Lesson 18 – Talking About Your Family And Friends

Marta: Toto je můj bratr. Je mu osm let a chodí na základní školu.
Pavla: Jé, je roztomilý. Také mám bratra, ale staršího. Má dvacet tři let, už s námi nebydlí, studuje v Praze.
Marta: Jak se jmenuje?
Pavla: Jakub. Myslím, že jsem ti ho už představila, ale už je to dávno.
Marta: Opravdu? Nevzpomínám si. Jak vypadá?
Pavla: Je mi prý hodně podobný, až na to, že má světlejší vlasy. Skoro blond. Také nosí brýle a nemá rovnátka.
Marta: Už vím! Podobáš se na něj. Je vysoký a hubený, že?
Pavla: Přesně. Máme to v rodině. I má sestra je štíhlá, nicméně je mnohem menší.
Marta: A má černé vlasy, ne?
Pavla: Ne od přírody. Je bruneta, ale barví si vlasy na černo.
Marta: Aha, ale sluší jí to, má světlou pleť.

VOCABULARY:

až na ['azye 'nuh] except for

barvit (imperf.) ['bur-vit] to dye, to colour; verb

blond (indeclinable) ['blond] blond; adj.

bratr, m. (bratra; prdg. pán) ['bruh-tr] brother; noun
brýle, p. n. (brýlí; prdg. růže) ['bree:-leh] glasses; noun

bruneta, f. (brunety; prdg. žena) ['broo-neh-tuh] brunette; noun

černý/á/é (prdg. mladý) ['tcher-nee:] black; adj.

dávno ['du:h-vno] a long time ago; adv.

ho – declined on (meaning 'him')

hodně ['hoa-dnye] a lot, very; adv.

hubený/á/é (prdg. mladý) ['hoo-beh-nee:] skinny; adj

chodit (imperf.) ['choa-dyit] to go, to walk, to atted; verb

i ['ee] even, and; conj.

jé ['yae] wow, yay; interj.

menší – comparative of malý ['men-shee:] smaller; adj.

mnohem ['mnoa-hem] a lot more, far; adv.

myslet (imperf.) ['mee-slet] to think

námi – declined my (meaning 'us')

nicméně ['nyits-mae:-nye] nevertheless; conj.

nosit (imperf.) ['noa-sit] to carry, to wear; verb

opravdu ['oa-pruv-doo] really

pleť, f. (pleti; prdg. kost) ['pletye] complexion; noun

podobat se (na) (imperf.) ['poa-doa-but seh] to resemble; verb

podobný/á/é ['poa-dob-nee:] similar, alike, like; adj.

prý ['pree:] allegedly; part.

představit (perf.) ['przyed-stuh-vit] to introduce; verb

přesně ['przye-snye] exactly; adv.

příroda, f. (přírody; prdg. žena) ['przyee:-roa-duh] nature; noun

rovnátka, p. n. (rovnátek; prdg. město) ['roa-vnu:h-tkah] braces; noun

roztomilý/á/é (prdg. mladý) ['roaz-toa-mee-lee:] cute, adorable; adj.

sestra, f. (sestry; prdg. žena) sister; noun

skoro ['scoa-roh] almost; adv.

světlý/á/é (prdg. mladý) ['svye-tlee:] light, not dark; adj. (here in comparative– světlejší)

škola, f. (školy; prdg. škola) ['shkoa-luh] school; noun

slušet (imperf.) ['sloo-shet] (used only with object) to suit, to look good

štíhlý/á/é (prdg. mladý) ['shtyee:-hlee:] slim; adj.

taky ['tuh-cky] too, also; adv. (part.)

už ['oozye] anymore, finally, already; adv.

vlas, m. (vlasu; prdg. hrad) ['vlus] hair; noun
vypadat (jako) (imperf.) ['vee-puh-dut] to look like, to seem like; verb

vzpomenout si (perf.) ['vz-poa-meh-noat sih] to remember; verb

základní (prdg. jarní) ['zu:h-klud-nyee:] basic, elementary; adj. 

