Learn Hardcore Czech: Babička říká, že bouřka je pro ni horší než silný déšť a že při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře. - Grandma says that a storm is worse for her than heavy rain and that during a storm she never sleeps well.

The base is bába (old woman, granny), and -čka is a diminutive suffix.
In this case, the diminutive is affectionate, not literally “smaller”. So babička usually feels warm/close, like English grandma rather than the more formal grandmother.
Grammatically here, babička is nominative singular feminine and is the subject of říká.

So you can think of babička říká as “Grandma says / My grandma says…”, with a friendly tone built into the word babička itself.

Why is there a comma before že in Babička říká, že …, but no comma before a in … déšť a že při bouřce …?

Czech comma rules are quite systematic here:

Comma before první že (the first že)
- Říká is the main verb.
- Že bouřka je pro ni horší než silný déšť is a subordinate clause (what she says).
- In Czech, you normally must put a comma before conjunctions like že, aby, protože, když when they introduce a subordinate clause.
  → So: Babička říká, že …
No comma before a in “… déšť a že při bouřce …”
The structure is:
- Babička říká, [že bouřka je pro ni horší než silný déšť] a [že při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře].
There are two clauses introduced by že, both are objects of říká, and they are joined by a:
- “Grandma says that X and that Y.”
When two subordinate clauses of the same type depend on the same main verb and are linked by a / i / ani / nebo, Czech does not put a comma before a.

So we have:

Říká, že … a že … (one comma, before the first že; nothing before a).

What exactly does že do here? Is it like English that, and can we leave it out?

Že is a conjunction that introduces a content clause (also called an object clause) – it tells us what Grandma says.

Rough equivalent: že ≈ English that in sentences like
- “She says that storms are worse …”

In this sentence:

Babička říká, že bouřka je pro ni horší…
→ “Grandma says that a thunderstorm is worse for her…”

Can we omit že?

In standard Czech, you normally do not omit že.
In casual speech, you might sometimes hear it dropped after certain verbs (Myslím, přijde později.), but for learners it’s best to treat že as obligatory.

So here, že should definitely be there; it functions very similarly to English that, but is much less optional.

In pro ni, what does ni mean exactly, and why not pro ji or pro ně?

Ni is a form of the third-person singular feminine pronoun – it means “her” (referring back to babička).

Key points:

Case and preposition
- The preposition pro always takes the accusative case.
- The pronoun ona (“she”) in the accusative is ji / ni.
- After a preposition, Czech uses the stressed (full) form, so:
  - pro ni = for her
Pro ji is grammatically possible in theory but is felt as clumsy / unidiomatic; in practice people say pro ni.
Why not pro ně?
- Ně is accusative plural (for oni / ony / ona = they).
- Pro ně normally means for them (or polite “for you” in some contexts), not “for her”.

So pro ni = for her, pointing back to babička.
The pattern is: preposition + full pronoun form → pro ni, o ní, k ní, etc.

What case is bouřce in při bouřce, and why does bouřka change to bouřce?

Bouřce is the locative singular of bouřka.

Nominative: bouřka (a thunderstorm)
Locative singular: (o) bouřce, při bouřce

The changes:

The preposition při always governs the locative case.
Feminine nouns ending in -ka often have -ce in dative/locative singular:
- holka → o holce
- řeka → o řece
- bouřka → při bouřce

So při bouřce literally means “at / during a thunderstorm”, with bouřce in locative because of při.

Why is the preposition při used with bouřce? Could we also say během bouřky or v bouřce?

Při bouřce is the most natural way to say “during a thunderstorm” in this context.

při + locative
- Basic meaning: “(on the occasion) of / during / while”.
- Při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře. = “He/She never sleeps well during a thunderstorm.”

Other options:

během bouřky (během + genitive)
- Also means “during a storm”, a bit more bookish/formal, but perfectly correct here:
- Během bouřky nikdy nespí dobře.
v bouřce (v + locative)
- Literally “in the storm”, usually implies physically inside / in the middle of it (e.g. being outdoors, caught in the storm).
- With spát it would sound like you are lying outside in the storm, which is odd.

So in this sentence about sleeping, při bouřce (or během bouřky) sounds natural; v bouřce would be unusual or suggest a different physical situation.

