Chci vám zavolat večer.

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Breakdown of Chci vám zavolat večer.

• chtít: to want
• večer: the evening
• zavolat: to call

Questions & Answers about Chci vám zavolat večer.

Why is it vám and not vy?

Vy is the subject form (you) and would be used like Vy jste učitel (You are a teacher).
In Chci vám zavolat večer, vám is an object: I want to call you.

Czech uses different forms of you depending on grammatical case:

• vy – nominative (subject)
• vám – dative (indirect object: to you / for you)
• vás – accusative (direct object: you)

With zavolat (někomu), the person you are calling is in the dative, so you say vám.

Is vám formal? What is the difference between vám and ti?

Yes. Vám is the formal or plural you in the dative case.

• vám – to you (formal singular or plural: to one or more people you address politely)
• ti – to you (informal singular: to one friend, child, etc.)

So:

• Chci vám zavolat večer. – I want to call you (sir/ma’am / you all) in the evening.
• Chci ti zavolat večer. – I want to call you (informal, one person) in the evening.

The rest of the sentence stays the same; only the pronoun changes.