PHRASES

Toto je...                             This is...
This phrase doesn't change according to the gender of the subject. However, if the subject is plral, you have to use 'jsou' instead of 'je'. Toto jsou mí rodiče. (=These are my parents.)

Jak vypadá...?                   What does he/she/ it look like...?
As you may notice, we use 'how' instead of 'what'. If a girl asks you 'Jak vypadám?' just say 'Dobře.' Make sure you use an adverb in your response. 'Vypadáš unaveně.' (=You look tired.) 'Vypadá hezky?' (=Does she/he/it look nice?)

Už vím!                              Now I see!
Also 'I got it already' (which means that I understood, not got like obtained). You can also ask 'Už víš?' (=You got it already? or Remember?) when you try to explain or describe something/ someone, or want someone to recall or remember something.

..., že?                                  ..., right?
I think this doesn't need to be explained. 'Ty chodíš na univerzitu, že?' (=You attend a university, right?)

Máme to v (naší) rodině.            We have this in our family.
We use this more often than our English friends. They usually mention it in relation to some diseases or allergies; in Czech you can use it when talking about a personality trait, customs, appearance, etc.

..., ne?/ ..., nebo ne?       ...,or not?

Ne ...                                    Not...
We use 'ne' when we want to negate something that is not a verb. If it is a verb, 'ne' is used as a prefix, if not, it is separated by a space. 'Udělali jste to?' 'Ano, ale ne záměrně.' (=Did you do that? Yes, but not on purpose.)

Od přírody                            by nature

barvit si vlasy                        to dye one's hair
'Barvíš si vlasy?' (=Do you dye your hair?)

na ... (nějaká barva)            (some colour)
In English, you can say 'I dye my hair purple.' and it's okay but in Czech you have to add 'na', which symbolizes a movement or change (i. e., it looked somehow and now it looks differently). 'Proč si barvíš vlasy na zeleno?' (=Why do you colour your hair green?). 

Sluší jí to.                               It suits her well./ She looks good.
'Jí' here means 'her', it is a declined form of 'ona,' more specifically it is the third case. You have to use the third case in this phrase. 'Sluší ti to.' (=You look good.) 'Sluší' is not conjugated (you can't say 'You suit her well.' =Slušíš jí.)

Family members in Czech

Sourozenci (Siblings)

bratr (brother)
sestra (sister)

Rodiče (Parents)

otec (father)
matka (mother)

Prarodiče (Grandparents)

babička (grandmother)
děda (grandfather)

Vnoučata (grandchildren) 

vnuk (grandson)

vnučka (granddaughter)

Zbytek rodiny (The rest of a family)

manžel (husband)

manželka (wife)

teta (aunt)

strýc (uncle)

bratranec (cousin– male)

sestřenice (cousin– female)

neteř (niece)
synovec (nephew)

nevlastní ... (step...)

tchán (father-in-law)

tchýně (mother-in-law)

zeť (son-in-law; don't mistake for 'zeď' [wall])

snacha (daughter-in-law)

Kamarádi/ Přátelé (Friends)

kamarád (friend– male)
kamarádka (friend– female)

Presenting family members

I've already mentioned the phrase 'Toto je...' (=This is...) and the plural form 'Toto jsou...' (=These are...). If you're pointing at someone who is further from you, you should use 'Tamto je...' (=That is...) and 'Tamto jsou...' (=Those are...). As we learned in Lesson 12, these phrases are followed by predicate subjects that are always in nominative case. 

Toto je má manželka. 

Toto jsou má vnoučata.

Tamto je můj děda.

If you want to say 'This woman/ man/ girl/... is...', you have to pay attention to the nouns gender:

Tato žena je má sestra.

Tento kluk je můj syn.
Toto dítě je má neteř.

