Breakdown of Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.
Questions & Answers about Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.
Czech often expresses to like (something) with the phrase mít rád.
- mít = to have
- rád / ráda / rádo / rádi = glad, fond of
So má ráda literally means “has [it] gladly” → likes.
The structure is:
- mít (conjugated) + rád/ráda/rádo/rádi
- object in the accusative
In your sentence:
- moje babička = my grandmother (subject)
- má = has (3rd person singular of mít)
- ráda = likes (feminine form of rád)
- tichou hudbu = quiet music (object)
So Moje babička má ráda tichou hudbu = My grandmother likes quiet music.
The word rád behaves like an adjective and agrees with the subject’s gender and number, not the speaker.
Forms of rád:
- rád – masculine singular (e.g. Petr má rád hudbu. – Peter likes music.)
- ráda – feminine singular (e.g. Eva má ráda hudbu. – Eva likes music.)
- rádo – neuter singular (e.g. Dítě má rádo hudbu. – The child likes music.)
- rádi – plural with at least one male (e.g. Petr a Eva mají rádi hudbu.)
- rády – plural, all-female or non-personal
In your sentence, the subject babička (grandmother) is grammatically feminine singular, so we must use ráda:
- Moje babička má ráda… ✅
- Moje babička má rád… ❌ (wrong gender)
The possessive my in Czech changes form to agree with the gender and number of the noun it modifies.
For my:
- masculine singular: můj
- feminine singular: moje (or má in more formal/short style)
- neuter singular: moje (or mé)
- plural: moji / moje / má depending on gender
Babička (grandmother) is feminine, so:
- moje babička = my grandmother ✅
- můj babička ❌ (wrong gender agreement)
i usually means also / too / even. Here it means also/too.
Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.
= My grandmother also likes quiet music.
(Implies she likes some other kinds of music as well, and quiet music too.)
Typical positions:
- Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu. – neutral, also applies to quiet music specifically.
- Moje babička má ráda tichou hudbu i jazz. – also jazz.
- Moje babička i máma mají rády tichou hudbu. – my grandmother and also my mom.
In spoken Czech, i normally goes just before the word/phrase it is adding: i tichou hudbu, i moje babička, etc.
tichou is the accusative feminine singular form of the adjective tichý (quiet).
Adjectives in Czech must agree with the noun in:
- gender (masculine / feminine / neuter)
- number (singular / plural)
- case
Here:
- noun: hudbu = music
- hudba is a feminine noun
- it’s the direct object of the verb mít → accusative case
- feminine singular accusative ending for this type of adjective is -ou
So:
- nominative: tichá hudba – quiet music (as the subject)
- accusative: tichou hudbu – quiet music (as the object)
In má ráda tichou hudbu, tichou correctly matches feminine accusative hudbu.
Czech nouns change form according to their case. Hudba (music) is:
- hudba – nominative singular (subject form)
- hudbu – accusative singular (direct object form)
In your sentence, music is the direct object of má ráda:
- Who likes it? → Moje babička (subject, nominative)
- Likes what? → tichou hudbu (object, accusative)
So you must use hudbu:
- Tichá hudba je hezká. – Quiet music is nice. (subject → nominative hudba)
- Mám rád tichou hudbu. – I like quiet music. (object → accusative hudbu)
You could, but the nuance is slightly different, and the structure changes.
- mít rád něco = to like something (general preference, more stable)
- něco se mi líbí = I find something pleasing / I like the look or sound of it (more momentary or about impression)
Your sentence with líbit se would be:
- Moje babičce se líbí i tichá hudba.
Note the differences:
- The person becomes dative: babičce (to my grandmother)
- The thing liked is the subject: tichá hudba (nominative)
So:
- Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu. – My grandmother also likes quiet music. (preference)
- Moje babičce se líbí i tichá hudba. – Quiet music also pleases my grandmother / My grandmother also likes quiet music (slightly more descriptive of how it seems to her).
All can often mean also / too, but they’re used a bit differently.
i
- very short, usually placed directly before what is “also” included
- often a bit more focused: i tichou hudbu (quiet music too)
taky
- informal also/too
- usually placed later in the sentence, often near the verb
také
- more neutral or slightly formal version of taky
Examples:
- Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu. – She also likes quiet music (among other types).
- Moje babička má ráda tichou hudbu taky. – She likes quiet music too.
- Moje babička také (taky) má ráda tichou hudbu. – My grandma also likes quiet music.
In your specific sentence, i nicely highlights that quiet music is an additional type she likes.
Yes, you can.
Czech often omits possessives when the context makes the relationship obvious (family members, body parts, etc.).
- Babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.
In a typical conversation, this will be understood as My/our grandma also likes quiet music, unless context suggests otherwise.
You add moje when you need to be explicit or contrast with someone else’s grandmother:
- Moje babička má ráda tichou hudbu, ale tvoje má ráda hlasitou.
My grandmother likes quiet music, but yours likes loud music.
Czech word order is relatively flexible, but changes can affect emphasis.
Neutral:
- Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.
Possible variations:
I moje babička má ráda tichou hudbu.
Emphasis on my grandmother too (e.g. others like it, and my grandma also does).Moje babička i má ráda tichou hudbu.
Sounds odd; i rarely goes just before the verb like this.I tichou hudbu má moje babička ráda.
Quite emphatic and a bit stylized: Even quiet music, my grandmother likes.
So yes, you can move constituents, but the most natural, neutral version for “My grandmother also likes quiet music” is exactly:
- Moje babička má ráda i tichou hudbu.