Rendition of the present perfect in Czech

Discussion in 'Grammar & Pronunciation' started by Lorenzo, Aug 24, 2003.

  1. Lorenzo

    Lorenzo Well-Known Member

    Hi again,

    I was translating some sentences into Czech and I stumbled over something that put a doubt into my mind [​IMG]
    So, I will share it with you [​IMG] and here's my question:

    How should the English present perfect be rendered in Czech?

    I think it's correct to say "Bydlím v Brně jeden týden" if I mean to say "I have lived in Brno for a week" but how should "He has always lived in the Czech Republic" be correctly translated into Czech? Would it be "Žil v české Republice vždycky"? Or would that mean "He always lived in the Czech Republic"? I think it depends on the contest but is there a way to specify when it's "has always lived" and when it's "always lived" instead?

    Diky moc!

    Lorenzo

    [This message has been edited by Lorenzo (edited 24-08-2003).]
     
  2. Kikko

    Kikko Well-Known Member

    Well if I'm not wrong CZech makes it simple: 3 tenses, only a past (which covers all of our past tenses).

    I guess a czech would translate both with vzdy zil v ceske rep. (then it's you who must understand the right english/italian past tense)

    When I translate I use imperfective past for imperfetto and perfective past for all other past tenses. [​IMG]

    [This message has been edited by Kikko (edited 24-08-2003).]
     
  3. Kikko

    Kikko Well-Known Member

    <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lorenzo:
    I think it depends on the contest but is there a way to specify when it's "has always lived" and when it's "always lived" instead?
    </font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

    I've bee thinking about it again.
    I guess that if the phrase stands alone "he (has) always lived in CZ" it's translated in the same way.

    Probably there's a difference if, as Lorenzo says, it's part of a phrase and therefore there's a temporal relationship between the parts of the phrase itself. [​IMG]

    (but maybe the difference should be made between he lived and he had lived

    1) I knew that he lived in CZech Rep.
    Vedel jsem, ze žije v Ceské Rep.

    2) I knew that he had lived in CZech Rep.
    Vedel jsem, ze zil v Ceské Rep.

    Well hope someone can tell us something mre about it [​IMG]

    [This message has been edited by Kikko (edited 25-08-2003).]
     
  4. Dana

    Dana Well-Known Member

    I think you both have it right.

    "I have lived in Brno for a week" is translated as "Bydlím v Brně (jeden) týden".

    Of course "I lived in Brno for a week" would be "Bydlel jsem v Brně (jeden) týden".

    I don't think there's a way to differentiate between "He has always lived in the Czech Rep." and "He always lived in the Czech Rep." if you want to use the adverb "vždycky". Both would be translated as "Vždycky žil v České republice" and you'll need the context to distinguish between "he's still living there - present" and "he's not living there anymore - past".

    One way to clearly distinguish between the present and past is to use the adverb "odjakživa", which means "always" and implies "his whole life, as long as he lived or has lived". Unlike "vždycky", "odjakživa" can be used with both the past and present tense.

    "Odjakživa žije v České republice" - "He has always lived in the Czech Republic" (he's still living there)
    "Odjakživa žil v České republice" - "He always lived in the Czech Republic" (he's not living there anymore).

    Note: "odjakživa" is not freely interchangeable with the more neutral "always"
     

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