Useful english words that are missing in the Czech language?

Hey, that is all very interesting. I wasn't aware of such a fine distinction.
I know the english verbs, but I would not have known there grammatical terminology.

Vaše slova mi nechala myslit, že bych měl studovat tvrdší v anglické hodině.

How you guys ever got to know sanskrit, I'll never know.
Stále se dívím.

Po pár vteřinech jsem v křišt'alové koule uviděl vystrašlivé oheň dýchající zvíře, které létalo přimo k mne, a všiml jsem jsem si náhle toho, že mě malém chytí.
Klesnul jsem koule na podlahu a rozbil se do tisíc kousků.
Rozhlédl jsem se, ale kouzelník už tam nebyl.

 

oheň oddychovající zvíře

 

Oheň dýchající zvíře was right

 

oheň dýchající drak...sometimes we should listen to our first instincts.

Když znova přečetl to, co jsem napsal.....I see now the importance of emphasizing when the subject of the sentence changes.


Klesnul jsem koule na podlahu a to se rozbila do tisíc kousků.

 

klesnout - to lower, lay down (you wanted the ball to move down to floor)
upustit - drop (down) (the ball wanted to go down )

 

Alexxi, zdá se mi, že anglické sloveso 'to drop' je další z těch slovesech, které je vyjadřené jinak v angličtině a čestině.

Spadl mi koule....I dropped the ball (accidently)
Položil jsem koule..I set it down
Klesnul jsem jej pomalu, protože jsem jej nechtěl rozbit.
Upustil jsem jej...I dropped it(intentionally?)...Nechal jsem jej, aby spadlo??
Spadl chudáce sklenice mléko. Řekl jsem mu, že je příliš starý,
aby plakal nad rozlitým mlékem.
Upustil brambor, protože to bylo příliš horké.
Vyhodil jsem koule do vzduchu, a snažil jsem se jej chytit předtím než narazilo podlahu.

 

OK, other webs are OK, klesnout is different:

Letadlo klesá - Nechal jsem letadlo klesnout
Kámen klesá pod hladinu - Nechal jsem kámen klesnout pod hladinu.

You cannot say "Klesl jsem něco", but "Nechal jsem něco klesnout".

You can use "Klesl jsem" in meaning "Klesl jsem někam" - Klesl jsem do studny (... down the well); or "Klesl jsem s něčím" - Klesl jsem s letadlem.

 

Hope I get it right this time.

Kontroloval jsem provazy. Zdálo se mi, že všechno bylo v pořádku.
Aspóň to jsem doufál.
Podíval jsem se dolů do propasti, a pomalu jsem klesnul ze výčnělku.
Hned jsem se ocetl obklopen tajuplnou temnotou.

 

Well done

 

Thanks Alexxi
I see in the dictionary that klesat/klesnout has many applications.

Dobrý kapitán klesne s svou lodí. Je to čestné pravidlo moře.
Měsíc pravě ted' klesá za horu.
Oheň klesá. Dej dřevo na ni.
Muž klesá do dolu. Doufá, že najde drahokamy.
Nechal jsem kamen spadnout do vody, a díval jsem se, když pomalu klesl do hloubky.
Můj vklad klesá jako by byl kamen.
Země neustále klesá k slunci, ale jeho rychlost a síla odstředivá ji nechává
v oběžné dráze.

I'd be glad to answer any questions about english.

 

OK this one is a little odd, I would use "přibližuje se" instead. But those other are OK.

 

I happen to study linguistics at university and historical linguistics (comparing various cognate languages in order to reconstruct their common predecessor) is a sort of my hobby. And there was an opportunity for me to frequent a course of sanskrit, so I took advantage of it. It is a great language even more complicated than Czech (8 cases, 3 numbers, shitload of declensions, another shitload of phonetic transformation rules,...)

Not that it is incorrect, but better option is to reverse the order of words:

"drak dýchající* oheň"

*even better "vydechující" (exspiring) than "dýchající" (breathing)

The difference between "klesnout" (lower down) and "upustit" (drop) has already been explained.
But there is another problem... the demonstrative pronoun...

