Useful english words that are missing in the Czech language?

* possibilities:
"Upustil jsem ji a ona se rozbila"
or:
"Upustil jsem ji a rozbila se" (a little less natural, as Wer said, it sounds a little bit as an anacoluthon)
or:
"Když jsem ji upustil, rozbila se"

You do not have to use it everytime you change the subject. Only to make it clear.

In the sentence
"Upustil jsem kouli na podlahu"
there are two feminine nouns in singular (podlaha, koule), so if in the following sentence, one of them becomes a subject, it is good to specify which one of them it is. But if there is only one possible thing the subject could refer to, you do not have to specify it by any pronoun or repetition.

"Když jsem kouli upustil, rozbila se"
In the firts phrase, the subject is "I", in the second phrase, the subject is "ona" but there is no indication of it because the information conveyed by the verb (3rd person, so it is not "I", it is some other thing and in the first phrase, there is only one such thing - "koule", so that has to be it; furthermore, this is confirmed by the fact that the verb has a feminine form and "koule" is a feminine noun).

"Když jsem kouli upustil na zem, rozbil se"
Here, we have a different situation, in the first phrase, there are two feminine nouns in singular, so the fact that the verb is in 3rd person does not really solve this question. However, the verb is in masculine form, so the subject must be something else not mentioned in the sentence (and presumably known to both interlocutors).

It seems to me that you have encountered quite an advanced feature of Czech grammar, so if you do not stop making mistakes by know, it does not really matter as it is quite difficult not only to explain but to understand as well.

*We do not use word "tělo" in this case, "tělo" is mosty body of some animate being, it can also mean figuratively "a main part of something" (for example "tělo textu").
For inanimate things you refer to in English as "bodies" we use the word "těleso", epecially in scientific contexts (and this concept is known even to the general population), so it is "fyzikální těleso"

**"síla" is feminine (as I mentioned earlier :wink: ); moreover the feminine nouns consisting of two syllables from which the first one contains a long vowel (kráva, brána, síla) tend to undergo in genitive plural shortening of the vowel (bez krav, bran, sil; not *kráv, *brán, *síl). This shortening is also very common but not obligatory with other cases of plural: dative (krávám/kravám, bránám/branám, sílám/silám), locative (krávách/kravách, bránách/branách, sílách/silách) and instrumental (krávami/kravami, bránami/branami, sílami/silami).
This shortening does not occur with all such nouns, there are some that do not undergo it, for example "mýlka" (g.pl: mýlek, not */mylek, d.pl. mýlkám, not *mylkám). Even though I have a hypothesis which do and which do not, I think that Wer could be more capable of explaining this matter.

*** better "že si nikdy neodpočine"

Now I understand!
Vnitřní mechanismus hodin = Internal mechanism of a clock (and "of hours" but logically it is the first)
Vnitřní mechanismus hodiny = Internal mechanism of an hour (grammar sais it is gen.sg. of "hodina" - "hour")

*better "jejíž mise je prozkoumat..." (subjects are the same so the infinitive construction is better in this case)

 

That is some really great information.
The finer points of grammar.
I think if someone sat down and read through all the texts posted here on the forum and all the grammar notes that you guys have provided, they would find enough information to become fluent in czech.
It's fantastic.

Hodil jsem ji na podlahu a ona se rozbila do víc než tisíce kousků.
Here 'ona' means 'it' in english. I don't think I've ever used that construction before.
Rozbil jsem ji, protože jsem byl tak hnědavý, a nikdo nenaslechl tím, co říkám.
Zkažený chlap? Asi si máš pravdu.

Fyzikální tělesa se přitahují kvůli sile znamený jako gravitace.
Ten koncept se objevil angličanem Isaac Newton, když jeden den seděl pod jablkónem.
Myšlenka k něm přisla z čísté nebe.
Měl v ten den jen pěkné sny o vzdušených zamků.
Už po století věděli vědci, že nebecké tělesa obíhali kolem Slunce, ale nevěděli proč. Jeho myšlenky byl nezvěstný klič.
Newton napsal v knize, že 'Vidím tak daleko, protože stojím na bedrech obrů.'