Tyto ženy jsou mé babičky.

Tito lidé jsou mí prarodiče. 
Tato děvčata jsou mé dcery.

You might have noticed that the Czech words for 'this' are basically the demonstrative pronouns ('ten, ta, to, ti, ty, ta') I once (hopefully) presented to you. You can also use them instead of those listed above. To say 'that', you just add 'tam' and remove 'to':
Tato => Tamta
Tento => Tamten
Toto => Tamto
Tyto => Tamty
Tito => Tamti
Tato => Tamta

Now that your interlocutor knows who you're talking about, he or she can start asking these questions:

A: 'Tato žena je má sestra.' B: 'Jak se jmenuje?' A: 'Jmenuje se Klára.'

A: 'Tito lidé jsou mí prarodiče.' B: 'Jak se jmenují?' A: 'Jmenují se Anna a Josef.'

A: 'Tento kluk je můj syn.' B: 'Kolik je mu let?' A: 'Je mu třináct let.'

A: 'Toto dítě je má neteř.' B: 'Kolik má let?' A: 'Má šest let.'

A: 'Tyto ženy jsou mé babičky.' B: 'Odkud jsou?' A: 'Jsou z Ostravy.'

A: 'Tato děvčata jsou mé dcery.' B: 'Ony jsou dvojčata?' A: 'Ano, jsou.' 

NOTE: dvojče, n. (dvojčeta; prdg. kuře) ['dvoy-tcheh] twin; noun

In the next lesson, I'll show you how to describe people's appearance and personality. (Plus some grammar of course. 3:-)

love & peace
Ciray

Lesson 14– Numbers 11- 24 264 756 And Even More!

         In Lesson 11 we learned the numbers 0- 11. Now it's time to learn the rest. Don't worry; our ancestors weren't as creative as the French were while making up the names for numbers.
Let's revise–

0 – nula                               
1 – jedna
2 – dva
3 – tři
4 – čtyři
5 – pět
6 – šest
7 – sedm
8 – osm
9 – devět
10 – deset

        Now let's continue, you virtually just add the suffix -náct but watch out, some of the numbers are not the same.

11 – jedenáct
12 – dvanáct
13 – třináct
14 – čtrnáct
15 – patnáct
16 – šestnáct
17 – sedmnáct
18 – osmnáct
19 – devatenáct

NOTE: Similarily, as in English teen => teenage, in Czech we use náct => náctiletý/á/é (adj.).

          Starting from twenty the numbers are steady and don't change the basic forms, i. e. pět doesn't become pat, etc. (But 50, 60, and 90 do.) The words (numbers) are divided by a space.

20 – dvacet                               30 – třicet
21 – dvacet jedna                      40 – čtyřicet
22 – dvacet dva                         50 – padesát
23 – dvacet tři                           60 – šedesát
24 – dvacet čtyři                        70 – sedmdesát
25 – dvacet pět                          80 – osmdesát
26 – dvacet šest                        90 – devadesát
27 – dvacet sedm                      100 – sto
28 – dvacet osm                        101 – sto jedna
29 – dvacet devět                      132 – sto třicet dva

          Still the same principle... BUT there's one thing you need to take into account. When there are more hundreds than one, you must say hundreds, "sta" instead of hundred "sto". In Czech, we make everything even more complicated so five hundreds and above are "set", e. g. pět set, šest set,...
In thousands, it is the same thing– tisíc, dva tisíce, tři tisíce, čtyři tisíce, pět tisíc, šest tisíc, sedm tisíc, ....

1 000 – tisíc
1 368 – tisíc tři sta šedesát osm
2 547 – dva tisíce pět set čtyřicet sedm
7 149 – sedm tisíc sto čtyřicet devět
1 000 000 – milion
2 000 000 – dva miliony
5 000 000 – pět milionů
24 264 756 – dvacet čtyři milionů dvě sta šedesát                            čtyři tisíc sedm set padesát šest

NOTE: We don't use any dots or commas to write numbers just divide it by spaces after three numbers. However, 1.56 (don't know where, anyway Britain for sure) = 1,56 (Czech and don't know where else).

