Breakdown of Nejvíc se mi líbí večery, kdy je celá rodina doma a nikdo nemusí spěchat.
Questions & Answers about Nejvíc se mi líbí večery, kdy je celá rodina doma a nikdo nemusí spěchat.
Czech doesn’t usually say “I like X” with a direct verb the way English does. Instead it often uses the structure líbí se (někomu) (něco):
- něco (something) = grammatical subject (in nominative)
- se = reflexive particle that belongs to líbí
- někomu (to someone) = person in the dative case (here mi = “to me”)
So líbí se mi večery is literally “the evenings are pleasing to me,” i.e. “I like the evenings.”
Nejvíc se mi líbí večery = “I like evenings the most.”
Word order: clitics (se, mi) usually go in the second position in the clause:
Nejvíc se mi líbí večery, not Nejvíc líbí se mi večery (which sounds wrong).
Both nejvíc and nejvíce are correct; they mean “the most.”
- nejvíc – more colloquial, very common in everyday speech and informal writing.
- nejvíce – more formal or “bookish,” often in written or official styles.
In this sentence:
- Nejvíc se mi líbí večery… – completely natural, everyday Czech.
You could say Nejvíce se mi líbí večery…, but it may sound a bit more formal or literary.
Večery is the nominative plural of večer (“evening”). Czech often uses a general plural to talk about a type of situation or repeated experience:
- Mám rád rána. – I like mornings (in general).
- Nemám rád pondělky. – I don’t like Mondays.
Here, Nejvíc se mi líbí večery… means “I like (in general) those kinds of evenings when…”, not one specific evening.
You could say Nejvíc se mi líbí večer, kdy…, but that sounds more like one specific evening/time, less like a general statement about a recurring situation. The plural fits the “whenever it’s like this” idea better.
The comma marks the start of a relative clause describing večery (“the evenings”):
- večery, kdy je celá rodina doma
= “the evenings when the whole family is at home”
In Czech, relative clauses introduced by kdy, který, že, že by, jestli etc. are usually separated by a comma.
So the comma is there for the same reason as in English:
“I like best the evenings, when the whole family is at home…”
Both kdy and když can be translated as “when,” but they behave differently:
kdy – used here as a relative adverb:
večery, kdy je celá rodina doma
“the evenings when the whole family is at home”když – typically introduces a main-time clause, often meaning “when(ever)” or “if/whenever”:
Když je celá rodina doma, mám rád večery.
“When the whole family is at home, I like the evenings.”
In this sentence, kdy is more natural because it directly modifies večery as a relative clause.
You can sometimes hear večery, když…, but it tends to sound a bit less standard and more colloquial; grammatically, kdy is the neat choice here.
Both are grammatically possible:
- kdy je celá rodina doma
- kdy celá rodina je doma
But neutral Czech word order here is:
- je (verb “is”)
- celá rodina (subject)
- doma (place adverb)
Je celá rodina doma sounds natural and neutral.
Celá rodina je doma is also correct, but can put a bit more emphasis on celá rodina (“the whole family is at home”), as if contrasting with times when only some members are there.
In this sentence, the chosen word order is just the most neutral, unmarked one.
Two important things are happening here:
Negative pronoun + negative verb
Czech has negative concord: with negative words like nikdo (nobody), nic (nothing), the verb is normally also negated.- nikdo nemusí spěchat – literally “nobody doesn’t‑have‑to hurry”
→ idiomatically “nobody has to hurry.”
Nikdo musí spěchat would sound wrong or very unusual in standard Czech.
- nikdo nemusí spěchat – literally “nobody doesn’t‑have‑to hurry”
nemuset vs. “must not”
- muset = “must / have to”
- nemuset = “don’t have to / need not” (absence of obligation, not prohibition)
So nikdo nemusí spěchat means “no one is obliged to hurry,” i.e. “no one has to rush.”
If you said nikdo nesmí spěchat, that would mean “nobody is allowed to hurry / must not hurry,” which is a different idea.
Yes, formally it is double negation (negative pronoun + negative verb), but in Czech this is normal and required, and it does not flip the meaning the way it would in strict logic or in some interpretations of English.
- nikdo nemusí spěchat
grammatically: [negative pronoun] + [negative verb]
meaning: “nobody has to hurry.”
If you tried to “avoid double negation” and said nikdo musí spěchat, that would sound wrong or at least very odd in standard Czech.
So: in Czech, use negative concord (repeat the negation) with nikdo, nic, nikdy, nikde, etc.
Yes, you can:
- Mám nejraději večery, kdy…
- Nejvíc se mi líbí večery, kdy…
Both mean roughly “I like best the evenings when…,” but the nuance is slightly different:
- mít rád / mít nejraději – “to like / to like best,” more direct, often about people, things, food, days, etc.
- líbí se mi / nejvíc se mi líbí – more like “are (most) pleasing to me,” very common for impressions, experiences, places, events, appearances.
In this sentence, both are natural. Nejvíc se mi líbí večery… sounds a bit more about the atmosphere or feeling of those evenings. Mám nejraději večery… slightly emphasizes preference among options.
You must include se: líbí se mi is the standard structure.
- líbí se is a reflexive verb form; se is not optional decoration, it’s part of the verb pattern.
- líbí mi on its own is incorrect in standard Czech.
Pattern to remember:
- To se mi líbí. – I like it.
- Líbí se mi ten film. – I like that film.
- Nelíbí se mi ta písnička. – I don’t like that song.
So always think of the verb as líbit se (někomu).
In English you might expect something like “It’s the evenings that I like best,” but Czech doesn’t need a dummy subject pronoun here.
The subject is explicitly večery:
- Nejvíc se mi líbí večery…
literally: “Most (of all) please themselves to me the evenings…”
Czech generally does not use a meaningless “it” as a subject the way English does. If the subject is known or expressed (večery), there is no extra to needed.
Compare:
- To se mi líbí. – “I like it.” (Here to is the subject.)
- Nejvíc se mi líbí večery. – “I like evenings the most.” (večery is the subject.)
Yes, Večery se mi nejvíc líbí, kdy… is grammatically correct and understandable. The difference is in emphasis and style:
Nejvíc se mi líbí večery…
→ neutral, focuses on “most of all I like evenings.”Večery se mi nejvíc líbí…
→ puts more initial emphasis on večery (“Evenings are what I like best…”), a bit more contrastive: maybe compared to mornings, afternoons, etc.
Both are acceptable; the original version is slightly more neutral and common.
You could say:
- …večery, kdy bývá celá rodina doma…
Differences:
- je – “is”; simple present, can describe a typical situation but is also just the plain present tense.
- bývá – “usually/typically is”; explicitly highlights regularity or habit.
So:
- kdy je celá rodina doma – “when the whole family is at home” (can be taken as a general statement).
- kdy bývá celá rodina doma – “when the whole family tends to be / usually is at home.”
In the original sentence, je is perfectly fine; it already sounds general because you’re talking about večery in general. Bývá would just make the habitual, “usually” sense a bit stronger.