Zubařka mi říká, že po léku bude zub bolet méně.

Zubařka is the feminine form of zubař (dentist).

• zubař = a male dentist
• zubařka = a female dentist

So the sentence tells you the dentist is a woman. Czech often marks professions for gender this way.

Examples:

• Zubař mi říká... = The male dentist tells me...
• Zubařka mi říká... = The female dentist tells me...

Mi means to me.

It is the unstressed short form of mně, which is the dative case of já (I).

So:

• Zubařka mi říká = The dentist is telling me

Compare:

• říká mi = tells me
• říká mně = tells me, but with more emphasis

In normal speech, mi is the usual choice.

Říká is the present tense of říkat, which is an imperfective verb meaning to say / to tell / to be saying.

So Zubařka mi říká means something like:

• The dentist tells me
• The dentist is telling me
• The dentist says to me

Why not the others?

• řekne = will say / says once, as a complete act (perfective)
• řekla = she said (past tense)

Czech often uses říká, where English might use either says or is telling me, depending on context.

Že means that and introduces a subordinate clause.

So:

• Zubařka mi říká, že... = The dentist tells me that...

Very common pattern:

• myslím, že... = I think that...
• vím, že... = I know that...
• říká, že... = she says that...

In English, that is often optional, but in Czech že is usually stated.

After the preposition po, Czech uses the locative case when it means after.

So:

• lék = medicine, remedy
• po léku = after the medicine / after taking the medicine

Here, léku is the locative singular of lék.

This is a very important pattern:

• po obědě = after lunch
• po škole = after school
• po operaci = after the operation
• po léku = after the medicine

Its basic meaning is after the medicine.

In context, it usually implies:

• after taking the medicine
• once the medicine has taken effect

So in natural English, you might understand it as:

• after the medicine
• once you take the medicine
• after the medication kicks in

It is primarily temporal (after), though the sentence also clearly suggests the medicine is the reason the pain will lessen.

Because bolet is an imperfective verb, and imperfective verbs usually form the future with být + infinitive.

So:

• bolí = it hurts / is hurting
• bude bolet = it will hurt

This is a standard Czech future pattern for imperfective verbs:

• budu dělat = I will do / I will be doing
• bude pršet = it will rain
• bude bolet = it will hurt

You cannot normally make a simple one-word future from bolet the way you can with many perfective verbs.

In Czech, bolet works differently from English.

Czech says literally:

• zub bolí = the tooth hurts

So zub is the grammatical subject, not the object.

That is why it is in the nominative:

• zub bolí
• zub bude bolet

English often uses:

• My tooth hurts or
• The tooth hurts

So the Czech structure is actually quite close to the tooth hurts, not something hurts the tooth.

Bolet means to hurt / to ache / to be painful.

It is commonly used with body parts or things causing pain:

• Bolí mě zub. = My tooth hurts.
• Bolí mě hlava. = My head hurts.
• Bude mě bolet ruka. = My arm will hurt.

In your sentence, the pattern is slightly different:

• zub bude bolet méně = the tooth will hurt less

So you can see both:

• Bolí mě zub.
• Zub bolí.

Both are possible, but they highlight the structure differently.

Méně means less.

So:

• zub bude bolet méně = the tooth will hurt less

Méně is the standard, neutral form. Míň means the same thing, but it is more informal/colloquial.

Compare:

• bude bolet méně = will hurt less
• bude bolet míň = will hurt less, more casual speech

Both are common, but méně is safer in standard Czech.

Czech has no articles.

So:

• zubařka can mean the dentist or a dentist
• zub can mean the tooth or a tooth
• lék can mean the medicine or a medicine

You understand which one is meant from context.

In this sentence:

• Zubařka is naturally understood as the dentist (the one we are talking about)
• zub is understood as the tooth
• po léku means after the medicine or after medicine, depending on context

Not completely. Czech word order is more flexible than English, but it is not random. It often changes for emphasis, topic, and what is new information.

The given sentence is neutral and natural:

• Zubařka mi říká, že po léku bude zub bolet méně.

You could also hear:

• Zubařka říká, že mě po léku bude zub bolet méně.
• Po léku bude zub bolet méně, říká mi zubařka.

But each version shifts emphasis a bit.

A useful thing to notice: short unstressed words like mi often go early in the sentence, usually in second position.

That is why Zubařka mi říká sounds very natural.

Yes, that is also very natural.

Compare:

• po léku bude zub bolet méně
• po léku mě bude zub bolet méně

Adding mě makes the affected person explicit:

• mě bude bolet zub = my tooth will hurt / the tooth will hurt me

Without mě, the sentence still works and focuses more simply on the tooth will hurt less.

So both are possible:

• Zubařka mi říká, že po léku bude zub bolet méně.
• Zubařka mi říká, že po léku mě bude zub bolet méně.

The second version may sound a bit more personal or complete to some speakers.

Most likely it refers to a specific situation: the dentist is telling the speaker that, after taking some medicine, the tooth pain will decrease.

However, the grammar itself does not force a very narrow interpretation.

• říká suggests a present-time statement: she is saying/telling me now
• bude bolet méně refers to the future result

So the sentence is best understood as:

• a present explanation about a future effect

In normal context, it sounds like something said during treatment or consultation.