Learn Hardcore Czech: Ještě mám chvíli čas, než začne hodina češtiny. - I still have a moment of time before the Czech lesson starts.

Literally it’s like saying “to have a moment of time”. In English you would normally just say I still have a bit of time or I still have a moment, but in Czech the combination chvíli čas is very common and natural.

Compare:

Nemám čas. – I don’t have time.
Nemám teď vůbec čas. – I have no time at all right now.
Mám jen chvíli čas. – I only have a short time / a moment.

What form (case) is chvíli, and why isn’t it chvíle?

The dictionary form is chvíle (feminine noun, nominative singular).

In mám chvíli čas, the verb mít (to have) takes its direct object in the accusative case. So chvíle changes to chvíli (accusative singular feminine).

Pattern:

Nominative: chvíle – a moment (subject)
- Ta chvíle byla krásná. – That moment was beautiful.
Accusative: chvíli – a moment (object)
- Mám chvíli čas. – I have a moment (of) time.

Can I just say Ještě mám čas or Ještě mám chvíli instead? What’s the difference?

You can say all three, but there are slight nuances:

Ještě mám čas.
I still have time.
Neutral, could be a longer or unspecified amount of time.
Ještě mám chvíli.
I still have a moment.
Understandable and correct, but on its own it sounds a bit bare; usually context makes it clear that you mean time.
Ještě mám chvíli čas.
I still have a bit of time / a spare moment.
Very idiomatic; clearly means you have a short amount of free time before something happens.

In everyday speech, mám chvíli čas is extremely common when you want to stress that it’s just a little free time.

How does než work here? I thought než meant “than” for comparisons.

Než has two main uses:

In comparisons (than):
- Jsem vyšší než ty. – I’m taller than you.
As a conjunction meaning “before / until” in time clauses:
- Ještě mám chvíli čas, než začne hodina češtiny.
  I still have a bit of time before the Czech lesson starts.
- Počkej, než přijde. – Wait until/before he comes.

Here it’s the second use: “before / until” introducing a time clause.

Why is there a comma before než?

In Czech, you normally put a comma before než when it introduces a separate clause (with its own verb):

Ještě mám chvíli čas, než začne hodina češtiny.
Main clause: Ještě mám chvíli čas
Subordinate clause: než začne hodina češtiny

Because začne is a verb and než introduces this subordinate clause, a comma is required.

You don’t use a comma if než is just part of a simple comparison with no new clause:

Jsem vyšší než ty. – I’m taller than you. (no extra verb after než, so no comma)

Why is it začne and not začíná? What’s the difference?

Both come from the verb začít / začínat (to start/begin):

začít – perfective (focus on the point of starting; often future meaning)
začínat – imperfective (focus on the process / repeated action)

Forms here:

začne – 3rd person singular of začít
meaning will start / starts (at a particular moment).
začíná – 3rd person singular of začínat
meaning is starting / starts (regularly, in progress).

In než začne hodina češtiny, we care about the moment when the lesson will start, so the perfective začne is natural.

Compare:

Hodina češtiny začíná v devět. – The Czech class starts at nine (general schedule).
Musíme jít, hodina češtiny brzy začne. – We have to go, the Czech class will start soon.

What does hodina češtiny literally mean, and why is it not hodina čeština?

Literally:

hodina = hour, lesson (one teaching period)
češtiny = of Czech (genitive singular of čeština = the Czech language)

So hodina češtiny = a lesson/hour of Czech (language), i.e. Czech class.

You can’t say hodina čeština because in Czech we normally express “lesson of X (subject)” with hodina + genitive:

hodina matematiky – math lesson
hodina angličtiny – English lesson
hodina dějepisu – history lesson

So the pattern is:

Nominative: čeština (as a subject: Čeština je těžká.)
Genitive: češtiny (after hodina: hodina češtiny)

Could I say just než začne čeština instead of než začne hodina češtiny?

Yes, in many contexts you can:

Ještě mám chvíli čas, než začne čeština.

This is colloquial and very common among students, where čeština is understood to mean “Czech class” from context.

Differences:

hodina češtiny – a bit more explicit and neutral.
čeština – shorter, more casual, relies on context (school/university schedule, etc.).

Is the word order fixed, or can I move ještě or other words around?

The basic, very natural order is:

Ještě mám chvíli čas, než začne hodina češtiny.

Other acceptable variants (slightly different emphasis):

Mám ještě chvíli čas, než začne hodina češtiny.
(Emphasis a bit more on mám / the fact that you do have time.)
Ještě chvíli mám čas, než začne hodina češtiny.
(More emphasis on chvíli – it’s just a short while.)

What you cannot do is split fixed chunks in a strange way, e.g.:

✗ Mám chvíli čas ještě… (sounds awkward in this context if you stop there)
✗ Mám čas chvíli… (unusual; natives won’t say this)

Generally, ještě is quite mobile, but chvíli čas usually stays together.

Are there other natural ways to say “Czech class” in Czech?

Yes, several expressions are common, depending on context:

hodina češtiny – a school lesson of Czech (one period)
lekce češtiny – a lesson of Czech (can be 1:1, a course lesson, textbook chapter)
kurz češtiny – a (longer) Czech course
čeština – often used alone when the context is clear:
- Za chvíli mám češtinu. – I have Czech (class) in a moment.

In your sentence, hodina češtiny or simply čeština would both be natural.