O boy...ale, učím se česky jenom tři měsice. Děkuji, Jana. Děkuji, Lorenzo. I can't wait for Christmas, I'm getting the Pimsleur Czech tapes as a present Shawn [This message has been edited by shawn (edited 21-11-2003).]
After three months of studying Czech, you are pretty advanced! Congratulations! Just one remark - you should say "Děkuji, Jano" (similarly "děkuji, Petře" = thank you, Petr; or "děkuji, Shawne") as it is a vocative in this connection. Best wishes, Jana
Upřímně, Jano? Děkuju velice moc I have very much love for the Czech language, so to me it is no effort at all to try very hard to learn it. Frustration that I can't yet speak to my friends properly, ano, ale nikdy an effort. I'm 34, and this is the first time I've tried to learn another language. To (česky) je má víra, hned ted'. (To je správně, Jano?.) Ano. Pády I call my friend Gabriela "Gabino/Gabinko" when I am speaking to her. But she says when I write her a letter it is "pro Gabinku" which I never get right. My other friend, I call Markéto/Markétko/Markétičko and when I'm jokingly mad at her I call her Markétiče LOL. And I just met Milada, whom I call Milado. They all call me Šóná when they are speaking about me, but the call me Šóny when they are speaking to me. I should ask them to call me Šóne when they are speaking to me Shawn
Ahoj Shawne! Můžu? If "right now" is what you would like to translate then I think you should say "právě teď" in your Czech sentence: "Právě teď je to má víra". You wrote "česky" in brackets but if you refer to the Czech language then it should be "Čeština" or "Český jazyk". Česky is the adverb formed from the adjective "český" and not a noun. So, when you say "Mluvím česky" it's like saying "I speak the Czech way" (this is only a rough example to give you an idea of how it works). In Czech most adverbs are formed from adding the suffix e/ě to adjectives (správný - správně, dobrý - dobře). The adverbs from adjectives ending in ský, -cký are formed by adding the suffix y as in český - česky or hezký - hezky. There are, of course, some exceptions (wouldn't it be boring without exceptions? ) as pomalu and dlouho. The vocative for you name is "Shawne" as Jana says but maybe what you hear is "Shwanej". This is just my guess. It would take a native speaker to say this for sure. It could also be it's just their own pecular way of calling you Yes, pády can be a little stressful but you can learn them Why don't you begin by writing simple sentences involving the use of the seven cases? Something like "Co vidíš? Vidím růži" "Jedu vlakem". You could learn new words and then maybe ask your Czech friends to take a look at what you have come up with You're right when you call you friend Gabriela "Gabrielo" (vocative) but if her name follows the preposition "pro" then it is "Gabrielu" (accusative) as it follows the declension pattern of the feminine word "žena" http://www.locallingo.com/czech/grammar/prepositions.html http://www.locallingo.com/czech/grammar/nouns_declension_fem.html I hope this helps and, as always, let's wait for a comment from a native speaker especially about that sentence in Czech. Měj se hezky! Lorenzo [This message has been edited by Lorenzo (edited 23-11-2003).]
I think you got it right Lorenzo. Shawn, if you're trying to say "Czech is my faith right now", it can be translated as "čeština je právě teď má víra". It sounds a little strange in Czech though, a little clumsy maybe. You could say "češtinou teď žiju", which means "I live for Czech now" and to me, that sounds better - more casual, colloquial, more like regular spoken Czech. As for "Šóny", you're hearing it correctly. It's a playful modification of your name. Czechs do that sometimes with certain male names - add the -y at the end. It makes the name sound "English" (as in Johnny, Tony, etc.) in a fun, friendly way.