Sto, tisíc, and milion (or milión) are declined according to paradigms for nouns. Surprise! Sto – prdg. město, tisíc – prdg. stroj, milion – prdg. hrad.

love & peace 
Ciray

Prdg. SOUDCE (otec)– Declension

Soudce

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     soudce                                1) soudci/ soudcové

2) (genitive)          soudce                                  2) soudců

3) (dative)             soudci/ soudcovi                3) soudcům

4) (accusative)      soudce                                  4) soudce

5) (vocative)         soudce/ otče                         5) soudci/ soudcové

6) (locative)          soudci/ soudcovi                   6) soudcích

7) (instrumental)   soudcem                              7) soudci

Otec represents another forms of singular vocative case because some nouns declined according to soudce sounded weird with the suffix -(consonant)e so it was replaced with the suffix -(consonant with a hook)e. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm otec (declined the same way as soudce except for the two endings) are assigned the paradigm otec.

Prdg. PŘEDSEDA– Declension

Předseda

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     předseda                               1) předsedové

2) (genitive)          předsedy                                2) předsedů

3) (dative)             předsedovi                             3) předsedům

4) (accusative)      předsedu                               4) předsedy

5) (vocative)         předsedo                                 5) předsedové

6) (locative)          předsedovi                              6) předsedech

7) (instrumental)   předsedou                            7) předsedy

Prdg. STROJ– Declension

Stroj

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     stroj                                     1) stroje

2) (genitive)          stroje                                    2) strojů

3) (dative)             stroji                                      3) strojům

4) (accusative)      stroj                                      4) stroje

5) (vocative)         stroji                                      5) stroje

6) (locative)          stroji                                      6) strojích

7) (instrumental)   strojem                               7) stroji

Prdg. MUŽ (kůň)– Declension

Muž

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     muž                                       1) muži/ mužové

2) (genitive)          muže (koně)                           2) mužů

3) (dative)             muži/ mužovi                      3) mužům

4) (accusative)      muže (koně)                             4) muže (koně)

5) (vocative)         muži                                         5) muži/ mužové

6) (locative)          muži/ mužovi                      6) mužích

7) (instrumental)   mužem (koněm)                      7) muži

Kůň represents another forms of singular genitive, accusative, and instrumental, and plural accusative cases because some nouns declined according to muž sounded weird with the suffixes -e or -em so they were replaced with the suffixes -ě or -ěm. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm kůň (declined the same way as muž except for the four endings) are assigned the paradigm kůň.

Prdg. HRAD (zámek)– Declension

Hrad

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     hrad                                      1) hrady

2) (genitive)          hradu                                    2) hradů

3) (dative)             hradu                                     3) hradům

4) (accusative)      hrad                                      4) hrady

5) (vocative)         hrade (zámku)                      5) hrady

6) (locative)          hradu                                    6) hradech (zámcích)

7) (instrumental)   hradem                                 7) hrady

Zámek represents another forms of singular vocative and plural locative cases because some nouns declined according to hrad sounded weird with the suffixes -e or -ech so they were replaced with the suffixes -u or -ích. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm zámek (declined the same way as hrad except for the two endings) are assigned the paradigm zámek.

Prdg. KOST (ves)– Declension

Kost

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     kost                                     1) kosti

2) (genitive)          kosti                                     2) kostí

3) (dative)             kosti                                     3) kostem (vsím)

4) (accusative)      kost                                     4) kosti

5) (vocative)         kosti                                      5) kosti

6) (locative)          kosti                                      6) kostech (vsích)

7) (instrumental)   kostí                                      7) kostmi

Ves represents another forms of plural dative and locative cases because some nouns declined according to kost sounded weird with the suffixes -em and -ech so they were replaced with the suffixes -ím and -ích. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm ves (declined the same way as kost except for the two endings) are assigned the paradigm ves.