Kdysi jednou letěli nad zemí ohniví draci, které dštovali oheň a síru, a lidí se moc bali.

 

1 - hnědavý = brownish

2 - you do it on purpose :lol: "nenaslech kým/čím" is not a Czech verb but it resembles to verb "načichnout kým/čím" (catch a smell of something), only with another sense (hearing instead of smelling)

3 - good attempt, but my remarks about shortening of the root vowel are valid only in plural

4 - form grammatically correct if we assume that the tree that bears apples is "jablkón"... unfortunately, it is called "jabloň" (feminine, paradigm "píseň")

5 - you truly are a master of puns in Czech - the correct word is "vzdušný" (aerial)... word "vzdušený" would mean something like "asphyxiated up" if it existed... it sounds very funny and if done on purpose, it could bear quite humorous connotations

6 - it is shameful to admit, but many Czech people would make exactly the same error as you... in fact it is quite normal in colloquial Czech

7 - not sure I understand... "nezvěstný" means "missing" and is used almost exclusively as a legal term for missing people that are looked for by the police ("Oběť únosu je už rok nezvěstná")

8 - either: "Napsal v knize, že vidí tak daleko, protože stojí..." (indirect speech)
or: "Napsal v knize: 'Vidím tak daleko, protože stojím...' " (direct speech)
You should not combine both of them.

9 - "bedra" - lower part of the back (loin region)

10 - dštít: dštím, dštíš, dští, dštíme, dštíte, dští
past: dštil
imperative: dšti, dštěte

Now try to actually pronounce it :twisted:
There is also the variant "chrlit" but I don't know which one is better for you

11 - a lidí se moc báli = and they were very afraid of people (the dragons)
I am not sure that it is what you want to say... I guess your idea is "the people were very afraid", which would be "a lidi se moc báli"... As you see, one single vowel length can completely reverse the intended meaning...

 

I tried - think my tongue fell out of my mouth :shock:

 

Díky Eleshare za všechny legrační kontrolování. :lol:

Byl to kus, které dokončil rébus/vyřešil hádanku. Byl to klíč k uvlnění záhadu. Byl to chybějící članek.
Konečně měli vědci odpověd na otázku, proč věci dělají, co dělají.
Začínali chápat záhadný mechanismus vesmíru.

Věř mi, jsou to neumyslné slovní hřičky. Nejsem dost chytřejšího, abych stvořil slovní hřičky v čestině.

Pan Newton seděl st'aštně v hezký anglický den pod jabloní, dokud mu jablko nespadlo na hlavě.
Co je síla, která nechá jablko padnout k zemï? Náhle k něm přišla myšlenka, že jablko padá, protože je nevidítelná síla, která jej táhá dolů. Pojmenoval tu neviditelnou sílu gravitace.
Stal na ramenou obrů a proto byl schopen vidět více vzdalený než kdokoli předtím uviděl, a to, co viděl, změnilo by svět...........Nesl na bedrech celý tíh světa.

Draci dychající oheň napadli na klidné vesnice, a lidí se moc báli.
Chrlí oheń a síru a zdálo se vesničánum, že to byl konec světa.

Jako rozhněvaný, zkažený dítě jsem láhev mléka hodil na podlahu, protože mě nikdo nevěnovali pozor.
Hned jsem si všiml toho, že jsem udělal velkou chybu. Pravděpodobně největší chybu mého krátkého života.
Bylo to jasné, že se ji nedá dát zpět dohromady.

:lol:

 

1 - better "za všechny legrační opravy" - (for all the amusing corrections)

2 - "rozluštění záhady"

3 - "nejsem dost chytrý" = "I am not clever enough"
"*nejsem dost chytřejší" = "*I am not more clever enough"

4 - much better would be "seděl jednoho hezkého anglického dne" or "seděl během (during) jednoho hezkého anglického dne"

5 - "jablko mu spadlo na hlavu" = "an apple fell onto his head"
"jablko mu spadlo na hlavě" = "an apple fell on his head" (damn, the English language is not able to truly express that... the phrase you wrote simple meant that the apple was on his head from the beginning, then fell still being there - like collapsed or toppled - and remained on his head)

