kolik, kolika

Discussion in 'Grammar & Pronunciation' started by MichaelM, Dec 14, 2007.

  1. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    My grammer book (Heim '82) has the following exercise.
    Insert the correct form of the demonstrative pronoun:

    1. Kolika ____ Cechum volate? (C's are with č, u = ů).

    2. Kolik ____ Cechu volate?

    I read that dependant nouns with kolik take case 2. (genitive) however, there are different meanings of volat depending on whether it is used in the dative (3) or accusative (2).

    In the first instance above, 'Cechum' appears dative but Kolika requires genitive, which governs? In the second, Cechu is genitive but kolik is a direct case. What are the translations and proper pronouns? Thanks for the help.
     
  2. Troll

    Troll Well-Known Member

    Kolik (tolik, mnoho, málo, pět, deset, ....) requires the dependant noun in the genitive plural ONLY when kolik (tolik, mnoho, ...) is in nominative or accusative. In other cases the dependant noun is in the same case as kolik.

    Nominative:

    Kolik Čechů žije v Londýně? Tisíc Čechů žije v Londýně.

    Accusative:

    Kolik Čechů znáš? Znám pět Čechů.

    BUT!!!!

    Dative:

    Kolika Čechům zavoláš? Osmi Čechům.

    Locative:

    O kolika Češích jsi slyšel? O deseti Češích.

    Instrumental:

    S kolika Čechy jsi se setkal? S dvaceti Čechy.
     
  3. Jana

    Jana Well-Known Member

    I guess the problem here is caused by the verb volat. It can be followed by an object either in accusative (volat koho - to call sb) or dative (volat komu - to call sb, used for phone calls), not speaking about other possibilities (e.g. volat po kom, po čem - to call for sb or sth).

    Kolik (těch) Čechů voláte - how many Czechs are you calling
    Kolika (těm) Čechům voláte - how many Czechs are you calling (by phone)
    In this example, kolik (accusative) is followed by noun in genitive case, kolika (dative) is followed by dative of the appropriate noun.
    Kolik is an indefinite numeral and its declension is as follows:
    nominative kolik (Čechů)
    genitive (bez) kolika (Čechů)
    dative (ke) kolika (Čechům)
    accusative kolik (Čechů)
    vocative kolik (Čechů)
    locative (o) kolika (Češích)
    instrumental (s) kolika (Čechy)
     
  4. MichaelM

    MichaelM Well-Known Member

    Thank you both, those replies cleared the question up completely. The Heim book (at least to the point to which I have reached) does not point out the use of the genitive dependent noun only with cases one and two.
     

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