Breakdown of Moje babička se nedívá na seriály, ale má ráda večerní zprávy v televizi.
Questions & Answers about Moje babička se nedívá na seriály, ale má ráda večerní zprávy v televizi.
No. The verb dívat se (to watch, to look at) is reflexive in Czech and must use se.
- dívat se na něco = to watch something
- nedívat se na něco = to not watch something
So:
- ✅ Moje babička se nedívá na seriály.
- ❌ Moje babička nedívá na seriály. (ungrammatical)
Without se, dívat is not used in this meaning.
In Czech, short pronouns like se, si, mi, ti, ho usually occupy the so‑called “second position” in the clause.
The pattern is roughly:
- First stressed element (here: Moje babička)
- Then clitics (here: se)
- Then the main verb (nedívá)
So:
- ✅ Moje babička se nedívá na seriály.
- ✅ Nedívá se na seriály. (if you start with the verb)
In this second sentence, nedívá is the first element, so se comes second: nedívá se.
Both se nedívá and nedívá se are possible depending on what stands at the beginning of the sentence, but se should follow the first stressed element.
With the verb dívat se, Czech normally uses:
- dívat se na něco / někoho = to look at / watch something or someone
So you say:
- dívám se na film – I’m watching a film
- díváš se na televizi – You are watching TV
- nedívá se na seriály – She doesn’t watch series
na here takes the accusative case:
- singular: (na) seriál
- plural: (na) seriály
You cannot replace na with another preposition in this structure; dívat se na is a fixed pattern.
seriál = a (TV) series,
seriály = (TV) series in general, plural.
In your sentence, the idea is “she doesn’t watch series (as a type of program)”, so plural fits well:
- nedívá se na seriály = she doesn’t watch TV series (in general).
You can say:
- nedívá se na ten seriál = she doesn’t watch that (particular) series.
So singular is possible, but it would refer to one specific show.
Czech usually expresses “to like (a thing/activity/person)” with the phrase:
- mít rád (for men: rád)
- mít ráda (for women: ráda)
- mít rádi (for a mixed or plural group)
Literally it means “to have [something] gladly”, but idiomatically it means “to like”.
So:
- Má ráda večerní zprávy. = She likes the evening news.
- Mám rád seriály. (a man speaking)
- Mám ráda seriály. (a woman speaking)
Czech does have verbs like líbit se (“to be pleasing to”), but their structure is different and they’re more often used for people’s impressions, first reactions, etc. For a simple, neutral “like”, mít rád / ráda is the most common.
The form rád / ráda / rádi agrees with the subject of the sentence, not with the object.
Subject: Moje babička → feminine singular
Object: večerní zprávy → feminine plural
Because babička is feminine, we use:
- Moje babička má ráda večerní zprávy.
If the subject were masculine:
- Můj dědeček má rád večerní zprávy. (grandfather – masculine singular)
So the gender of rád / ráda / rádi is controlled by who is doing the liking, not by what they like.
Possessive adjectives můj / moje / moji… must agree with the noun in gender, number and case.
- babička is feminine singular, nominative.
The corresponding form of můj is moje (or colloquial má).
So:
- ✅ Moje babička
- ❌ Můj babička
For comparison:
- Můj dědeček (my grandfather – masculine)
- Moje máma (my mom – feminine)
- Moje auto (my car – neuter)
In Czech, zpráva means “message, piece of news, report”.
- singular: zpráva
- plural: zprávy
The TV news program is normally called zprávy in the plural, because it’s understood as “(a set of) news items”.
- večerní zprávy = the evening news (program)
So while English uses an uncountable noun news, Czech treats it as a countable plural zprávy in this context.
večerní is an adjective from večer (evening). It means:
- evening, in the evening
So:
- večerní zprávy = the evening news
- večerní program = evening program/schedule
- večerní škola = evening school
It refers to the part of the day after late afternoon, roughly the same “evening” as in English.
In this context:
- v televizi literally = in the television
Idiomatic meaning: “on TV (as a medium)”
You say:
- dávat něco v televizi = to show something on TV
- dívat se na něco v televizi = to watch something on TV
na televizi would literally mean “on the TV set” (physically on top of it), not “on television as a medium”.
So:
- ✅ večerní zprávy v televizi = the evening news on TV.
Yes, standard verbal negation in Czech is usually formed by adding the prefix ne- to the verb:
- dívá se → nedívá se
- má → nemá
- rozumím → nerozumím
- chci → nechci
In your sentence:
- se dívá na seriály → se nedívá na seriály
The ne- goes directly before the verb stem; the reflexive se does not carry the negation.
Yes. That version is also correct and natural:
- Moje babička má ráda večerní zprávy v televizi, ale nedívá se na seriály.
Czech word order is relatively flexible. Both orders:
- se nedívá na seriály, ale má ráda večerní zprávy v televizi
- má ráda večerní zprávy v televizi, ale nedívá se na seriály
are fine; they just emphasize slightly different parts. Often, the more “important” or “new” information is placed later in the sentence.
Key points:
- Moje – o like in more (but shorter), j like y in yes: MO-ye.
- babička – stress on the first syllable: BA-bi-chka; č like ch in church.
- nedívá – í is long ee, á is long aa: ne-DEE-vah.
- seriály – e as in pet, á long aa: se-reE-aa-lee.
- večerní – stress on ve; č = ch in church; ř is a special Czech sound between r and zh. Roughly, vibrate your tongue as for r while saying zh: VE-cher-zhnee (approximation).
- zprávy – zp pronounced together; á long; v like English v: ZPRAA-vee.
- televizi – te-le-VI-zi (all short vowels, stress on te).
Only ř is really unique; it takes time and practice for learners.