6 - this seems to be an important note... "a to co viděl, by změnilo svět" is conditionnal in Czech, so it means it actually did NOT change the world. I suppose it is a translation from English "and that what he saw would change the world". However... in English, this form is not conditionnal, it is post-preterit (the future from some point in the past). It means that it actually DID change the world - it is the sentece "it will change the world" but the point of departure is in past "that what he saw" so in English, the verb "will" has to be rendered to past tense "would". In Czech, this transformation does not exist, so the correct phrase would be "a to, co viděl, změní svět" (ambiguous - it may or may have not already changed the world) or "to, co viděl, změnilo svět" (unambiguous - it has already changed the world and from the logic of the situation, it changed the world after he saw it)

7 - as already said, "dýchat" is not the best verb in this context, better would be "chrlící, dštící, plivající"

8 - see my previous note on this matter "lidí se moc báli" means "they were very afraid of the people" ("lidí" is genitive and therefore an object of the verb whose logical subject can only be "draci") but "lidi se moc báli" means "the people were very afraid" ("lidi" is nominative and therefore the subject of the verb)

9 - better "a vesničanům se zdálo"

10 - "pozor" = "attention" as in or "attention! all systems shutting down!"
"pozornost" = "attention" as in "all my attention was directed to the systems", "awarness"; "gift" ("Dostal jsem od něj malou pozornost" = "I was given a little gift"

11 - grammatically correct although quite cumbersome... I would rather say "že ji nelze dát zase dohromady" or "že není možné dát ji zase dohromady"



Is it only my impression or has Scrimshaw really improved significantly since visited this forum last time?

 

Šest je zajímavé, a máš pravdu, je to důležitá věc.
With 'would' english can express, something that will happen in the future from the reference point of a point in the past, without regard to whether or not at the current time it has already happened .
In that sense it is a little more complicated than the simple...Chtěl bych to udělat...I would like to do that.
Thanks for pointing that out Eleshare....the two uses might even have
different grammatical names..

MERRIAM-WEBSTER ONLINE DICTIONARY :twisted: :twisted: :shock:
1 a archaic : wished, desired b archaic : wish for : want c (1) : strongly desire : wish <I would I were young again> —often used without a subject and with that in a past or conditional construction <would that I had heeded your advice> (2) —used in auxiliary function with rather or sooner to express preference <he would sooner die than face them>
2 a —used in auxiliary function to express wish, desire, or intent <those who would forbid gambling> b —used in auxiliary function to express willingness or preference <as ye would that men should do to you — Luke 6:31 (Authorized Version)> c —used in auxiliary function to express plan or intention <said we would come>
3 —used in auxiliary function to express custom or habitual action <we would meet often for lunch>
4 —used in auxiliary function to express consent or choice <would put it off if he could>
5 a —used in auxiliary function in the conclusion of a conditional sentence to express a contingency or possibility <if he were coming, he would be here now> b —used in auxiliary function in a noun clause (as one completing a statement of desire, request, or advice) <we wish that he would go>
6 —used in auxiliary function to express probability or presumption in past or present time <would have won if I had not tripped>
7 : could <the barrel would hold 20 gallons>
8 —used in auxiliary function to express a request with which voluntary compliance is expected <would you please help us>
9 —used in auxiliary function to express doubt or uncertainty <the explanation…would seem satisfactory> 10 : should <knew I would enjoy the trip> <would be glad to know the answer>

Kez bych byl zase mládý.
Kez jsem uviděl tehdy, co vidím ted'.
Vyhral bych závod, pokud jsem nezakopl.
Koupíš mi to?
Chodívali jsme do školy.
Řekli nám, že tam budou.
Neudělal bych to, kdybych byl tebou.
Řekl, že to udělá, pokud bude možné.
(Kdybych byl tebou,) Nepokráčoval bych já to udělat, ledaže chceš být uveděný k vězení.

Věnuj pozornost na to, co ti tvoje maminka říká.

