Hi all Im into comparatives of superiority. I see 3 different suffixes which can be added to the adjective: -ejsi, -si and -ci. (mlady >> mladsi - novy >> novejsi - hezky >> hezci) I think those ending with a -ky become -ci, but how do I know when to add ejsi or si? Thanx guys
by the way... about superlative... 1) How do I now if an adjective wants the suffix pra/pre (drahy -> predrahy) or the adverb moc/velmi (tezky -> moc tezky)? 2) Is the superlative (always) correct if i use the adverb moc instead of pre/pra? (moc drahy) 3) On the contrary (just like in many other languages), adding the suffix pra/pre is not always possible/correct, right? If that's true then pretezky isnt correct, while moc drahy is, even if is better to use predrahy... Well hope someone shows me the right way bout it Thanx [This message has been edited by Kikko (edited October 30, 2002).]
Kikko, you could write to Radio Prague at cr@radio.cz. They are very courteous and should be able to help with your question.
Hi Kikko, Your superlative questions are a little daunting and I was hoping someone else would shed some light on the topic... Anyway, since enough time has passed, I'll try to address at least some of them. As far as when to use the endings -ejsi, -si and -ci, I'm not sure what the rule is without having a grammar book handy. "moc"/"velmi" versus "pra-"/"pre-" It is always safe to use the adverb "moc", "velmi", "velice" with an adjective. The prefixes "pra-" and "pre-" are used much less frequently in colloquial conversations and often tend to be a little bookish and old-fashioned, or at least formal. Plus, as you mentioned, it is not always possible to add one of these prefixes to an adjective. By the way, neither the adverb "moc"/"velmi", nor the prefixes "pra-"/"pre-" turn the adjective into an actual superlative. They don't mean "the most ...", but simply "very ..."/"extremely ...". E.g. "prastary" means "very old", "ancient", but not "the oldest". "Pretezky" means "very/extremely hard", but not "the hardest". "Pretezky" is correct (used in formal speech or writing), as is "moc/velmi/velice drahy" (commonly used in normal speech). "Predrahy" sounds strange and I'm not even sure if it's a real word (I've been thinking about superlatives too hard ). You can say "predrazeny" (this actually is a commonly used word), which has a slightly different meaning and means literally "priced too high", not just "very expensive". E.g. "V tom obchode je vsechno predrazene" means "Everything in that store is priced way too high". I hope my explanation didn't make things even more confusing!
Since nobody seems to know, I've lokked it up for you. About comparatives my grammar book says: - sí: is added to adjectives whose stem ends in -t,-d,-b,-r,-h,-ch, -ok/-ek; for example stary (star-y)-> starsí, drahy - drazsí (h or ch often changes for z or s - both with hacek) - ejsí: stem ending in -l,-s,-z,-h (depends on word),-r; for example teply - teplejsí - ejsí (with hacek on e: stem ending in -t,-n,-p,-v; for example novy - novejsí -í: most adjectives with -ky ending, when consonants change from k to c (with hacek); for example melky - melcí Hope that helps although the rules are amigious (some consonants appear double and so on). The best way to learn this is from context - you will meet the words in many books and can learn their usage.
Thanx my Czech Angels I know my questions go pretty deep into czech grammar but well, since grammar is the base of a language I MUST learn it chte-nechte Thanx for your answers, they really helped me out since I only have a very small "book" (few pages) about czech which uses to list the suffixes witout any explaination Surely these answers will also help anyone who wanna learn czech as I do [This message has been edited by Kikko (edited November 07, 2002).]