Learn how to ask what something is, and whether someone can do something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12 - What is this Czech Dish? Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask what something is, and if someone can do something. This conversation takes place at Tom and Irina's house. |
| Martin: It's between Tom, Irina and Martin. |
| Michael: The speakers know each other, so they’ll be using informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Martin: Co je tohle? |
| Irena: To je Koleno. |
| Martin: Co?.. Koleno? |
| Irena: Jo. Je to udělaný z vepřovýho kolena. Jíš vepřové, Martine? |
| Martin: Jo! (mlask mlask), hm, je to výborný. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Martin: Co je tohle? |
| Irena: To je Koleno. |
| Martin: Co?.. Koleno? |
| Irena: Jo. Je to udělaný z vepřovýho kolena. Jíš vepřové, Martine? |
| Martin: Jo! (mlask mlask), hm, je to výborný. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Martin: What's this? |
| Irena: That's Koleno. |
| Martin: Oh.. Koleno? |
| Irena: Yes. It's made of pork knee. Do you eat pork, Martin? |
| Martin: Yes! (munch munch) Mmm, it's delicious! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, what exactly is koleno? |
| Martin: Koleno is the meat and bone from the back and front of a pig’s knee. The front is smaller and leaner, and the back tends to be bigger and more succulent. |
| Michael: What’s so good about it? |
| Martin: Koleno is the best part of a pig, because the skin of the knee protects the meat as it grills so that it doesn't get dry, helping it to stay succulent and soft. You can use it to make great goulash or Moravský Vrabec, which is a traditional Czech dish with pork meat, bread dumplings and red cabbage. It can be prepared with gravy, or smoked. |
| Michael: Hmm, why would you want to buy pork knee in the first place? |
| Martin: Well first of all, the price! A kilogram of koleno is inexpensive and easily provides two portions. It can also be used in a lot of different recipes. And, it’s a good option for parties when people drink beer and need something to eat. |
| Michael: I guess if it’s so cheap, there will be plenty for all the guests and it won't cost you a fortune. Listeners, make sure you try some pork knee when you go to the Czech Republic! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: koleno [natural native speed] |
| Michael: knee |
| Martin: koleno[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: koleno [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: co [natural native speed] |
| Michael: what |
| Martin: co[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: co [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: udělat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to do, to get something done |
| Martin: udělat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: udělat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: z [natural native speed] |
| Michael: from |
| Martin: z[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: z [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: vepřové [natural native speed] |
| Michael: pork |
| Martin: vepřové[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vepřové [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: koleno |
| Michael: meaning "knee,” “bend,” or “generation." |
| Martin: As you can see, in Czech this word has several meanings. It can be the part of a human or animal leg, it can be a bend in a road, path, river, or pipe, or it can mean a generation in the family tree. |
| Michael: Can you give us some clear examples of the different usages? |
| Martin: In terms of food, we use this word in, for example, uzené koleno meaning “ham hock.” In terms of generations, if you say someone is druhé koleno, it means the person is already in the "second” generation. In terms of roads, rivers, or pipes, koleno means the bend. For example koleno řeky is “the river bend,” and koleno trubky means “the pipe elbow,” which is also a kind of “bend.” |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, here’s an idiom.. Nechat si vrtat koleno. |
| Michael: ..which literally means “To have one's knee drilled.” It means ''to be stingy''. Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: vepřové, |
| Michael: meaning "pork." |
| Martin: This derives from the word vepř, meaning "pig." Vepřové is the meat from a pig. Another similar word is vepřík, meaning "piglet." |
| Michael: Is this term used only in the kitchen? |
| Martin: Mainly, but be careful because the noun vepř has the offensive meaning of "fat” or “fatty” when it’s used to describe a person! |
| Michael: Okay. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Špinavý jako vepř. |
| Michael: .. which means "As dirty as a pig. " Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Martin: udělaný z.... |
| Michael: And it means "made from..." |
