Moje babička říká, že pláž je ráno hezčí než večer, protože tam není moc lidí.

Yes. Both moje babička and má babička mean my grandmother.

They are two possible feminine singular nominative forms of the possessive pronoun můj. In everyday Czech, moje is very common and sounds completely natural here. Má is also correct, and can sound a bit shorter or stylistically tighter.

So this sentence could also begin with Má babička říká...

Říká is the 3rd person singular present form of říkat.

• infinitive: říkat = to say, to tell
• babička = grandmother, singular
• so the verb must also be singular: říká = she says

This form also fits the idea of a general opinion or something she says regularly. If you wanted a one-time past event, you would more likely use řekla = she said.

Že introduces a subordinate clause and usually means that.

So:

• Moje babička říká, že...
• My grandmother says that...

In English, that is often optional. In Czech, že is usually kept.

Because Czech has no articles.

That means Czech does not have separate words for a/an or the. Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from context.

So pláž can mean:

• a beach
• the beach

In this sentence, the context makes it clear that English would normally say the beach.

Because Czech often uses bare time expressions where English uses in the...

Here:

• ráno = in the morning
• večer = in the evening

So pláž je ráno hezčí než večer literally looks a bit like the beach is morning nicer than evening, but naturally it means the beach is nicer in the morning than in the evening.

These words can function adverbially, so no preposition is needed.

Hezčí is the comparative form of hezký.

• hezký = nice, pretty
• hezčí = nicer, prettier

Czech comparatives are often formed with endings like -ší or -ější, and the stem can change a little. That is why hezký becomes hezčí, not something fully predictable like hezkejší.

This is a common pattern in Czech: the comparative sometimes involves both an ending change and a stem change.

Než means than after a comparative.

So:

• hezčí než večer = nicer than in the evening

This is the standard word used after forms like lepší, horší, hezčí, větší, and so on.

For equal comparison, Czech usually uses jako, for example:

• stejně hezká jako... = as pretty as...

Because Czech punctuation normally requires a comma before subordinate conjunctions such as že and protože.

So these commas are standard and expected:

• říká, že...
• ..., protože...

Czech is often stricter than English about this.

There are two important grammar points here.

1. After quantity words like moc, hodně, málo, Czech usually uses the genitive plural of the noun.
So:

• moc lidí = many people
• not moc lidi
• not moc lidé

2. In existential sentences with quantity expressions, Czech commonly uses singular je / není.
So:

• tam není moc lidí = there aren’t many people there

Even though the idea is plural in English, Czech often treats this kind of expression as a quantity construction, which is why není sounds natural here.

Lidí is the genitive plural form.

The nominative plural forms are:

• lidé = standard/formal
• lidi = common colloquial form

But after moc, Czech needs the genitive plural:

• moc lidí

So lidí is exactly the form you expect here.

Not absolutely.

You could say:

• ... protože není moc lidí.

That is grammatical if the place is already understood. But tam makes the location explicit: there, meaning at the beach.

So tam helps connect the last clause back to pláž and sounds very natural.

Because Czech grammar is following the quantity expression, not simply the English idea of a plural noun.

In phrases like:

• je hodně lidí
• není moc lidí
• bylo málo času

the structure is centered around the amount, and Czech commonly uses singular je / není / bylo.

So even though English says there aren’t many people, Czech naturally says there is not many people in its own grammatical way.

Yes. Czech word order is much more flexible than English word order.

The original sentence is very natural:

• pláž je ráno hezčí než večer

But Czech could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• ráno je pláž hezčí než večer

That version emphasizes ráno a bit more. The original version sounds smooth and neutral in context.

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ž in pláž sounds like the s in measure
• č in babička and hezčí sounds like ch in church
• ř in říká is the famous Czech sound with no exact English equivalent

A practical beginner approach for ř is to aim for something between r and zh. It takes time, and that is normal.

Also, the accents mark vowel length:

• í in říká
• á in pláž
• í in lidí

These vowels are pronounced longer than short vowels.