This topic was split from another topic and moved to this forum from Vocabulary & Translation Help Ahoj Dana, Thanks. I really need good luck. I suppose you are Czech, aren't you? I hope you are... because I would like to ask you two difficult questions: 1 - Is there a rule, or any easy way, to learn the several cases of a noun? I mean, for instance, being "kytara" the nominative, is there a way to find out what are the other cases (dative, accusative, genitive, vocative, etc), or do I have to memorise all the cases for each noun? 2 - When a czech child learns the nouns, does he learn for each noun all the different cases? Antonio
1. There is a bunch of rules which are usually embodied in declension tables. You can find out that all nouns with the ending -a in the nominative sing. have the ending -u in the accusative sing., etc. Often you must know the gender of a noun to determine the proper ending (it is always usefull to know it like in Portuguese). 2. No, the children determine the endings by analogy with already known nouns, sometimes they are mistaken and are corrected.
Hi, Majority of Czech nouns respect little set of model nouns. See http://www.locallingo.com/czech/grammar ... nsion.html for more info. Children pick up this pattern.
We have the "model" nouns and you only remember according to which model noun the word has its endings. E.g., "kytara" is according to "žena" (because you can say yourself "ta kytara" like "ta žena" - the same gender ("ta" is for feminines) and the same ending in the nominative form). EDIT: Lol, you others are so fast
Locallingo: This statement is somewhat questionable. The Czech children perfectly determine the endings without knowledge of formal declension paradigms. They have their own "declension tables" in their neuronal nets. The native speaker need not the formal grammar rules to speak mother language (the writing is another story).
Ahoj Zeisig, Ladis a Wer, Děkuji... Your explanations so quickly given are precious, for someone like me who is trying to be able to read, write and speak that minimum of czech language that will make me feel more confortable next time I go to Praha... With teachers like you, it will be rather easy to learn Czech ! Sometimes in Portugal we say that our language is difficult and tricky, but in fact we don't know how lucky we are having to know ONLY 1 expression for a noun, instead of several like in czech. Mais uma vez, obrigado! Antonio
Hi Zeisig, I'm the author of the statement on Local Lingo and I would like to update it if need be so that it is not questionable in any way. When I was a child and we were doing noun declensions at school, we were taught to use those model nouns (vzory), so we can apply them to any noun and create the proper ending (i.e. not "na koncy" but "na konci", etc.). The statement does not claim that Czech children need these model nouns in order to learn how to speak Czech. It does not claim that Czech children are not able to determine the endings without knowing the model nouns. Why then do you consider the statement questionable and how would you change it? Does it have to do with speaking versus writing? Maybe the word "study" would be more appropriate instead of "learn", at the same time specifying that the primary function of the model nouns is to help Czech children write endings properly. I realize that the model nouns are not as helpful to foreigners as they are to Czechs because foreigners do not have declension "implanted in their brains" the way Czech children do. I still hope that there is some use in posting the model nouns on the website. Thanks for your input! Dana MyCZ / Local Lingo
This sentence in question does not specify the purpose of learning declension tables at all. It also does not specify the age of the children. Antonio and others can believe that little Czech children must memorize the paradigms in order to speak properly and are unlucky. It is nonsense, of course. They learn mother language simply by repeating what they hear and abstract the grammatical rules unconsciously. The real purpose of memorizing declension tables is a big mystery for me, but such tables are conventional equipment of the formal grammar books. (I should change children to pupils or students)
The questionable statement has been removed from the website. In my opinion, the purpose of memorizing declension tables is to memorize the proper endings. I remember I found them very helpful in elementary school.