"Upustil jsem kouli na podlahu a rozbila se na tisíc kousků"
= the sphere shattered
"Upustil jsem kouli na podlahu a ta se rozbila na tisíc kousků"
= the floor shattered

The demonstrative pronoun indicates in this case that the subject of the sentence ("ta" in this case) is refering specifically to the last convenient noun (feminine singular), that is "podlaha". If you omit the subject, the subject tends to remain the same as in the preceeding phrase. However, in the first sentence, the subject is "já" but from the verb "roztříštila", it is clear that the subject is the third person (and feminine singular), so it is either the sphere or the floor. in this case, I would say the subject is the sphere (because if it were the floor, you would use a demonstrative pronoun to indicate it).

 

I thought that last example probably wouldn't work.

How about this...
Kvůli gravitace slunce Země je neustále tažená k něj, ale kvůlí sílu odstředivému se Země také snaží utecí před gravitaci slunce.
Tyhle dva síly nechá země zůstat ve své oběžné dráže.
Bez gravitace by Země byla vyházená do hlubokého prostoru.
Bez síly ostředivé by se Země připlížila k slunce a vzplanala by v hořící míči. :evil:

 

*"síla" is feminine (paradigm "žena")

**better "kvůli odstředivé síle" (simple adjectives tend to preceed the noun, only develloped adjectives - for example participles with an object like "vydechující oheň" are placed after the noun)

*** "nechat" is perfective, imperfective is "nechávat"
The whole construction sounds unnatural, it is better to use word "umožňovat" (to allow)

**** "vyházet" is perfective, however there is an element of repetition...

"házet" (ipfv.) = throw, throw repeatedly, to be able to throw,...
"vyházet" (pfv.) = throw out several things at once
"hodit" (pfv.) = throw
"vyhodit" = throw out (one thing or several things at once)
¨so it should be "vyhozena"

***** "prostor" is rather used in the sense of "room" (there is not enough room for this); in the sense of "space" (deep space, outer space) we use "vesmír"

****** "při-plížit se" (pfv.) = to sneak to; "při-blížit se" (pfv.) = to approach to

 

Great explanations and corrections. Thanks all.
That sounds like an interesting class and hobby Eleshare.
Not many people know sanskrit..

Kvůli dokonalé vyváženosti mezi gravitací a odstředivé síly Země zůstává na své oběžné dráži kolem slunce.
Vnítřní práce hodiny je nevysvětlitelné.

You have a bigger imagination than I!!
I would not have thought about the floor shattering.

Když koule narazil podlahu, ta se rozbila na tísic kousků.
Kouzelník křikl, neee, a po pár vteřinách se podlaha pod našima nohama rozbila také, a hned jsme se ocítli v hlubokém vesmíru.

 

*better "Kvůli rovnováze mezi gravitací a odstředivou silou zůstává Země"... the verb tends to be (as everything in our language ) in the second position... and in this case, it allows to distinguish the case of "Země"... in your sentence, one finds out it is nominative (Země zůstává = Earth remains) and not genitive (odstředivou silou Země = centrifugal force of Earth) and therefore the subject of the phrase at the end of the phrase because there is no other logical subject. If the verb is placed between the two, not only does it sound a little bit better but it also helps to distinguish that it is not the genitive case (it is generally impossible to separate a head noun from its dependent in genitive by a verb, only in poetry). Still, your sentence remains correct.

**I am not sure I understand correctly

Indeed, neither would I. This is probably the main reason that if you do not use the demonstrative pronoun (which clearly refers to the word "podlaha"), it is clear that it is the sphere that shatters, not the floor. It is called "prototypical meaning". Your mind tends to extract the most probable meaning if it is allowed by grammar.

So if you say "Kuře jí dítě" it means very probably "A child is eating a chicken" and not vice versa as it is not usual for the chicken to eat children even though the grammar allows both interpretations as the morphology does not tell you which word is in nominative and which in accusative.

However, if you say "Kuře žere dítě", it is probably the other way round (The chicken is eating the child) because we do not use the verb "žrát" with people (it is very derogatory and certainly not appropriate when the subject is a child).

Another example is the meaning of the preposition "pod" (under) which is comprehensible even in English.
There is a difference in meaning of this preposition in sentences:

Dítě je pod stromem = The child is under the tree
Poklad je pod stromem = The treasure is under the tree

In the first case, the child is probably not buried deep in earth under the roots, but in the second, the treasure probably is because that's what we do with treasures.