How does the comparison horší než silný déšť work? Why horší and než, not something like víc špatný?

Horší než is the standard comparative construction in Czech:

Horší
- Horší is the comparative form of špatný (“bad”).
- It’s irregular; you do not say špatnější or víc špatný in normal Czech.
- So:
  - špatný → horší = bad → worse
Než
- The word než means “than” in comparisons:
  - horší než silný déšť = worse than heavy rain
About víc špatný
- You can use víc (more) with many adjectives (víc zajímavý, víc praktický), but špatný almost always uses its irregular comparative horší instead.
- Víc špatný sounds unnatural; native speakers say horší.

So the pattern is: horší než + noun = worse than + noun.

Could we change the order of words in je pro ni horší než silný déšť? For example je horší pro ni než silný déšť?

Yes, Czech word order is fairly flexible, and both are grammatically correct, but they feel slightly different.

Original:

bouřka je pro ni horší než silný déšť
- Neutral, usual order.
- Focus is simply on the fact that for her, a thunderstorm is worse than heavy rain.

Alternative:

bouřka je horší pro ni než silný déšť
- Also correct.
- Slightly more emphasis on pro ni (“for her specifically / from her point of view”).

You can also say:

Pro ni je bouřka horší než silný déšť.

This pulls pro ni to the front and strongly highlights her perspective.

All of these are acceptable; the choice mainly affects emphasis, not basic grammar.

In při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře, where can nikdy go? Are nikdy při bouřce nespí dobře or nikdy nespí dobře při bouřce also correct?

All three versions are grammatically correct, but they distribute emphasis a bit differently.

Při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře. (original)
- Neutral; information order: “during a storm” → “never sleeps well”.
- Common, natural word order.
Nikdy při bouřce nespí dobře.
- Starts with nikdy; it strongly emphasizes the “never”:
  “Never, during a storm, does he/she sleep well.”
- Still natural, just a slightly different focus.
Nikdy nespí dobře při bouřce.
- Emphasizes nikdy nespí dobře, with při bouřce felt a bit more like added context at the end.
- Also fine; typical in speech.

In Czech, nikdy usually appears close to the verb (nikdy nespí, nikdy dobře nespí), but fronting it to the very beginning for emphasis is normal and does not change the core meaning here.

Why is the verb říká in the present tense here? Could we also say Babička řekla, že …?

Říká is present tense, imperfective and here it expresses something repeated / generally true:

Babička říká, že …
→ “Grandma says / keeps saying / always says that …”

It suggests that this is something she regularly says or a stable opinion of hers.

You could also say:

Babička řekla, že bouřka je pro ni horší…
- Řekla is past tense, perfective (from říct).
- This means “Grandma said that…”, referring to a specific past occasion when she said it once.

So:

říká = she (regularly) says / is saying
řekla = she (once) said

The original sentence uses říká to describe her usual statement or belief, not one isolated event.

Why is the negation formed as nikdy nespí, not nikdy spí?

Czech uses negative concord: when you have a negative word like nikdy (“never”), the verb also has to be negated.

Correct: nikdy nespí = literally “never does-not-sleep” → “never sleeps”
Incorrect: nikdy spí
- This sounds like “never sleeps” in a logical English sense, but in Czech it is ungrammatical.

So:

nikdy + ne‑verb is the rule:
- nikdy nespí – never sleeps
- nikdy nechodí ven – never goes out
- nikdy nečtu noviny – I never read newspapers

The two negatives (nikdy + ne‑) do not cancel each other; together they express a strong negation.

Could we also say Babička říká, že při bouřce nikdy dobře nespí? Does moving dobře change the meaning?

Yes, Babička říká, že při bouřce nikdy dobře nespí is fully correct and the meaning is basically the same.

…nikdy nespí dobře and …nikdy dobře nespí both translate to “never sleeps well”.
The version nikdy dobře nespí puts dobře closer to nespí, very slightly highlighting the “well” part (that the quality of sleep is bad), but in normal speech the difference is minimal.

So you can use either:

…při bouřce nikdy nespí dobře.
…při bouřce nikdy dobře nespí.

Both are natural and understood the same way: she never sleeps well during a storm.