Czech Family Words: máma, táta, babička — and můj/moje
Family is the first thing people ask about and the easiest thing to talk about — the words are short, warm, and mostly guessable.
The Core Family
Grandparents & Spouses
babička — grandma (the most powerful person in any Czech family), dědeček — grandpa, manžel — husband, manželka — wife. The formal parents: matka (mother), otec (father) — for forms and officialdom; at home it's máma and táta.
Moje babička je z Brna.
My grandma is from Brno.
Note: babička — the keeper of Sunday lunch and the chata garden.
My — Two Ways
"My" agrees with the noun's gender, which you can read straight off the ending: můj bratr (masculine), moje sestra (feminine), moje auto (neuter).
Introducing People
The To je… pattern from First Sentences carries the whole family album: To je můj bratr. To je moje máma. Add ages with the je mi construction — Je jí dvacet (she's twenty).
Common Mistakes
- můj sestra. Feminine takes moje: moje sestra, moje máma.
- dcera vs sestra. dcera is daughter, sestra is sister — close in sound, different generations.
- Forgetting babička's -čk-. It's ba-BIČ-ka in spelling but BA-bič-ka in stress — first syllable, as always.
What You Can Do Now
You can name everyone at the table, say whose they are with the right můj/moje, and introduce your family to Czech friends — To je moje rodina.