Hi. I have a few grammatical questions that cannot be answered even by my Czech friends. Unfortunately, I don't know any Czech grammarians. Maybe someone here can help. I'll post the first here. I often here a phrase like: Hele vole, jdem nekam jinam. Which means Hey dude, let's go somewhere else. I realize that this is an informal expression, but it confuses me because I don't know what kind of word is "jinam." Is it a form of the adjective "jiny" and if so, what case, and can other adjective decline similarly ("nekam dobram")? If it is rather a fixed expression (pevna vazba), what kind of adjective should be associated with a adverb like "nekam." How would one say "Let's go somewhere good?" Please, I apologize in advance for my lack of diacritics.
Hi Wicker, nekam jinam = somewhere else/someplace else/elsewhere jinam = somewhere else/someplace else/elsewhere Yes, the phrase " nekam jinam" is more or less fixed, though not neccessarily (Ｉ`ll get to thａｔ later on)，but was mistranslated as ｉｎ below: 1) nekam = somewhere 2) jinam = else If it were taken as such, "nekam" and "somewhere" would need to be followed by something, probably by an adverb (adjective in English) or an adverbial clause. Neither Czech nor English would normally permit the first example to stand on its own. Jdem nekam JINAM - Let`s go somewhere ELSE Jdem nekam KDE JE KLID - Let`s go somewhere QUIET Jdem nekam KDE SI DAME DOBRY PIVO - Let`s go somewhere WE CAN GET GOOD BEER. You can`t really say "Jdem nekam". There would be an instant question to that. Kam = where? To which you would reply: "jinam = somewhere else" Having said that, one exception comes to my mind. An imperative "Jdi nekam! = Get/bug off!" But in the example given by you, I`d say that "nekam jinam" is even a bit tautologous. "Jinam" can do without "nekam", but not vice versa as I mentioned above. Therefore, it is perfectly fine if you say "Jdem jinam". It conveys the same meaning but is perhaps less emphatic. Hope this ｈｅｌｐｓ Karel
Karel. Thanks. Two points: 1. You indicate that nekam is usually followed by an adverb, suggesing that jinam is an adverb. And if so, is it possible to form other adverbs similarly? Dobram, hlucnam, etc... 2. I disagree that kind nekam can't stand on its own, though. Beyond your own counterexample, there's also: Petr prave nekam odskocil. O vikendu jedu asi nekam. (urcujici nedostatek predstavy cile) While the English statement "Let's go somewhere," begs a question, I think it's a valid statement, under certain circumstances equivelent to "Let's leave," or "Let's go out."
There are similar constructs to this such as "někde jinde" (elsewhere--nondirectional), "někdy jindy" (another time) and "někdo/něco jiného", although the last version is somewhat different. By the way, Karel, in English (at least colloquially), we do say "Let's go somewhere," meaning "anywhere but here." The emphasis is not on where we go, but rather that we go out somewhere. Perhaps this is similar to the Czech construct, "Jdi někam", "Go somewhere" [anywhere, but here where I am, i.e. "go away"].
Karel: Okay, point taken. Thank you. Which still leaves my original question open: If jinam is an adjective, what case? If an adverb, can other similar adverbs be formed?
Jinam is an adverb meaning - to a different place. I`m a wee bittie struggling to think of another synonym at the moment. Pojdme (nekam) jinam.-- Let`s go to a different place Hele, vypadneme -- Let`s get out of here. Perhaps this is the closest to Let`s go somewhere.
Karel, I appreciate your effort, but you are totally not understanding my question. I am very clear what "jinam" means. My question is how this word came into existance, and if it is formed from the adjective "jiny." And if so, if other words can be formed according to a similar formulation, like "dobram" or "horkam." If so, that would indicate I could say "Let's go somewhere good," "Jdeme nekam dobram." And if these forms cannot be formed, as I suspect they can't because I've never found them, then how would one translate "Let's go somewhere good?"
The adverb jinam is derived from the adjective jiný. The ending -am is taken from the interrogative kam?. Similarly we can form: kam? > jin-am kde? > jin-de kdy? > jin-dy kudy? > jin-udy odkud? > od-jin-ud jak? (kak? in Old Czech) > jin-ak The adjective jiný is the only exception, někam dobram is incorrect (for the present), but inspirative (for the future). Let's go somewhere else. - Pojďme/pojeďme někam jinam. Let's go somewhere good. - Pojďme/pojeďme někam, kde je dobře. (I guess.)
