mít rád + Accusative

Because rád is a short-form adjective, it changes based on who is speaking or doing the liking:

• rád: masculine singular (Mám rád kávu. = I [male] like coffee.)
• ráda: feminine singular (Mám ráda kávu. = I [female] like coffee.)
• rádo: neuter singular (Dítě má rádo kávu. = The child likes coffee.)
• rádi: masculine animate plural (Máme rádi kávu. = We [at least one male] like coffee.)
• rády: feminine plural and masculine inanimate plural (Ženy mají rády kávu. = The women like coffee.)
• ráda: neuter plural (Děvčata mají ráda kávu. = The girls like coffee.)

Important Distinctions:
English uses "to like" for almost everything, but Czech is more specific:

• Use mít rád + accusative for established fondness of people, places, or things. It is also perfectly valid for general food preferences (e.g., Mám rád kávu. = I like coffee in general).
• Use líbit se + dativ for aesthetic appeal or first impressions (e.g., a new song, a nice outfit, physical attraction). For example: Líbí se mi ta píseň. (Literally: That song is pleasing to me = I like that song.)
• Use chutnat / vonět + dativ specifically for the physical sensation of taste or smell, or when enjoying food/drink in the moment. For example: Ten guláš mi chutná. (Literally: That goulash tastes good to me = I like this goulash.)
• To say you like an activity, drop "mít" entirely and just use rád + a conjugated verb (e.g., Rád čtu. = I like reading).
• To say you are glad or happy about something, use být rád (e.g., Jsem rád, že jsi tady. = I am glad you are here).
• To express a polite wish or request ("I would like to"), use rád bych + a past participle (l-participle) (e.g., Rád bych si objednal... = I [male] would like to order...). Important: Both rád and the past participle must agree with the speaker's gender (e.g., a woman says Ráda bych si objednala...). Its negative counterpart is nerad bych (I would hate to / I wouldn't like to). This completes the "rád" family: mít rád (to like things/people), rád + verb (to like doing activities), být rád (to be glad), and rád bych / nerad bych (I would like to / I would hate to).

How to Say You Don't Like Something:

• For nouns (people, places, things), negate the verb mít: nemít rád (e.g., Nemám rád kávu. = I don't like coffee).
• For activities, use nerad + a conjugated verb. Important: Notice the vowel shortening! The long á becomes a short a in the negative form (rád → nerad, ráda → nerada) (e.g., Nerad čtu. = I don't like reading).
• For aesthetic appeal or taste, negate the verb: nelíbit se or nechutnat (e.g., Nelíbí se mi to. = I don't like it; Nechutná mi to. = It doesn't taste good to me).

Note on Sentence Structure: For both líbit se and chutnat / vonět, the sentence structure is "flipped" compared to English. The thing you like becomes the subject, and the person who likes it becomes the dative object (e.g., Káva mi chutná. = Coffee is tasty to me / I like coffee). This contrasts with mít rád, where the liker is the subject and the liked object takes the accusative case. Warning: When using these verbs, remember that the reflexive se and short dative pronouns (like mi, ti) are clitics and must sit in the second position of the sentence (e.g., Líbí se mi to.).