pul . . .

Discussion in 'Grammar & Pronunciation' started by MichaelM, Aug 2, 2007.

  1. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    Easy question for the experts. I introduced my wife to my Czech Language interest group last night. She is half Czech. I said "je pul cesky" and was quickly corrected by the fluent Czech speakers "pul ceska" My grammer book states that pul is followed by the genitive case (case 2). Did I make a mistake and indicate that she is a 'he' (I know the difference between -y and -ka) or was I correct? Thanks.
     
  2. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    "Půl" (one half) is followed by genitive in cases where the noun (object) can be halved (which is not the case of your wife, I suppose :) ). E.g. půl hodiny, půl jablka, půl království, půl koláče etc.
    She is half Czech = "je napůl Češka".
     
  3. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    Thank you for that reply Jana; it explains everything. I like the logic (or common sense) of this way of thinking and/or expressing halving.
     
  4. Eleshar

    Eleshar Well-Known Member

    She is half Czech =

    je napůl Češka (she is Czech to half amount of the term)
    je napolo Češka (she is Czech to half amount of the term)
    je poloviční Češka (she is a semi-Czech/half Czech)
    je způli Češka (from one half she is Czech)
    je z poloviny Češka (from one half she is Czech)
    je z půlky Češka (from one half she is Czech)
    je z polovice Češka (from one half she is Czech)
    (půl, půlka, polovina, polovice - synonymes)

    but "je půl Češka" does not sound very Czech either
     
  5. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    Just a note - způli is one word (adverb), synonyms are zpola, napolo.
     
  6. Eleshar

    Eleshar Well-Known Member

    You are right, I will correct it and add the others
     
  7. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    To these replies I add a very emphatic english "Wow". So, it seems, of all these possibilities, 'je polovicni Ceska' would be the appropriate choice.
     
  8. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    In fact, all these expressions are appropriate... (just a small example of the richness of Czech :lol: )
     
  9. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Jana, I like your quote. When asked why I'm learning czech, my reply is usually, "so I can call my mother-in-law and complain about my husband." :twisted:
     
  10. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    And have you called your MIL yet? :wink:
     
  11. Karel_lerak

    Karel_lerak Well-Known Member

    Why don't you ask about complaining about husband. Is it self evident? 8) 8)
     
  12. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    No I haven't called her because my czech is poor and with my very poor pronunciation, she can't understand me. But we have emailed each other. And yes, I've complained. My husband knows it too because he always gets a call from her telling him to straighten up! :wink:
     
  13. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    I was more interested in Katka´s level of knowledge. IMHO, it is useless to complain about one´s husband to his mum. I got what I chose and it´s my problem to tame him! :wink:
     
  14. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    This discussion is an interesting example of how the Czech language can be used for enriching marriages
     
  15. dzurisova

    dzurisova Well-Known Member

    Oh, it works wonders with my mother-in-law. She likes me 10 times better than all his past women so she wants him to really hang onto me. If I'm unhappy about something, she lays into him. :wink:

    She likes me because I allowed him to go to Czech without me for 3 weeks when we couldn't afford for both us to go. She was getting very homesick for her boy and as a mother, I understood and told him to go. Also, I made him quite smoking because I can't stand the smell of it. She thinks I did it for his health because I care so much about him. Although, I care very much about him, I did it for selfish reasons but she thinks I'm just so caring! :wink:

    Anyway, I'm clever enough to only complain about the things she gets mad at him for anyway. Such as failing to pick up after himself or forgetting to eat lunch because he's busy working (he's very skinny). Little things like those she will yell at him about anyway, so why not create a bond and yell at him together. :wink: :D
     
  16. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Začínám rozumět ženám. Děkuji. Tohle je hrozné. Nemáme ani žádnou přiležitost. Konečně vidím světlo.:lol:
    And it's Jana's job to tame us. Imagine that.
    And dzurisovak and mum in law gang up. Oh, it is a hard world.
     
  17. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    My job is to tame you (actually not you, just men in my life) in such a gentle way they keep asking for more :lol: - admiring whatever they do, cook what they like, love them and give up on trying to understand their ways of thinking (useless job :wink: ). You see, the recipe is very simple...
     
  18. scrimshaw

    scrimshaw Well-Known Member

    Well that's not so bad. Sounds pretty good actually.
    I had a disturbing image of some poor fellow being whipped at the whipping post until he agreed to change his ways. :lol:
     

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