* that is the sentence where the floor shatters :wink: if you want the sphere to shatter, it is just
"Když koule narazila do podlahy, rozbila se na tisíc kousků"

 

Čeští draci oheň obvykle chrlí, srší nebo dští. Často také dští oheň a síru.

Drak dštící oheň je spíše drak, který právě teď dští oheň. Drakovi, v jehož přirozenosti je dštít oheň, se obvykle říká ohnivý drak.

The first sentence sounds strange to me, like anacoluthon of a kind. I would repeat the noun here to make clear what’s the subject of the second clause.

BTW, this is exactly the kind of complex sentences which calls for a comma in front of “a”.

Slunce deserves a capital letter in the same way as Země.

Gravitational force is an attractive force, not traction force. Hence:

  …Země je přitahována…

Czech word “gravitace” denotes rather the phenomenon caused by gravitational force than the force itself. So your term “gravitace Slunce” is somehow strange. A physicist would most likely use “gravitační působení Slunce”. Alternatively you could use the term “přitažlivost” (= attraction) which is used for both the phenomenon and the force.

Země nemůže utíkat, nemá nožičky. Stejně tak nemůže téci, není tekutá. Proto:

  …Země uniká gravitačnímu působení Slunce…

Tyto síly rozhodně neponechávají na libovůli Země, jestli Země zůstane na oběžné dráze, ale zcela bezostyšně Zemi na této dráze drží.

As for the “prostor” I strongly disagree with Eleshar. This is Physics and “prostor” (= space) is a terminus technicus in Physics (and Mathematics). It’s more than fitting in this context. The problem is with the adjective “deep”. We don’t use the term “hluboký prostor” at all, only “hluboký vesmír”. I would go for “do otevřeného prostoru” or simply “do prostoru”.

And last but not least, Scrimshaw, you constantly translate “ball” as “míč”. It sounds like a great metaphor in your texts, but I guess you are not aware of the fact that “míč” denotes only the ball for use in games. A ball as a spherical body is called “koule”.

 

Most true

Indeed. I would rather transform the whole sentence into:
"Když jsem upustil kouli na podlahu, rozbila se na tisíc kousků"

ad prostor x vesmír
I have no idea what is the use of those words among the physicists but I believe general population would use the words my way.

ad gravitace
Here I think that the construction "gravitace Slunce"/"gravitace Země" is also in use among general population, I see no problem with it, although I admit that a physicist would use something more precise.

 

I do.

hodina = hour
hodiny = ¹ hours
hodiny = ² clock
hodinky = watch

The Czech words for clock and watch are plural-only nouns.

We don’t use the word “práce” for the clockwork. We say “hodinový strojek/mechanismus” (= clock machine/mechanism) or “hodinkový…” for little timepiece. Perhaps we could add the word clockwork on the list of useful English word with missing counterpart in Czech.

Anybody with basic understanding of Physics would understand the meaning. Both is correct, but the meaning differs. It’s up to scrimshaw to decide what’s the right meaning, whether he wants to speak about the Universe or about the Space (in any other meaning than Universe).

In my opinion, general population would use “zemská přitažlivost” or “přitažlivost Země”.

 

Those are some great responses.
Jidlo k myšlení....Food for thought(thinking).
I understood all your grammar points about being clear in a sentence.
Use demonstrative pronoun at beginning of second phrase when referring to something other than the subject in the first phrase.
Spadla mi sklenice pomerančový džus, a rozbila se, když narazila na podlahu.
Upustil jsem ji a, ta se rozbila.

I am entering the field of scientifically precise words. :shock:

Přitážlivost mezi fyzikální těly je známá jako gravitace.
Je to jen jeden z mnoha nepochopitelných síl ve vesmíru.
Je to povaha člověka, aby si nikdy neodpočinul, dokud nepochopí všechno.
Asi to bude jeho zkáza.

Vnitřní práce hodiny je nepochopitelné....další metafor
The internal workings of the clock(tak složitý) is ungraspable/can not be understood.

Vnitřní mechanismus hodiny....

Vesmír, poslední hranice,
tyhle jsou cesty hvězdé lodi Enterprise,
jejíž pětiletá mise je, aby prozkoumala podivnou novou země,
vydala se odvažně kam, kde žadný člověk kdy předtím byl.
.