in the infinitive and not conjugated, like mluví?

In Czech, after verbs of wanting, being able, needing, planning, etc., the second verb stays in the infinitive.

So you say:

chce mluvit – she wants to talk
musí pracovat – he has to work
potřebuju odpočívat – I need to rest

You do not say chce mluví. That would be ungrammatical.
The pattern is: [chtít] + [infinitive] to express “want to do something”.

What does the preposition o mean here, and which case does it take?

In this sentence, o means about (talk about something).

When o means about / concerning, it always takes the locative case in Czech. That’s why you get:

o rodině – about (the) family
o práci – about work
o škole – about school

So o rodině = about (the) family, with rodině in the locative singular.

What case is rodině, and how is it formed from rodina?

rodině is the locative singular of rodina (family).

For many feminine nouns ending in -a, the locative singular is formed by changing -a to -ě or -e. For example:

rodina → o rodině (about the family)
knihovna (library) → v knihovně (in the library)
škola (school) → ve škole (at school)

So the pattern is: rodina (nominative) → rodině (locative, after o).

Could I say Moje babička chce mluvit o rodinu instead of o rodině?

No. With the meaning about the family, that would be incorrect.

o + locative is required for “about X”: o rodině.
o rodinu (accusative) can appear in completely different expressions (e.g. starat se o rodinu – to take care of the family), but there o doesn’t mean “about”; it’s more like “for / to do with”.

So when you mean talk about something, you must use o + locative:
mluvit o rodině, mluvit o problému, mluvit o dovolené, etc.

Can the word order change, like Babička chce o rodině mluvit? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, Czech word order is quite flexible, and several variants are possible:

Moje babička chce mluvit o rodině. (neutral, standard)
Babička chce mluvit o rodině. (also neutral; possessive dropped)
Babička chce o rodině mluvit. (slight emphasis on mluvit – on the activity of talking)
O rodině chce babička mluvit. (emphasis on o rodině – about the family, not about something else)

The basic meaning stays the same: grandma wants to talk about the family. The differences are mainly in emphasis and information structure, not in core meaning.

Is there a difference between mluvit o rodině, povídat si o rodině, and promluvit si o rodině?

All can be translated with talk about the family, but they differ slightly:

mluvit o rodině – neutral “to speak/talk about the family”; very general.
povídat si o rodině – more like “have a chat / conversation about the family”; sounds friendlier, more informal and mutual.
promluvit si o rodině – perfective; often “have a (serious) talk about the family”, suggesting one defined conversation, sometimes with a serious or purposeful tone.

In your sentence, chce mluvit o rodině is neutral and perfectly natural.

How do you pronounce chce and rodině?

chce:
- ch is a voiceless sound, like German ch in Bach, Scottish loch.
- ce is pronounced [tse].
  Together: [x-tse], in one smooth syllable: something like kh-tse.
rodině:
- ro like “ro” in rock (short o).
- di is like dy in body, but a bit softer.
- ně is [ɲe], a palatal n (tongue against the hard palate) plus e, similar to ny in Spanish niño
  - e.
    Overall: roughly [ro-dinye], with the stress on the first syllable: RO-di-ně.