Lesson 10– Introducing yourself in Czech

Hej hej!

This is my 10th lesson! Yay! So, I'm glad you've gotten so far and, as a reward, I've made this article more conversational. There won't be much to learn except for the vocabulary which is, as you know, the most important part of learning any language (except for C++ and so on).

When you come to a foreign country, you usually want to talk to local people. And you need to introduce yourself to them. I think you don't long to sound as if you were illiterate and talking to a Czech in English isn't the best option either. Not that we weren't taught English at school, I must say there are tons of people who speak English perfectly. But many, many, really MANY people here just cannot speak it because what teachers want from them at school is grammar.

So, back to the topic.

Introducing yourself in Czech

Raphaël is new to the school. He's alone and confused in the turmoil of the first school day but everybody looks enthusiastic and those who have studied here longer with welcoming smiles help "newbies" get where they need. Raphaël meets a Czech girl named Daniela who was entrusted with doing a survey among the new students. How did she know Raphaël was a foreigner? He looked pretty disoriented.

Daniela: Ahoj, můžeš mi prosím pomoct? Dělám průzkum.

Raphaël: Dobrý den. Rád vám pomůžu. 

Daniela: Můžeme si tykat? Jsem Daniela. Jak se jmenuješ?

Raphaël: Jmenuji se Raphaël Perret. Těší mě. 

Daniela: Nápodobně. Takže... Kolik je ti let?

Raphaël: Je mi dvacet jedna. A tobě?

Daniela: Ta otázka je součástí průzkumu. Haha. Ale mně je dvacet tři. Odkud pocházíš?

Raphaël: Jsem z Francie, ale já a má rodina žijeme v Německu. 

Daniela: Co studuješ? 

Raphaël: Studuji slovanské jazyky a dějepis. 

Daniela: Bydlíš na internátě, nebo máš vlastní byt?

Raphaël: Bydlím se třemi dalšími studenty v bytě v centru Prahy.

Daniela: Děkuji za odpovědi. Uvidíme se později, měj se hezky. 

Raphaël: Nemáš zač. Ahoj!

Vocabulary:

ahoj ['ahoy] hello/ hi, bye; (informal)

moct ['motst] can/ be able to; forms used here: můžeš, můžeme

já ['ya:] I; forms used here: mi, mě, mně

prosit ['proasit] to please; forms used here: prosím

pomoct ['pohmotst] to help; forms used here: pomůžu

dělat ['dyelaht] to do; forms used here: dělám

průzkum, m. ['proo:zcum] survey

dobrý den ['dobree: 'den] good day; (formal)

rád/a, adv. ['ra:d] gladly

vy ['vee] you; (formal); forms used here: vám

tykat si ['teecut sih] tutear (Spanish), to address as "ty" not "vy", i. e. informally

jsem ['ysem] I am

jak ['yuck] how

jmenovat se ['ymehnovaht seh] to be named/ called; forms used here: jmenuješ se, jmenuji se

těší mě ['tyeshee: mnye] nice to meet you (enchanté, mucho gusto)

nápodobně ['nah:poadobnye] likewise

takže ['tuckzye] so

kolik ['coleek] how much/ how many

být ['beet] to be; forms used here: je, jsem

léta, pl ['lae:tah] years (used in plural only, if you want to say "1 year", it's "1 rok")

dvacet jedna ['dvatset yednah] twenty-one

a ['ah] and

ta ['tah] that (when referring to a noun of feminine gender; "ten"– masc.; "to"– neuter)

ale ['uhleh] but

dvacet tři ['dvatset trzih] twenty-three

odkud ['odcood] wherefrom

pocházet ['poacha:zet] to come (from); forms used here: pocházíš

z ['z] from

Francie, f. ['phrantsieh] France

má ['ma:] my/ mine (when referring to a noun of feminine gender; "můj"– masc. and neuter)

rodina, f. ['rodyinah] family

žít ['zyee:t] to live; forms used here: žijeme

v ['v] in

Německo, n. ['nyemetscoh] Germany

co ['tso] what

studovat ['stoodovut] to study; forms used here: studuješ, studuji

slovanské/á/ý ['slovunskeh:] Slavic

jazyk, m. ['yazick] language, tongue

dějepis, m. ['dyeyepis] history (a subject at school)

bydlet ['bidlet] to live, dwell; forms used here: bydlíš, bydlím

na ['nah] on

internát, m. ['intaernah:t] boardinghouse

nebo ['nehbo] or

mít ['meet] to have; forms used here: máš, nemáš

vlastní ['vlustnyee:] own (your own, my own, ...)

byt, m. ['bit] flat, apartment

s, se ['s, 'seh] with

tři ['trzi] three

další ['dulshee:] other, another

student, m. ['stoodent] student

centrum, n. ['tsentroom] centre/ center

Praha, f. ['pruhah] Prague

děkovat ['dyecovut] to thank; forms used here: děkuji

za ['zah] for (only in this case), behind

odpověď, f. ['odpohvyedye] answer

vidět se ['veedyet] to see "each other" (like in "see your later"); forms used here: uvidíme se

později ['pozdyeyi] later

mít se ['meet seh] to be well/ do well; forms used here: měj se

hezky ['hezki] nicely

nemáš zač ['nehma:sh zutch] you're welcome (informal)

These are your new words.

