I translated part of a Mladá Fronta article about Honduras' President Zelaya. Unfortunately I wasn't able to understand some expressions, which I highlighted in green. Can anyone help? Thanks! The original can be found at: http://zpravy.idnes.cz/mfdnes.asp?v=172 ... &c=1229848 Prezident se vrací, Honduras se bojí / The president returns, Honduras is afraid 25. července 2009 0:00 Tegucigalpa, Praha - Vzduchem jsem se zpět k moci nedostal, tak to zkusím po zemi. To si řekl svržený prezident Hondurasu Manuel Zelaya, který včera z nikaragujského exilu zamířil autem k hranici. Levicový politik doufá, že se lid(case???) přidá na jeho stranu. Občané v Hondurasu a okolních státech se naopak bojí, že po dvou desetiletích relativního klidu se do Střední Ameriky zase vrátí válka. _________________________ so I will try across the land. So said the overthrown president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, who yesterday headed by car from his exile in Nicaragua to the border. The leftist politician hopes, that people will join his side. On the onther hand, citizens in Honduras and neighboring countries fear that war will return to Central America after 2 decades of relative calm. ... Muž, který dal dohromady Obamu a Cháveze Manuel Zelaya patří do kruhů tradičních rančerských elit Hondurasu, kde mimochodem vzniklo sousloví "banánová republika" označující chudé zemičky* ve Střední Americe. V listopadu 2005 byl za liberály zvolen prezidentem. Málokoho v tu dobu napadlo, že by se tento muž z bohatých vrstev najednou mohl stát mluvčím nejchudších. Nicméně stalo se. The man who brought together Obama and Chávez, Manuel Zelaya, is part of the traditional rancher elite of Honduras, where, by the way, the ____ "banana republic", denoting the poorest countries in Central America, originated. In November 2005 he was __________ elected president. It occurred to very few people at that time that this man of the wealthy class could suddenly become spokesman for the poorest people. Nevertheless, it happened. Brzy po nástupu do funkce se rychle (zřejmě kvůli levným dodávkám ropy) skamarádil s venezuelským prezidentem a hlavním mluvčím radikální jihoamerické levice Hugem Chávezem a v zahraniční politice se přizpůsobil jeho(to which noun does jeho refer?) kurzu namířenému proti USA. Stejně tak začal prosazovat i populistická opatření v domácí politice. Soon after taking power he quickly (__________) made friends with Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president and main spokesman of the radical South-American left, and on foreign policy he changed his course against the United States. Likewise, he began to promote populist measures in domestic policy. Tím si znepřátelil vlastní politickou stranu, která od něj dala ruce pryč a v parlamentu blokovala jeho rozhodnutí s tím, že v roce 2010 Zelayovi končí prezidentský mandát. V Latinské Americe se kvůli historickým špatným zkušenostem brání ambiciózním politikům, kteří mají diktátorské choutky, tím, že prezidentský mandát omezují na jediné volební období. Hlava státu si to nenechala líbit a oznámila konání referenda, které by mu povolilo se o přízeň lidí znovu ucházet. Chávez a jeho spojenci v okolních státech už tyto ústavní překážky pomocí lidových hlasování překonali. By this he antagonized his own political party, which ________________ and blocked in the Parliament his decision/decree to end Zelaya’s mandate as president in the year 2010 (I don’t get this sentence). In Latin America, because of historical bad experience ______ of ambitious politicians, who have dictatorial tendencies, the presidential mandate is bound to a single electoral term. The head of state ____________ and announced a referendum, that would allow him ________________. Chávez and his allies in neighboring states had already overcome this constitutional hurdle with the help of a pleisbicite. Zelaya je(which noun does je refer to?) chtěl následovat. Jenže proti se postavil Ústavní soud a referendum zakázal. Prezident přesto nařídil armádě, aby se ujala organizace referenda. Nejvyšší důstojníci však příkaz odmítli a za souhlasu ústavních soudců a parlamentu ho vyexpedovali ze země. Zelaya wanted to follow it. Except that the Supreme Court opposed it and banned the referendum. The president, nevertheless, commanded the army to ____ the organization of the referendum. However, the high command refused the order and in concert with constitutional courts and the parlament deported him from the country. * Is "zemička" = "země"?
