Just a quicky for today, I am trying to write a 1 Yr Anniversay card to my best friend (we met a year ago today). She is certainly my best friend and she knows it, but that's as far as it goes. In the context of a heart-felt card, is it ok for me to end off with: Navěky věkův, budu Tě milovat. I've never used those words before, so I'm not sure if they are ONLY for romantic relationships, or if non-romantic best-friendships can edure such strong wording. ps, Lorenzo, I'm trying to come up with a bunch of sentences re: post. I'll get them up soon Shawn
Careful Shawn, "budu Tě milovat" are strong words that should only be said to a romantic partner, and to a very special one if you include "navěky věkův" (for eternity)! For a good friend, I would change your sentence to the following: "Budu Tě mít rád navěky věkův." Here, "I will love you" is replaced with "I will like you", which sounds a little bland to American ears but that's what friends and family would say to each other in Czech. I also changed the word order some - not a biggie.
Hi Shawn, to me the word "milovat" has a strong emotional charge in it and as such I consider it mainly suitable for romantic purposes if you use it about a person. Also perhaps to speak about your family members and suchlike. If your friend is just that, I mean a friend, I would recommend going for "mít rád" instead. You may want to think of the difference between the two expressions as being the same as between "love" and "like", respectively, but in Czech the frequency of the former is not as high as in English, I suppose... Jirka
Hi again: As a matter of fact "navěky věkův" sounds pretty strong to me too; kind of archaic as well. It might me better to put the whole sentence something like "Budu Tě mít vždy rád." or "Vždy Tě budu mít rád.". The latter word order puts emphasis on the first word, "always", and it would probably be more convenient in the closing of a card message... Jirka
Yes, "navěky věkův" sounds dramatic and old-fashioned (its English equivalent would be "for eternity", "for all time"), but to me it also makes the sentence more interesting. I can imagine the term being used between good friends in a fun, humorous kind of way. It depends on how it's meant to be understood. The version with "vždy" is certainly more neutral but also less unique. Shawn, where did you discover the term?
Dobré ráno Phew, I'm glad I listened to my instincts. I said (at the end): Mám Tě velice moc rád and signed it: Vždy a navždy, moje nejlepší kamaradko ...which she was delighted to read. As for the way I speak, I am a huge fan of poetry (ew, yucki, já vím LOL), and as such I find myself learning some dramatic and often not so colloquial phrases, but it's an entry point for me, and helps me get a feeling for now. For example, my friends always get a giggle, when one of them asks me to do something, if I say: Rád to uciním, ale jenom pro Tebe And one of the first things I learned, which actually helped a lot, was "být, nebo nebýt". It taught me how to conjugate the most important verb, it taught me my first conjunction, and it taught me about "no" and how simple negation can be in Czech. Ale dneska myslĺm, že "žít, nebo nežít" je spravně? Talk later Shawn [This message has been edited by shawn (edited 26-11-2003).]
Oops. Dana, I found "navěky věkův" at www.slovnik.cz , under "forever and ever". To me, it sounds beautiful; however, as this thread makes clear, intent is often a more important consideration than rhythm or rhyme, especially in real world communication... Shawn ps I need to wake up, crazy URL coding stuff LOL. [This message has been edited by shawn (edited 26-11-2003).]