Klíč k rozluštění záhady už máš. Mysli na to, co se stalo minulou noc.
Tam najdeš odpověd'.

www.verizon.net/port25 :twisted: :twisted: :shock:

 

I will deal with your Czech text later (or perhaps someone else will) but a little commentary to the merriam-webster findings:

ad 1 - "would" is past tense of "will" which has clear etymological connection to the word "will" as a substantive (like "the strength of will")

In this case, you cannot use simple "by" in Czech, you have to use some form of verb "chtít" (for example "chtěl bych")

ad 2 - there you sometimes can use simple conditionnal

"those who would forbid gambling" = "ti, kteří by zakázali hazard"/"ti, kteří by chtěli/by rádi/... zakázali hazard"

ad 3 - here it is impossible to use Czech conditionnal, you have to use something lijke the iterative/habitual form of a verb (mít > mívat, být > bývat,...)

ad 4 - not sure how it differs from 5, i.e. simple conditionnal sentence where you use the conditionnal in both languages

ad 5 - explained above

ad 6 - same as above... only it is past conditionnal

ad 7 - here it is... more difficult... you can use something very similar using conditionnal, but there is still the shade of meaning that the barrel in reality was not filled to it's full capacity or something

ad 8 - use of conditionnal as a means of politness functions in Czech as well

ad 9 - it seems that sometimes it can be used, sometimes not


Although the example i was speaking about is not covered - "would" as a simple future from a past referential point

My mother is telling me that father is at work
My mother is telling me that my brother will come

if the principal phrase (containing the verb "is telling") is transformed in past tense, then the dependent phrase has to be changed as well although its meaning remains the same:

My mother told me that father was at work
My mother told me that my brother would come

And here, it is definitely not appropriate to translate the "would" as "by". In Czech, the dependent phrase remains the same even though the principal phrase is in past.

Matka mi říká, že bratr přijde
Matka mi řekla, že bratr přijde

In the second sentence the future is the future from the past moment of her telling the locutor (so his brother may already have come).

If the sentence were:
Matka mi řekla, že by bratr přišel
it means that there is probably some unmentioned condition that has to be met for the brother to come.

 

1 - either "mladý" or "mlád"

2 - "pokračovat v něčem", for example "pokračovat v činnosti", if you want to use it with another verb, you have to use some other construction, e.g. "nepřestávat dělat" (not to cease to do something) - so you phrase would be "přestal bych to dělat"


a side note to the Merriam-Webster dictionnary - Not a very good source for grammar, it is a dictionnary. If you want some referential grammar of English, try for example:

Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech - A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language

It's downloadable from gigapedia.

 

Forget about that hyperlink I sent. I sent it by mistake. I was making a note to myself and I forgot to delete it. :shock:

How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?.....Kid's rhyme...try to say fast.

Kéž bych byl zase mlád.....Would that I were young again.
Kéž bych věděl tehdy, co vím ted'...Would that/If only I knew then what I know now.
Koupil si bych to, pokud bych měl u sebe peněženku.

One sense of 'would' is to express a future conditional.
The future action is dependent on something having happened in the past.

Přijel bych včas, kdyby autobus neměl zpoždění.

I would have been there except....reasons/excuses

Upekl bych dort, kdybych věděl, že přijdeš/jsi měl v plánu dnes přijít.

 

Chuck Norris can chuck (read: round-house kick) any amount of wood he wants.

oll korekt

oll korekt

 

Eleshare, No red marks. :shock: Oll korekt.

Bohužel se tam nemůžeš dostat odsud.

To,(ten, koho před mnou vidím, anebo, o komu mluvíme), kdyby nebyla slušnost boha, jsem já.
There but for the grace of God go I.

Stejně jako písek skrz přesýpaci hodiny, tak jsou dny naších životu.

Geologové si myslí, že v kamenech je okno k minulosti.