Vzduchem jsem se zpět k moci nedostal - He couldnt get back to power by plane, so he take a car.. "že se lid(case???)" 1st case sousloví - sou - slov - í - "composition of words" - collocation? za liberály - for liberals zřejmě kvůli levným dodávkám ropy - evidently due to cheap supply of oil se přizpůsobil jeho - his( to Chavez), otherwise it would be "svému". od něj dala ruce pryč - idiom "dát ruce pryč od ... " - to stop supporting sb. or to stop participating in something. brání - prevents si to nenechala líbit - idiom - not to be passive and take some revenge (not sure about explanation) se o přízeň lidí znovu ucházet - to apply for fauvor of people (to ask people to vote him again) which noun does je refer to?: Chávez a jeho spojenci from previous sentence se ujala organizace referenda - take a task of organising the referendum "zemička" = small "země"
kibicz, thanks for the corrections and explanations! Two questions: 1. "Honduras..., kde mimochodem vzniklo sousloví "banánová republika" označující chudé zemičky* ve Střední Americe". Can I substitute sousloví with "výraz" in this sentence, to mean: 'where the expression "banana republic" originated denoting the poorest countries...' ? 2. Does "za liberály" here mean "by the liberals"? "V listopadu 2005 byl za liberály zvolen prezidentem." "In November 2005 he was elected president by the liberals" Thanks!
Interesting article René. For some reason some of those southamerican leaders get the idea that they are indispensable and want to become leaders for life. Power goes to their head. Skamarádit se s.....I could never find that verb. Vzduchem jsem se zpět nemohl dostat....I can see why you had troubles with that.
Ahoj Davide, Yes, some of these Southamerican leaders are trying to be leaders for life. It's quite amazing. I try to pick "easy" articles to translate, but I always come across complicated expressions.
1) You can in this case. But sousloví means its composed of 2 or more words. (more like idiom) 2) "Does "za liberály" here mean "by the liberals"? " No. za liberály - he is member of liberal party, and he was elected (by people). May by "from liberals".
za liberály.....I wonder if that could translate to...as a liberal Byl zvolen za liberály prezidentem. We could say ' as a liberal' , (elected to fill a liberal seat) or ˇby the liberals', elected by those in the liberal party. si to nenechala líbit...by context of the article it sound like maybe...would not willingly allow it?....was not inclined to accept it? Líbil se mu moc tak moc, že nechtěl je vzdat příštímu vládu. Moc zvedl přimo k své hlavě a ted' si myslí, že on je jediná osoba, která opravdu umí panovat. Je to známý příběh v Jihoamerice.
I failed to get back into power by air, so I will try it by land. po zemi = by land po souši = by dry land po moři = by see po vodě = by water po řece = down/up the river po silnici = by road Only “vzduchem” (= by air) is exceptional as the preposition “po” meaning “over the surface of something” doesn’t work here. Notice also that Czech commonly uses simple negation in place of English “to fail to do something”. The adverb “naopak” is contraction of “na opak” which is literally “on the contrary”. It could eventually mean “on the other hand” but this is not the case. sousloví = group of words, saying, phrase Compare with other words of the form “sou- + word stem + -í” which mostly mean “a group/system of something”: soukolí (← kolo) = train of wheels, gear mechanism soustrojí (← stroj) = machine unit, machinary sousoší (← socha) = sculpural group soustromí (← strom) = group of trees souhoří (← hora) = mountain system (A skupina žen je soužení. And a group of women is torment. :twisted: ) za liberály = as the candidate by the Liberals “Zemička” is regular diminutive of “zem(ě)”, it means thus “small/little country”. with the fact that = s tím, že bránit = ¹ to prevent, to limit, to hold back bránit = ² to defend tím, že = by (the means of) Notice the word order (first context, the new information to the end): Chávez a jeho spojenci v okolních státech už tyto ústavní překážky pomocí lidových hlasování překonali. ~ Chavez succeeded this way. Chávez a jeho spojenci v okolních státech už tyto ústavní překážky překonali pomocí lidových hlasování. ~ This is the way by Chavez. ¹ The Constitutional Court needn’t be always the Supreme Court, in the Czech Republic, for instance. ² The verb “expedovat” is used mostly for dispatching the goods. So the use in this article suggest they treated him like a shipment.
wer: thanks for all the good information that you posted. I will copy it and paste it into my Czech study file. This is great, I am really learning a lot of Czech thanks to all the helpful members of MyCzech!
