Learn Hardcore Czech: Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet. - Today my mom doesn’t want to clean.

můj = my (with masculine nouns)
- e.g. můj bratr – my brother
moje = my (with feminine and neuter nouns in the basic form)
- e.g. moje sestra – my sister

The noun maminka (mom, mummy) is feminine, so we use moje maminka, not můj maminka.

What is the difference between maminka, máma, and matka?

All three mean “mother,” but they differ in tone and style:

maminka – very common, affectionate/diminutive (“mommy / mum”), neutral and friendly.
máma – also common, a bit more casual (“mum / mom”).
matka – more formal, technical, or cold; used in official contexts, documents, or when speaking more distantly.

In everyday speech about your own mother, maminka or máma is most natural.
So Moje maminka… is warm and personal.

Could I also say Má maminka dnes nechce uklízet instead of Moje maminka…?

Yes, both are grammatically correct:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet.
Má maminka dnes nechce uklízet.

The difference is style:

moje is the full form and is the most neutral and common.
má is a shorter, somewhat more literary form; it can sound a bit more formal, poetic, or old‑fashioned in some contexts.

In normal conversation, you will hear moje maminka more often.

Why is the word order Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet? Can I move dnes?

Czech word order is flexible, especially for adverbs like dnes (“today”).

All of these are possible and natural:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet. (neutral)
Dnes moje maminka nechce uklízet. (slight emphasis on today)
Moje maminka nechce dnes uklízet. (emphasis on today as the time she doesn’t want to tidy)

The most typical neutral order here is the one you have: subject – time – verb – infinitive
Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet.

What does nechce come from, and why is there no separate word for “does not”?

Nechce is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb chtít (“to want”), with a negative prefix:

chtít – to want
- on/ona/ono chce – he/she/it wants
- on/ona/ono nechce – he/she/it does not want

In Czech, negation is usually made by adding ne- in front of the verb:

mám → nemám (I have → I don’t have)
dělá → nedělá (he does → he doesn’t do)
chce → nechce (she wants → she doesn’t want)

So nechce already means “does not want”; there is no separate word like English “not” here.

Is nechce present or future? In English we might say “doesn’t want to tidy (today)” about the future.

Grammatically, nechce is present tense: “she does not want.”

Czech often uses present tense for situations that are true now but about an action in the (near) future, especially with a time expression like dnes (today).

So:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet.
= literally: My mom today does not want to tidy.
= naturally in English: My mom doesn’t want to tidy (up) today.
Even though the tidying itself is later, the state of wanting/not wanting is now, so Czech uses the present.

Why is it nechce uklízet (two verbs) instead of one verb like in English “tidy”?

In English you often express this with a modal structure “does not want to tidy”.
Czech does something very similar:

nechce – does not want
uklízet – to tidy (infinitive)

So nechce uklízet literally means does not want to tidy.

This structure (verb of wanting/being able/etc. + infinitive) is very common:

chci spát – I want to sleep
musí pracovat – he must work / has to work
může přijít – she can come

Why is the verb uklízet and not uklidit? What’s the difference?

Czech verbs come in aspect pairs: imperfective vs perfective.

uklízet – imperfective: to be tidying, to tidy (in progress / regularly / without focus on completion)
uklidit – perfective: to tidy up, to clean up (with focus on completion of the action)

In this sentence:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet.
emphasizes the activity of tidying in general, not necessarily finishing it.

Compare:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklidit.
This puts more emphasis on not wanting to get it done / finish the cleaning.

Both are possible; uklízet is more about the process; uklidit is more about the result.

Why don’t we say “to” before uklízet, like in “doesn’t want to tidy”?

Czech infinitives (the basic dictionary form of the verb) do not use a separate word like English “to”.

English: want to eat
Czech: chtít jíst

So:

nechce uklízet
= “does not want to tidy”
There is no separate “to”; the infinitive ending -t / -t se / -t si / -t (in practice -t/-t se/-t si/-t) already marks it as “to [verb]”.

Where is the object? In English we usually say “tidy the house / the room”.

Czech can also specify an object:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet byt.
– My mom doesn’t want to tidy the flat today.
…uklízet kuchyň. – tidy the kitchen.

But if the context is obvious, Czech often drops the object, just like English sometimes does:

She doesn’t want to tidy (up) today. (we understand “the house / the place”)

So Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet. is perfectly natural and means “tidy up (whatever needs tidying)”.

Can I use dneska instead of dnes?

Yes:

dnes – today (neutral, slightly more formal)
dneska – today (very common in colloquial speech)

You can say:

Moje maminka dnes nechce uklízet. (a bit more neutral)
Moje maminka dneska nechce uklízet. (more colloquial / everyday)

Both are correct and very natural.

How do you pronounce difficult parts like nechce and uklízet?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):

Moje – MO-yeh (stress on the first syllable)
maminka – MAH-min-ka (first syllable stressed)
dnes – sounds like d-nes (“d” + “nes” together; no vowel between d and n)
nechce – NEHT-seh
- ch = like German Bach or Scottish loch
- ce = “tse”
uklízet – OO-klee-zet
- ú / ú / í are long vowels; í like “ee” in “see”
- z always like “z” in “zoo”

Remember: in Czech, stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.