Prdg. PÍSEŇ– Declension

Píseň

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     píseň                                   1) písně

2) (genitive)          písně                                    2) písní

3) (dative)             písni                                      3) písním

4) (accusative)      píseň                                   4) písně

5) (vocative)         písni                                      5) písně

6) (locative)          písni                                      6) písních

7) (instrumental)   písní                                   7) písněmi

Prdg. RŮŽE– Declension

Růže

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     růže                                   1) růže

2) (genitive)          růže                                    2) růží

3) (dative)             růži                                     3) růžím

4) (accusative)      růži                                   4) růže

5) (vocative)         růže                                    5) růže

6) (locative)          růži                                     6) růžích

7) (instrumental)   růží                                   7) růžemi

Prdg. STAVENÍ– Declension

Stavení

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)     stavení                                 1) stavení

2) (genitive)          stavení                                   2) stavení

3) (dative)             stavení                                    3) stavením

4) (accusative)      stavení                                  4) stavení

5) (vocative)         stavení                                    5) stavení

6) (locative)          stavení                                    6) staveních

7) (instrumental)   stavením                              7) staveními

Lesson 13– Possessive Pronouns

        As there is the Right of possession, we should learn how to say we own something. Yes, I'm talking about those words you use pretty often without even realizing it. "This is MY girlfriend!" -_- (Just don't say this.)

The basic pronouns are:

SINGULAR
PERSON	masculine	feminine	neuter
Já	MŮJ	MÁ	MÉ
Ty	TVŮJ	TVÁ	TVÉ
On	JEHO	JEHO	JEHO
Ona	JEJÍ	JEJÍ	JEJÍ
Ono	JEHO	JEHO	JEHO

PLURAL
PERSON	masculine	feminine	neuter
My	NÁŠ	NAŠE	NAŠE
Vy	VÁŠ	VAŠE	VAŠE
Oni	JEJICH	JEJICH	JEJICH
Ony	JEJICH	JEJICH	JEJICH
Ona	JEJICH	JEJICH	JEJICH

        There are also some acceptable alternatives of some of the pronouns:

SINGULAR
PERSON	masculine	feminine	neuter
Já	MŮJ	MOJE	MOJE
Ty	TVŮJ	TVOJE	TVOJE
On	JEHO	JEHO	JEHO
Ona	JEJÍ	JEJÍ	JEJÍ
Ono	JEHO	JEHO	JEHO

        As regards your favourite part of the Czech language– declension, yes, we do decline these, too. Fortunately, their declension is similar to the declension of our adjectives. Let's see the differences– compare these two:

	MASCULINE	FEMININE	NEUTER
NOMINATIVE	můj	má	mé
	mladý	mladá	mladé
DATIVE	mého	mé	mého
	mladého	mladé	mladého
GENITIVE	mému	mé	mému
	mladému	mladé	mladému
ACCUSATIVE	mého	mou	mé
	mladého	mladou	mladé
VOCATIVE	můj	má	mé
	mladý	mladá	mladé
LOCATIVE	mém	mé	mém
	mladém	mladá	mladém
INSTRUMENTAL	mým	mou	mým
	mladým	mladou	mladým

        I know, it isn't utterly the same but still there is some analogy that can help you remember them. I'll put all the tables with declension of possessive pronouns somewhere on my site. 

        I couldn't believe what I heard from a person I know. We both learn French (which also distinguishes between můj/ má/ mé) and s/he thought that the form depended on the speaker, not the object (the noun following the possessive pronoun). I just want you to realize that it really does depend on the gender of the noun. 

