Learn Hardcore Czech: Nechci odejít z práce pozdě.

The noun práce (work, job) is feminine.
Its genitive singular form is also práce (same spelling as nominative).
Accusative would be práci, but z does not take accusative, so z práci is wrong.

So:

z práce = from work (correct: preposition z
- genitive)
práci alone = (to) work, work (accusative; used, for example, after mám, dělat, etc., but not after z)

Why is it odejít z práce and not odejít práci?

Odejít (to leave, to go away) usually takes a prepositional phrase, not a direct object in accusative.

You leave from somewhere: odejít z práce, odejít z domu, odejít z kanceláře.
Using a bare accusative odejít práci would sound wrong; it suggests a direct object, but odejít doesn’t work that way.

Think of it like English: you say leave work, but in Czech you must mark the relationship explicitly: odejít z práce.

Can I use od práce instead of z práce?

Not in this meaning.

z práce = from work, from my job / workplace (physically leaving work or finishing the workday).
od práce would sound like away from the activity of working, not “leaving the place/job” in the usual sense, and it is very unusual in this context.

To mean "leave work" (end the working day / go home), native speakers say odejít z práce or jít z práce.

Why is it odejít and not odcházet?

Czech has aspect: imperfective vs. perfective.

odcházet – imperfective: focuses on an ongoing or repeated action (to be leaving, to leave regularly).
odejít – perfective: focuses on a single, completed act of leaving (to leave once, to have left).

In Nechci odejít z práce pozdě, the speaker is talking about one specific leaving event (today, on that occasion), so the perfective odejít is natural.

If you said Nechci odcházet z práce pozdě, it would lean more toward a habit: “I don’t want to (ever) leave work late (as a rule).” Both are possible, but the nuance is different.

Why is Nechci odejít (I don’t want to leave) used instead of Neodejdu (I will not leave)?

Nechci odejít = I don’t want to leave.
- Focus on desire or intention.
- Grammatically: nechci (I don’t want) + infinitive odejít.
Neodejdu = I will not leave.
- Focus on the future action itself, not on whether you want to or not.
- It’s a simple future statement.

In this sentence, the idea is “I would prefer not to be in the situation where I leave work late,” so Nechci odejít z práce pozdě is the natural wording.

Could I also say Já nechci odejít z práce pozdě? Do I need the já?

You can say Já nechci odejít z práce pozdě, but you usually don’t need já.

Nechci already contains the information I don’t want (1st person singular is marked in the verb ending).
Adding já is typically done to emphasize contrast, e.g.:
- Já nechci odejít z práce pozdě, ale on chce.
  I don’t want to leave work late, but he does.

So:

Neutral: Nechci odejít z práce pozdě.
Emphatic/contrasting: Já nechci odejít z práce pozdě.

Why is pozdě at the end? Can I say Nechci pozdě odejít z práce?

Czech word order is flexible, but it has preferences:

The most natural and neutral version is Nechci odejít z práce pozdě.
- Verb phrase odejít z práce comes together.
- Time adverbial pozdě often goes toward the end of the sentence.

You could say Nechci pozdě odejít z práce, and it’s grammatically possible, but it sounds less natural and a bit stylized. The verb and its complement (odejít z práce) usually stick together, and time adverbs like brzy, pozdě, dnes, zítra tend to follow them:

Nechci odejít z práce brzy.
Nechci odejít z práce dnes.

What exactly does práce mean here: “work” the activity, or “work” the place?

In odejít z práce, práce can mean both, depending on context, but in everyday use it usually means:

the workplace / job location – like saying “leave the office / leave work (as a place).”

Czech often uses práce this way:

Jdu do práce. – I’m going to work (to my workplace).
Jsem v práci. – I’m at work.
Jdu z práce. – I’m going (home) from work.

So odejít z práce pozdě is naturally understood as “leave (the workplace) late.”

Why do we use nechci to negate, instead of something like chci neodejít?

In Czech, you normally negate the main verb directly, not the infinitive:

Natural: Nechci odejít z práce pozdě. (I don’t want to leave work late.)
Unnatural / awkward: Chci neodejít z práce pozdě.

Chci neodejít… is theoretically possible but feels very strange and is practically never used in normal speech. The pattern is:

chci + affirmative infinitive: Chci odejít. – I want to leave.
nechci + infinitive: Nechci odejít. – I don’t want to leave.

Negation attaches to chci → nechci, not to odejít.

Is Nechci odejít z práce pozdě formal, informal, or neutral?

It is neutral and perfectly fine in both spoken and written Czech.

You might use it in casual conversation with colleagues or friends.
You could also use it in a more polite context, like explaining your schedule:
Dneska nechci odejít z práce pozdě, mám večer program. – I don’t want to leave work late today; I have plans in the evening.

For a more formal or “roundabout” style, you might also hear:

Nechci v práci zůstávat do pozdního večera. – I don’t want to stay at work until late evening.

Could I replace odejít z práce with skončit v práci? What’s the difference?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

odejít z práce – literally “leave from work,” focuses on physically leaving the workplace.
skončit v práci – “finish at work / finish work,” focuses on finishing your working time or tasks rather than the act of going away.

Examples:

Nechci odejít z práce pozdě. – I don’t want to leave (the workplace) late.
Nechci skončit v práci pozdě. – I don’t want to finish my work late / I don’t want my workday to end late.

Both are understandable; odejít z práce is a bit more about going home late, skončit v práci more about work ending late.