| Martin: udělaný means “made” and z is a preposition meaning “from,” “of,” “off,” or “out of.” For example, something can be udělaný z papíru, meaning “made from paper,” or udělaný ze dřeva, meaning “made from wood.” The preposition z also becomes ze with certain words for the sake of easier pronunciation. |
| Michael: Can you give us some examples? |
| Martin: For example, saying z stolu, meaning “off the table,” is difficult, so if we make it ze stolu, the pronunciation becomes easier. This change happens mainly if the word following the preposition starts with the same or a similar consonant. For example, in ze střechy, meaning “from the roof,” or ze země, “out of the ground.” |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Je to udělaný ze skla. |
| Michael: .. which means "It's made of glass. " So this phrase corresponds to all three English patterns using “made”, which are “made from,” “made of,” and “made out of." |
| Martin: Right, but one exception is the English "made with," which we mainly use to describe food. Here Czech uses the preposition s or se, meaning “with” or na meaning “on.” |
| Michael: Can you give us an example? |
| Martin: For example, maso s rýží |
| Michael: Meaning “meat made with rice.” Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to ask what something is and if someone can do something. There might be times in the Czech Republic when you need to ask what something is, perhaps food or something else you’re not familiar with. For that, you need to know how to ask about things. |
| Martin: When you’re inquiring about what something is, there are two ways to ask. The first one is Co to je? or Co je to? |
| Michael: both meaning ‘’What’s this?’ |
| Martin: The second is Co je tohle? or Tohle je co |
| Michael: both literally meaning ‘’This is what?’’ Martin, can you break down these questions? |
| Martin: co means ‘’what,’’ to or tohle means “it, this, that,’’ and je means ‘’is.’’ |
| Michael: What if we need to ask these questions in a formal way? |
| Martin: For that, you just need to add prosím Vás before co to je? or to any of the other questions I already mentioned. Prosím Vás means “excuse me.” |
| Michael: What can you say when you want to know what something is made from, made of, or made out of? |
| Martin: In Czech, all of these questions can be asked using a single expression. There are two versions of this expression - a shorter one, which is Z čeho to je? |
| Michael: literally meaning “What is this from?” |
| Martin: and a longer one, which is Z čeho to je udělaný? |
| Michael: meaning “What is this made from?” |
| Martin: As we already said, Z is a preposition meaning “out of,” “from,” “of,” or “out of,” čeho is the genitive case of the interrogative pronoun co, meaning “what,” to or tohle means “it, this, that,’’ and je means ‘’is.’’ |
| Michael: So if we translate literally, the word order in Czech is the opposite of English, “From what is this made?'' Next, if you happen to host your friends for dinner either at your home or at a restaurant, you may need to find out things like their food preferences, what they do and don’t like, or if they are allergic to anything. |
| Martin: Unfortunately, there isn’t one universal phrase for this. Instead there are several ways to ask such a question. |
| Michael: Let’s try to give some general phrases we can use. |
| Martin: Okay. First is Mít rád, |
| Michael: meaning “to like.” |
| Martin: Mít rád may need conjugation with personal pronouns, and we also need to make a distinction between male speech and female speech. |
| Michael: What does “Do you like?” sound like in the case of male speech? |
| Martin: Máš rád? |
| Michael: and female speech? |
| Martin: Máš ráda? |
| Michael: And if we want to ask “Do they like?”? |
| Martin: mají rádi? |
| Michael: Let’s hear some practical examples. |
| Martin: Májí rádi brambory? |
| Michael: “Do they like potatoes?” Next let’s see how to ask if somebody can or cannot eat something. |
| Martin: We use Moct |
| Michael: which is “can, to be able to.” |
| Martin: Moct conjugates with personal pronouns as in “I,” “You,” and so on. |
| Michael: Let’s start with a practical example. |
| Martin: Můžeš jíst maso? |
| Michael: This means “Can you eat meat?” |
| Martin: If it’s for a third person, for example you can say Může pít alkohol? |
| Michael: “Is he or she able to drink alcohol?” Finally let’s give some tips on how to ask about allergies. |
| Martin: “To be allergic to something” in Czech is být alergický na něco. Na něco means “to something.” The preposition always needs to be na, meaning “to.” |
| Michael: For example, what is the Czech for “allergic to nuts?” |
| Martin: Alergický na ořechy |
| Michael: How can you say “Are you allergic?” |
| Martin: It’s simple. Jsi alergický? Or, for a woman, Jsi alergická? |
| Michael: Can you repeat it? |
| Martin: [slowly] Jsi alergický?, Jsi alergická? Alternatively, you can ask Nemáš alergii na něco? |
| Michael: “Do you have an allergy to something?” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Martin: Děkuji. |
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