Breakdown of Po běhání v parku mám rád dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně.
Questions & Answers about Po běhání v parku mám rád dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně.
„Po“ is a preposition that often means “after” when followed by the locative case.
- „Po běhání“ literally = after (the) running
- „běhání“ is a verbal noun (a noun made from a verb), from běhat = to run.
For many neuter verbal nouns in -ní/-tí, the nominative and locative singular look the same, so you don’t see a change in form:
- Nominative: běhání (running)
- Locative: po běhání (after running)
You cannot say „po běhat“ – the preposition po must be followed by a noun in locative, not an infinitive verb.
English often uses the -ing form after prepositions (after running, before eating, etc.), which looks like a verb but grammatically behaves like a gerund (a kind of verbal noun).
Czech, in this structure, uses an actual noun, not an infinitive:
- Correct: po běhání (after running) – noun in locative
- Incorrect: ✗ po běhat – infinitive cannot be used here
Other similar examples:
- po jídle – after eating / after the meal (from jídlo = food/meal)
- po práci – after work (from práce = work)
So the pattern is: po + [noun in locative], not po + infinitive.
The difference is location vs. direction:
- v + locative → static location (in, inside)
- v parku = in the park (where? – locative)
- do + genitive → movement towards (to, into)
- do parku = to the park (where to? – genitive)
In this sentence, the running happens in the park, not to the park, so „v parku“ (locative) is correct.
If you wanted to say “after running to the park”, you could say:
Po běhu do parku…
Both can translate as “I like”, but they behave differently and feel different.
1. „Mám rád“ + accusative (thing/person)
Literally: I have (it) gladly → I like / I’m fond of
- Mám rád dlouhou sprchu. – I like a long shower.
- Mám rád kávu. – I like coffee.
- Mám rád Annu. – I like Anna (emotionally, personally).
This is very common and neutral.
2. „Líbí se mi“ + nominative (thing)
Literally: It pleases me → I like / I find it nice / It appeals to me
- Líbí se mi ten film. – I like that movie / I enjoy that movie.
- Líbí se mi ta koupelna. – I like that bathroom / It looks nice to me.
Nuance:
- „Mám rád“ is more about personal liking or preference.
- „Líbí se mi“ often has a nuance of aesthetic or impression (“I find it pleasant/nice/appealing”).
Both are grammatically fine with this meaning, but:
- Mám rád dlouhou sprchu – is the most natural for “I like taking a long shower.”
- Líbí se mi dlouhá sprcha – more like “a long shower is pleasant / I enjoy a long shower (as an experience).”
The usual, neutral order is:
- mám rád + [object in accusative]
So:
- Mám rád dlouhou sprchu. – natural
- Rád mám dlouhou sprchu. – possible but sounds emphatic/marked, like stressing rád in a special way (e.g., in contrast to something else).
Word order in Czech is flexible for emphasis, but for a standard statement of preference, you typically say:
Mám rád X.
The form „rád“ agrees with the gender of the speaker, not with the shower or anything else.
- A man says: Mám rád dlouhou sprchu…
- A woman says: Mám ráda dlouhou sprchu…
So the full sentence for a female speaker would be:
Po běhání v parku mám ráda dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně.
Only rád → ráda changes.
Everything else stays the same.
Because „dlouhou sprchu“ is the direct object of mám rád and must be in the accusative singular, feminine.
- sprcha (shower) → feminine noun
- Nominative: dlouhá sprcha (subject) – a long shower
- Accusative: dlouhou sprchu (object) – a long shower (as object)
In the sentence:
- Mám rád co? – What do I like?
→ dlouhou sprchu (accusative)
The adjective dlouh- agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun:
- fem. sg. nominative: dlouhá sprcha
- fem. sg. accusative: dlouhou sprchu
So dlouhou sprchu is the grammatically required form.
The preposition „v“ (in) with static location requires the locative case.
- koupelna (bathroom) → feminine noun
- Locative singular of koupelna is koupelně.
So:
- v koupelně – in the bathroom (where? – locative)
The adjective teplá has to agree with koupelně:
- fem. sg. locative: teplé koupelně
Comparisons:
- Nominative: teplá koupelna – a warm bathroom (subject)
- Accusative: teplou koupelnu – a warm bathroom (object, with movement: into a warm bathroom)
- Locative: v teplé koupelně – in a warm bathroom (location)
In your sentence, it’s clearly location, so locative is correct.
Because of the preposition „v“ with a static meaning (in, inside).
Czech prepositions almost always force a specific case. For v:
- v + locative → location (where?)
- v koupelně – in the bathroom
- v parku – in the park
- (movement into) often uses do + genitive instead:
- do koupelny – into the bathroom
- do parku – to the park
The question where? (kde?) → locative.
The question where to? (kam?) → accusative/genitive with different prepositions (e.g., do koupelny).
Here you are already in the warm bathroom → locative: v teplé koupelně.
Yes, Czech word order is relatively flexible, and you can move parts around for emphasis. All of these are grammatically correct:
Po běhání v parku mám rád dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně.
– neutral: first set the time/condition, then what you like.Mám rád dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně po běhání v parku.
– starts with what you like, and adds when at the end.Dlouhou sprchu v teplé koupelně mám rád po běhání v parku.
– emphasizes “a long shower in a warm bathroom” in first position.
In normal conversation, versions 1 and 2 are the most natural. The meaning stays essentially the same; the focus shifts depending on what you put first.
Czech simply has no articles like English a/an/the.
- dlouhou sprchu can mean:
- a long shower
- the long shower
depending on context.
- v teplé koupelně can mean:
- in a warm bathroom
- in the warm bathroom
Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context, word order, and what has already been mentioned, not from specific words.
Yes. „rád“ by itself is often used with a verb to express that you like doing something:
- Rád běhám v parku. – I like running in the park.
- Rád se dlouho sprchuju. – I like taking long showers.
Here, rád behaves like an adverb modifying the verb.
Compare:
Mám rád dlouhou sprchu.
– I like a long shower (focus on the thing/experience as a noun).Rád se dlouho sprchuju.
– I like to shower for a long time (focus on the activity).
Both are natural; you just choose whether you want to highlight the thing (noun) or the activity (verb).
Yes, but there is a slight nuance.
- běhání – the activity of running in general (more process-like)
- běh – a run as a more concrete event (one run, one session, or even a race)
So:
Po běhání v parku mám rád dlouhou sprchu…
– After running in the park (in general, the activity), I like a long shower…Po běhu v parku mám rád dlouhou sprchu…
– After (my) run in the park, I like a long shower…
Both are correct; běhání sounds a bit more like regular activity / general habit, běh a bit more like a single, specific run.