 

1 - if you mean "divine grace", it is "milost Boží"

2 - "Bůh" is kind of a peculiar word in Czech. It has quite a strong religious connotation (how surprising!) so it has a little bit special morphology (I am sure I have already mentioned that earlier but repetition has never killed the kitten, so let's repeat it):

genitive - is normal "Boha", but it is not used in the sense of possessivity, this sense is reserved to the adjective "Boží" which is often postponed (but not obligatorily) and of course fully declinable...
(word of God = "slovo Boží", not "slovo Boha"; wrath of God = "hněv Boží", not "hněv Boha";...)

dative, locative in singular - almost all masculines of the paradigm "pán" have the dual form "pánu/pánovi", but the word "Bůh" has only the former one "Bohu" (never "Bohovi")

The same applies for some other words with religious connotation, for example "člověk" (possessivity is often expressed by adjective "lidský", dative/locative in singular is "člověku", never "člověkovi"). Some words almost lost this connotation (anděl - I would say "andělu" and never "andělovi", but if I heard the latter, it would not surprise me).
With the word "God", there is also a little variation if one uses it in the traditionnal Christian sense or if he is refering to something other (for example the Greek gods) where the rules are not so strict (but never is the dative/locative "bohovi").

3 - This sentence does not make much sense to me... if it is an attempt to translate the "There but for the grace of God go I. " I would rather say:
"Jdu tam pouze z milosti Boží" but I am not sure if the word "go" does not have a little bit more existencial sense.

4 - correct, but "Geologové považují kameny za okno do minulosti" is a little bit better (although the more I am thinking about your phrase, the more I think it does not need any further improvements).

 

přede mnou
…před sebou vidím…

This is not exceptional. It applies to all persons and animals. The genitive could be eventually used for possession to multiword constructs:

slovo Boha - incorrect
slovo Boží - correct
slovo boha Apollóna - correct
slovo Boha Otce - correct

What? :shock:

Who says? Why such a prescription? The form “bohovi/Bohovi” is in common use.

The actual meaning is something like:

I já mohu z Boží vůle/milosti skončit stejně.
I já mohu být z Boží vůle vystaven/vydán stejnému osudu.

Days of Our Lives? :roll:

Jako písek v přesýpacích hodinách ubíhají dny našich životů.

Geologové mají kameny (skály? horniny?) za okno do minulosti.

 

What? :shock:

Well, I am sure it should be somewhere in the grammar because "bohovi" is NOT in common use:

SYN2000
Bohu/bohu - 2471 occurences
Bohovi/bohovi - 8 occurences

SYN2005
Bohu/bohu - 3492 occurences
Bohovi/bohovi - 17 occurences

SYN2006Pub
Bohu/bohu - 2372 occurences
Bohovi/bohovi - 26 occurences (most of them from the saying "Co je dovoleno Bohovi, není povoleno volovi", which is a translation of latin "Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi", so it is not natural, it is for the purposes of the rhyme)

Yes, the variant "bohovi" seems to spread a little bit but it still remains reserved for some very specific uses while in common use, the variant "Bohu" is overwhelmingly more frequent.

 

Ano, ten cítat je z televizního seriálu ´Days of our Lives´.
Nedíval jsem se na něj já, ale na něj se pořád dívala sestra. To jsou začinající linie.
Like sand through the hourglass, so go the days of our lives.

Archeologové našli blízko ostrovu Antikatheras hluboký ve vodě Středozemního moře v padesátech podívný malý skříně.
Skřině Antikatherasu. Je to jako úžasný starověký složitý nástroj. Je to záhada.

Wer má pravdu. Význam té věty je jinak.
It is a statement that acknowledges our good fortune, and acknowledges that the same misfortune could easily befall us.
Example...If you see a beggar on the street, or someone in a wheelchair.

Opakování asi nikdy nezabil kotě, ale v angličtině, zvědavost zabil kočku.

Anděl se manifestoval nad domorců a slova andělu je potěšili. ´Nebojete se, přinesl jsem dobrou novinu. Byl v Belému tuto noc narožen spasitel.

Spí pod váších pokoji neuvěřitelně děsiví tvoři.
Dávej si pozor, aby tě nechytili. Sezřali dětí radi.
Věnujete pozornost tomu, co vás váš táto říká, pokud víte, co je pro vás dobrý.

Podle geologů je v kamenéch celé dějiny Země. Od začátku do přitomnosti.

