Learn how to apologize and confirm whether there is no problem after an accident in the Czech Republic
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 14 - It's No Problem in the Czech Republic. Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn about apologizing, and how to check that there’s no problem and that things are okay. 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 |
| (mytí nádobí) |
| Irena: Martine, díky moc! |
| Martin: Není zač. Ježiš! (zvuk prasklýho skla) Promiň! |
| Irena: Neni ti nic? |
| Martin: Ne! Ale...ta sklenička... |
| Irena: To nevadí. |
| Martin: Moc mě to mrzí. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| (mytí nádobí) |
| Irena: Martine, díky moc! |
| Martin: Není zač. Ježiš! (zvuk prasklýho skla) Promiň! |
| Irena: Neni ti nic? |
| Martin: Ne! Ale...ta sklenička... |
| Irena: To nevadí. |
| Martin: Moc mě to mrzí. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| (washing dishes) |
| Irena: Martin, thank you very much! |
| Martin: It's nothing. Oh! (sound of glass breaking) I'm sorry! |
| Irena: Are you okay? |
| Martin: I'm fine! But...the glass... |
| Irena: It's okay. |
| Martin: I'm really sorry. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, who usually does the housework in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: There are different opinions about who should be doing what at home, but most people think that bringing up children, cleaning, and the financial security of the family should be split equally between men and women. |
| Michael: But is it really like that? |
| Martin: Unfortunately, it works a little differently. For example, according to a survey from 2011, in more than 80% of cases, cooking is still purely a woman's task and women spend nearly twice as much time as men on household chores, while still going to work. |
| Michael: Fortunately with modern technology such as dishwashers and washing machines, chores don’t take as long as they used to. But are Czech men willing to help out in the household? |
| Martin: Yes, for example nowadays men are more involved in helping with their children and spend more time with them. About one third of Czech men look after their children the same amount of time as women. |
| Michael: That’s good news! Is there a sentence we should learn to talk about this? |
| Martin: Sure, you may find this useful, Pomůžeš mi uklidit? |
| Michael: which means "Will you help me with cleaning?" Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: mýt [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to wash |
| Martin: mýt[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: mýt [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: zvuk [natural native speed] |
| Michael: sound |
| Martin: zvuk[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: zvuk [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: prasklý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: cracked |
| Martin: prasklý[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: prasklý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: sklo [natural native speed] |
| Michael: glass |
| Martin: sklo[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: sklo [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: není [natural native speed] |
| Michael: is not |
| Martin: není[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: není [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: nic [natural native speed] |
| Michael: nothing, anything, nil, zilch, no |
| Martin: nic[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nic [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: sklenička [natural native speed] |
| Michael: glass |
| Martin: sklenička[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: sklenička [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: nevadit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: not to mind |
| Martin: nevadit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nevadit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: mrzet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to feel sorry about something |
| Martin: mrzet[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: mrzet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: nádobí [natural native speed] |
| Michael: dishes, cookware |
| Martin: nádobí[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nádobí [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: nic |
| Michael: meaning "nothing, anything, nil, zilch,” or “no." |
| Martin: Nic is a pronoun. |
| Michael: It means “nothing”, but it also functions as the English ''anything'' in negative sentences. Unlike in English, Czech sentences can have a double negative . |
| Martin: Yeah, it's common to come across sentences such as, nic tam není, |
| Michael: which literally means “there isn't nothing there.” Also, when we speak about an amount of something, nic has the same meaning as “absolutely nothing,” “nil,” or “zilch.” |
| Martin: For example, Nic tam nezůstalo, |
| Michael: meaning “Absolutely nothing was left there.” |
| Martin: Nic can also mean "no" depending on the context, for example ani za nic. |