I'm making a dictionary where I'll add the paradigms by which the nouns are inflected.

Now let's translate the conversation:

Daniela: Hi, can you please help me? I'm doing a survey.

Raphaël: Good day. I'll be happy to help you.

Daniela: Can we "use the informal form"? I'm Daniela. What's your name?

Raphaël: My name is Raphaël Perret. It’s nice to meet you.

Daniela: Likewise... So, how old are you?

Raphaël: I'm twenty-one. And you?

Daniela: The question is a part of the survey. Haha. But I'm twenty-three. Where do you come from?

Raphaël: I'm from France. But I and my family live in Germany.

Daniela: What do you study?

Raphaël: I study Slavic languages and history.

Daniela: Are you staying in a boarding house or have your own flat?

Raphaël: I'm staying with three other students in a flat in the city center of Prague.

Daniela: Thanks for the answers. See you later, stay cool.

Raphaël: You're welcome. Bye!

It doesn't seem so complicated now, huh?

Now that we understand whole text, let's look at the phrases.

Phrases

As some of you know, I've already made two posts on casual greeting phrases (Lesson 2– Greetings, Lesson 3– Short conversations) so I'm not going to talk about them. 

Můžeš mi prosím pomoct? = Can you please help me? (Informal.)

Můžete mi prosím pomoct? = Can you please help me? (Formal.)

The difference between the formal and informal versions of the sentence is the modal verb's conjugation suffix. The conjugation of MOCT/MOCI is here. Because in Czech we conjugate the verb and for each person there is a suffix, we don't have to use the pronoun anymore. You can say it using conditional mood but it's too sophisticated but anyway, I suppose you can get away with this.

Rád/a vám pomůžu. = I'll be happy to help you. (Formal.)

Rád/a ti pomůžu. = I'll be happy to help you. (Informal.)

The difference between the formal and informal versions of the sentence is the pronoun. "Ty" and its inflected forms are the informal way to say "you" in Czech. "Vy" (+ other forms) means "you", too, but it's formal. Now "ti" and "vám" are in the third case. How do I know? Except for being a native speaker I also know that the verb "pomoct" (to help) is always connected with the mentioned third case. 

As to the word "rád/a" (gladly)– it depends on whether a man or a woman is speaking. If it's a woman, she says "ráda". If it's a man, he says "rád".

Můžeme si tykat? = Can we "use the informal form"? 

Now this sounds weird in English. Hehe. Usually, the older one of those speaking asks this question because it's a way to express honour and respect and they give them up by using the informal way of speaking.

Jak se jmenuješ? = What is your name? (Informal.)

Jak se jmenujete? = What is your name? (Formal.)

The suffixes make the difference here. I hope you all know at least one of these words: llamarse, s'appeler, heissen, chiamarsi, heta, because "be named" sounds strange and I try to avoid using it. "Jmenovat se" is the equivalent of all of the words mentioned above.

Jsem ... = I'm ...

Jmenuji se ... = My name is ...

I think this is obvious. I just wanted to say that there are two ways of telling someone your name.

Kolik je ti let? = How old are you? (Informal.)

Kolik je vám let? = How old are you? (Formal.)
(Kolik máš/máte let?)

Alternatively: kolik ti je let? kolik vám je let? There's nothing to talk about. It's a phrase. Just remember– the pronouns in this sentence are in the third case.

Je mi ... let. = I'm ... years old.

Mně je ... let. = I'm ... years old.

(Mám ... let.)

Another phrase, always with the third case. You might have noticed I didn't use "let" in the answers in the dialogue. People usually don't say it. The same applies to the questions: kolik ti je? kolik vám je?

A tobě? = And you?

The pronoun is in the third case again. It just has to be because you’re asking “kolik je ti let.”

Odkud pocházíš? = Where do you come from? (Informal.)

Odkud pocházíte? = Where do you come from? (Formal.)

Odkud jsi? = Where are you from? (Informal.)

Odkud jste? = Where are you from? (Formal.)

When there's the question word "odkud", it refers to the second case.  "Z" (from) is an "official" preposition indicating the second case.

Jsem z ... = I'm from ...

Pocházím z ... = I come from ...

The following word will be in which case? If you don't know, go three lines backwards. It's the second case, of course.

Děkuji za ... = Thanks for ...

The following word is in the fourth case because it's a direct subject. "Za" means "for" in this case only. It usually means "behind".

Nemáš zač. = You're welcome. (Informal.)

Nemáte zač. = You're welcome. (Formal.)

I think this is enough for today. I hope you enjoyed this lesson, if you have any questions, feel free to post a comment below or send me a message.

Now I'm going to stimulate my brain cells by considering whether studying for a tomorrow's test is worth it.

Love & peace

Ciray