 

Literary Czech was definitely not the variety of Czech I was refering to. I refered to the use in spoken Czech, mainly in the Moravian.

začínající = performing the beginning
úvodní = at the beginning, introductory, preliminary

In Czech we don’t use the word “line” for “line of text”.

¹ One of your constant mistakes. You tend to confuse adjectives and adverbs whenever the forms coincides in English. Consider the adjectives can’t be genderless like adverbs.

² I guess you mean “in the 50’s”. (According to Wikipedia, it was 1900-1902 actually.)

³ “-é” - standard/literal; “-ý” - colloquial

¹ It is preferable to use adverb to modify an adjective instead of cumulating the adjectives (amazing and complicated → amazingly complicated).

² The order of adjectives is another tricky thing about translation. But to explain this, we need someone with good knowledge of the order in both Czech and English. I myself always wonder about the English order.

¹ manifestovat = to demonstrate, to march in protest

² Do you mean “domorodcům”? That’s not the best word here.

³ We use “narodit se” in place of English “be born”.

 

ORAL2006
Bohu/bohu - 5 occurences
Bohovi/bohovi - 0 occurences

ORAL2008
Bohu/bohu - 3 occurences
Bohovi/bohovi - 2 occurences (only in expression "ani bohovi")

Moreover, I do not think that Moravian dialect is something that is to be taught to the foreigners studying Czech... but well, that seems to be the matter of opinions... :wink:

 

The oral corpora are not sufficiently large and representative for this particular purpose. You can’t thoughtlessly use it whenever you want to check a frequency.

Moravian variety of common Czech, not the Moravian dialects.
Nobody wants to taught the foreigners the Moravian Czech, but you can’t ignore it and declare the Bohemian Czech the only correct possibility. And the form “bohovi”, though more frequent in Moravian, exists in Bohemian too.

I’m not advocating the use of “bohovi” over “bohu”, I myself use “bohu”, but I dislike the attempts to mastermind the evolution of the language. The secondary ending “-ovi” is less frequent for this particular word but it exists. You can’t ignore its existence by stating it’s never used. The spreading of the ending “-ovi” is in fact a process of regularization. My note on Moravia was rather remark that the regularization is more pervasive in regions with lesser literary tradition (slower regularization in Bohemia, faster in Moravia, extremely fast in Slovakia) and that it indicates the ongoing/potential regularization in Bohemia. Even ÚJČ considers it less frequent but established form.

Perhaps you misinterpreted my expression “in common use” which definitely doesn’t stay for “is the most frequent variant”. (You can’t say that “poněvadž” is not in common use, just because “protože” outnumbers it.)

To stop nitpicking, we could says that the only message for the foreign learners is that the traditional form “bohu” is more frequent and stylistically better.
After all, the word “bůh” is more notable for the ancient vocative “bože” than for its dative/locative form.

 

Máš pravdu, skřín Antikytéry byl naležen huboko v modrozelené vodě Středozeného moře ne v patesítech letech, spiš v prvních letech dvacátého století. Je to skutečná záhada, protože by takové technologie starověcí námořníci neměli mít.

Stené pravidlo v angličtině....přídavné jména modifikují podstatné jména, a příslovce modifikují slovesa a další podstatné jména.
Pochybují, že udělám stejnou chybu v budoucnosti.
Děkují ti za to, že jsi mi to ukázal prstem.

Žijí na kraji civilizace. Není to konec světa, ale je to konec civilované světa a mohu jej odsud teměř cítit.
Za tími horami v dálce žijí draci dštící ohen a síru a všichni druzí děsivých tvoru.
Jel jsem tam jednou na koně a sotva jsem se dostal z toho místa s svým životem. Nikdy již tam nepojedu.
Je to nemožné podepsat co jsem tam uviděl. Je představa, která vezmu s sebou do pohrobu. Stačí, že co jsem uviděl ještě mě navštěvuje v mých nočních můrách. Dal bych všechno, co vlastním, kdybych mohl jen zapomenout za den, co jsem ten den uviděl. Málem jsem se zblaznul.
Snaž se představit si nejhroznější vec, co dokázes a násobí ji za sto.
Preháním? Ne, nepreháním.
Věř mi, to je místo, kde nikdy nechceš jít..