        This is all for today's lesson. I think I should start making some exercises because the best way to learn is to get tested. (I can't believe I'm saying this. It's probably the holiday making me think this way.)

love & peace

Ciray

Lesson 12– Nominative (The First) Case

In some of my previous lessons (Lesson 7, Lesson 8, Lesson 9) I mentioned all of the grammatical cases but this time I'm going to dedicate the whole article to the nominative case.

When do we use it?

I've mentioned only one type of usage so far. Which is...? Yes, the subject of every sentence. The subject is usually a noun or a pronoun (these are not always in nominative case). 

Another way of using it is the phenomenon called predicate noun and predicate adjective. Some of you know what they are, some of you don't. Let me explain– predicate noun is the object of this sentence: Eddie is a good father (=Eddie je dobrý otec). Similarily, the predicate adjective here: Eddie is tall (=Eddie je vysoký). See? The predicate noun/adjective give you more information about the subject;  they define it.

The third way of using the nominative case is a noun in apposition. This basically means that there are two nouns next to each other; one defining the other– my boss Mr. Teddybear (=můj šéf pan Medvídek), or Ciray, my Czech teacher, ... (Ciray, má učitelka češtiny, ...).

How do we recognize it?

The nominative case is the easiest case since the noun is in its basic form. The only difference is in their plural forms where the paradigms can help us. This doesn't work for the feminine gender where the nominative plural forms are always the same as the genitive singular forms + some paradigms from other genders. 

The best way to recognize it is to look at the rest of the sentence. This is our model sentence: Tužky jsou na stole. (=The pencils are on the table.) "Jsou" is a form of the verb "být" used when the object is plural in third person. Problem solved.

Well I think this is all you need to know about the nominative case. If you have any questions or rebukes, feel free to post a comment below.

love & peace

Ciray

Prdg. PÁN (divák) – Declension

Pán

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)    pán                                     1) páni/pánové

2) (genitive)         pána                                    2) pánů

3) (dative)            pánovi/pánu                        3) pánům

4) (accusative)     pána                                   4) pány

5) (vocative)        pane (diváku)                     5) páni/pánové

6) (locative)         pánovi/ pánu                       6) pánech (divácích)

7) (instrumental)  pánem                                 7) pány

Pán represents another forms of singular vocative and plural locative cases because some nouns declined according to pán sounded weird with the suffixes -e or -ech so they were replaced with the suffixes -u or -ích. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm divák (declined the same way as pán except for the two endings) are assigned the paradigm divák.

Things We Do Differently– Capital Letters

The capitals are a dangerous enemy to lots of Czechs. There are not many rules but we are just... lazy. I know, I use this as an excuse too often. But we are.

I've made a short list of rules you should follow when writing in Czech. There are not all of them but the most important are, of course, included.

• Every sentence starts with a capital letter. 
• Days of the week, months, and seasons of the year start with a small letter.
• Names (of people, countries, planets, etc.) are written with a capital at the beginning.
• A citizen of a certain state (nouns: Čech/Češka, Polák/Polka, ...) is written with a capital.
• An adjective formed from a noun (e. g. Amerika=> americký) starts with a small letter. (Applies to names.)
• Languages start with a small letter (e. g. angličtina, čeština, arabština, etc.)

love & peace

Ciray

Prdg. ŽENA (škola) – Declension

Žena

      SINGULAR                                                     PLURAL

1) (nominative)    žena                                     1) ženy

2) (genitive)         ženy                                     2) žen

3) (dative)            ženě (škole)                         3) ženám

4) (accusative)     ženu                                     4) ženy

5) (vocative)        ženo                                     5) ženy

6) (locative)         ženě (škole)                         6) ženách

7) (instrumental) ženou                                    7) ženami

Škola represents another forms of singular dative and locative cases because some nouns declined according to žena sounded weird with the suffix -ě so it was replaced with the suffix -e. In my dictionary, nouns declined according to the paradigm škola (declined the same way as žena except for the two endings) are assigned the paradigm škola.

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