Když něco doma nefunguje, můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám.

Když means when in this sentence.

So Když něco doma nefunguje... means When something at home doesn’t work...

A few useful notes:

• když often introduces a subordinate clause
• it can mean when or sometimes if, depending on context
• here it has a general meaning: whenever/when something at home stops working

That is why there is a comma after the first clause.

Because Když něco doma nefunguje is a subordinate clause, and Czech normally separates subordinate clauses with a comma.

So the structure is:

• Když něco doma nefunguje,
• můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám.

In English, you also usually put a comma after an opening when-clause:

• When something at home doesn’t work, my brother always wants to fix it himself.

Něco means something.

In this sentence:

• něco doma nefunguje = something at home doesn’t work

It is an indefinite pronoun, used when you do not specify exactly what thing you mean.

Related forms you may see:

• něco = something
• nic = nothing
• všechno = everything

Yes, doma means at home.

In this sentence:

• něco doma nefunguje = something at home isn’t working

Important distinction:

• domů = homeward / to home
• doma = at home

Examples:

• Jdu domů. = I’m going home.
• Jsem doma. = I’m at home.

So here doma is about location, not movement.

Yes. Nefunguje literally means doesn’t function / isn’t working.

It comes from:

• fungovat = to function, to work
• nefungovat = not to function, not to work

In everyday Czech, this is a very common way to talk about broken devices, machines, systems, or even abstract things.

Examples:

• Pračka nefunguje. = The washing machine isn’t working.
• Internet nefunguje. = The internet isn’t working.

It sounds very natural here.

Because můj bratr is the subject of the main clause, so it is in the nominative case.

• můj = my
• bratr = brother

Together:

• můj bratr = my brother

Since he is the person doing the action (wants to fix it), nominative is required.

To means it here.

It refers back to the unspecified thing mentioned earlier by něco:

• Když něco doma nefunguje... = When something at home doesn’t work...
• můj bratr to chce... opravit = my brother wants to fix it...

So even though English and Czech both use a pronoun here, Czech often makes this link very clearly with to.

This is mainly because Czech has a tendency to place short unstressed words, including pronouns like to, early in the clause.

So:

• můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám

sounds natural.

You could also hear other word orders in Czech depending on emphasis, but this one is very normal.

A learner-friendly way to understand it is:

• to = the object pronoun it
• it often appears earlier than an English speaker expects

Czech word order is much more flexible than English, but it is not random. Information structure and sentence rhythm matter a lot.

Chce opravit means wants to fix.

It is made of:

• chce = wants
• opravit = to fix / to repair

So literally:

• můj bratr to chce opravit = my brother wants to fix it

This is a common pattern in Czech:

• conjugated verb + infinitive

Examples:

• chci jít = I want to go
• musí pracovat = he/she must work
• může přijít = he/she can come

Because opravit is the perfective form, and here it expresses completing the action: to fix it successfully / to get it repaired.

Czech often uses aspect very strongly. The pair is:

• opravovat = imperfective, repairing / fixing / be in the process of fixing / doing it repeatedly
• opravit = perfective, to fix, to complete the repair

After chtít (to want), both aspects are possible in some contexts, but they mean slightly different things:

• chce to opravit = he wants to fix it, get it repaired, complete the repair
• chce to opravovat = he wants to be repairing it / engage in fixing it

In this sentence, opravit is the natural choice because the idea is that he wants to solve the problem.

Vždycky means always.

So:

• můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám
• my brother always wants to fix it himself

Its placement is flexible, but different positions can sound more or less natural depending on emphasis.

This version is very normal. It tells us that this is his usual habit.

You may also see:

• můj bratr chce vždycky všechno opravit sám
• vždycky to chce opravit sám

But the exact word order changes the emphasis slightly.

Sám here means himself or on his own.

So:

• opravit sám = fix it himself

It shows that the brother wants to do the repair personally, not have someone else do it.

This word agrees with the person it refers to. Since bratr is masculine singular, we get sám.

Other forms include:

• sama = feminine singular
• samo = neuter singular
• sami / samy = plural, depending on gender group

Here it means by himself / himself, not necessarily alone in the physical sense.

That is an important distinction.

In this sentence, the idea is:

• he wants to be the one who does it
• he does not want to rely on someone else

So sám is closer to:

• himself
• on his own

not mainly:

• alone in the room

It can be changed, because Czech word order is flexible. But different word orders create different emphasis.

The given version is very natural:

• Když něco doma nefunguje, můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám.

Possible variations could emphasize different parts, for example:

• Když něco doma nefunguje, můj bratr chce to vždycky opravit sám.
  This is much less natural in standard Czech than the original.

• Když něco doma nefunguje, můj bratr to vždycky chce opravit sám.
  Also possible, with slightly different rhythm.

• Když něco doma nefunguje, sám to chce můj bratr vždycky opravit.
  Grammatically possible in theory, but marked and unusual.

So yes, Czech word order is flexible, but some orders are much more idiomatic than others. The original sentence is a good natural model to learn.

Yes, in some contexts když can overlap with English if, especially in general, repeated situations.

Here:

• Když něco doma nefunguje...

can be understood as:

• When something at home doesn’t work...
• or loosely If something at home isn’t working...

But when is the better direct translation for this sentence.

The feeling is not about a hypothetical possibility only; it describes a typical recurring situation.

It has two parts:

1. Když něco doma nefunguje
   = When something at home doesn’t work

2. můj bratr to chce vždycky opravit sám
   = my brother always wants to fix it himself

So the full structure is:

• subordinate clause introduced by když
• main clause with subject + object pronoun + modal-like verb + adverb + infinitive + emphasis word

A useful breakdown:

• Když = when
• něco = something
• doma = at home
• nefunguje = isn’t working
• můj bratr = my brother
• to = it
• chce = wants
• vždycky = always
• opravit = to fix
• sám = himself

So literally:

• When something at home doesn’t work, my brother wants always to fix it himself

But more natural English is:

• When something at home doesn’t work, my brother always wants to fix it himself.