| Michael: This is quite colloquial and can be translated as “No way! Not for all the tea in China.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: nevadit |
| Michael: meaning "not mind, not bother, not obstruct." |
| Martin: Nevadit is the negation of vadit, which means “to bother.” |
| Michael: Ne functions as the negator of verbs. |
| Martin: Nevadit also has a function in courtesy questions, which makes them sound polite and apologetic. For example, Nevadí Vám, když si přisednu? |
| Michael: which can be translated as “Would you mind if I sit next to you?” You can also use it when you’re talking about something that you don't find annoying. Martin, can you give us an example? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Pavouci mi nevadí. |
| Michael: .. which means "I don't mind spiders." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to apologize and confirm that there’s no problem with some event. |
| Martin: It’s very simple - when you’re apologizing, the keyword that works most of the time is Promiňte, |
| Michael: Which can mean both "I'm sorry” and “Excuse me." |
| Martin: Right, in Czech we have just one word to both apologize and get someone's attention. An exception is when we need to pass by somebody. In that situation, we can also use s dovolením, |
| Michael: which literally translates as “with your allowance.” |
| Martin: There's also a difference between a formal and informal apology. For informal situations like the one in the dialogue, we use promiň, and for formal ones, promiňte. There's also a very colloquial word that is used to apologize among young people. It's almost the same as English, Sory. |
| Michael: You can probably guess that it means “Sorry.” It's ok to use it among friends, but only in the case of a small mistake or something not very serious, for example, when you accidentally step on your friend's foot. Now, let’s hear about how to make a more complex apology. |
| Martin: You can say Promiň, omlouvám se in an informal situation, or Promiňte, omlouvám se in a formal situation |
| Michael: Both mean “I’m sorry, I apologize.” Both sentences can be used by men and women since they don’t indicate a gender. |
| Martin: An alternative to the above is Moc se omlouvám, |
| Michael: “I apologize very much.” |
| Martin: If we are apologizing for a previous wrong, we can use Dlužím ti omluvu, |
| Michael: meaning "I owe you an apology." Usually after saying this, you're expected to explain what you did wrong, or the reason why you think you owe someone an apology. |
| Martin: To keep things simple, you can just say omlouvám se. |
| Michael: In this case you don't have to worry about speaking formally or informally, or the age and gender of the person you're talking to. Now let’s hear how to express regret. Which word should we use? |
| Martin: You should use mrzet |
| Michael: meaning “to feel sorry about something.” This is actually a verb that has no direct translation in English and can be only described. It is particularly used in sentences about a regret, somebody feeling sorry about something, or somebody feeling bad about something. Martin, can you give us an example? |
| Martin: Sure, Moc mě to mrzí. |
| Michael: Listeners, be careful because this means “I'm really sorry about that” but literally translates “To me the thing feels like sorry.” |
| Martin: When we say moc mě to mrzí right after we did something wrong, the meaning is that we are sorry about it. But if we say, for example, moc mě mrzí, že jsem nejel, meaning “I regret that I didn't go,” the meaning is more of a simple regret rather than “sorry.” |
| Michael: When you literally translate it, the pattern is “it” feels sorry or regretful “to me, to you, to her, to him,” or “to us” about something. |
| Martin: Exactly, so when you’re conjugating, the verb is always Mrzí, |
| Michael: while the word referring to the person who is sorry changes. |
| Martin: Right, for example “I feel sorry” is Mrzí mě, while “you feel sorry” is Mrzí tě. It’s the same for the plural forms, for example “we feel sorry” is Mrzí nás. |
| Michael: Finally, let’s hear about how to ask if somebody is all right after an accident, which was also in the dialogue. |
| Martin: In informal Czech, the closest expression is jsi v pořádku? |
| Michael: Which means “Are you all right?” |
| Martin: or jsi OK? |
| Michael:“Are you okay?” What can you say in a formal situation? |
| Martin: Jste v pořádku? |
| Michael: “Are you all right?” |
| Martin: or není Vám nic? |
| Michael: “Is there something wrong?” You can ask this in situations where it looks like someone might be hurt. Translated freely, they both mean ''Are you all right?'' or '' Are you not hurt?'' What if you want to ask if something is all right in the sense that you want to make sure that you’re not bothering someone? |
| Martin: You can use nevadit, which we already covered. For example, you can say Nevadí vám, když si přisednu? |
| Michael: "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" |
| Martin: Nebude vadit, když si zakouřím? |
| Michael: "Is it okay if I smoke?" |
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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