Learn how to describe something, such as the weather, by using Czech adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 15 - Talking About the Weather in Czech. Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to describe the weather using adjectives. This conversation takes place at Tom and Irina's house. |
| Martin: It's between 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: Včera bylo pod mrakem, ale dneska už je slunečno. Ale je děsný vedro! Léto v Čechách je horký, že? |
| Irena: Je léto v Tokiu taky horký? |
| Martin: Jo. Léto v Tokiu je horký a dusný. |
| Irena: A dusný? |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Martin: Včera bylo pod mrakem, ale dneska už je slunečno. Ale je děsný vedro! Léto v Čechách je horký, že? |
| Irena: Je léto v Tokiu taky horký? |
| Martin: Jo. Léto v Tokiu je horký a dusný. |
| Irena: A dusný? |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Martin: It was cloudy yesterday, but it's sunny today. But it's so hot! Summer in the Czech Republic is hot, isn't it? |
| Irena: Is summer in Tokyo hot too? |
| Martin: Yeah. Summers in Tokyo are hot and humid. |
| Irena: And humid? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, how are the seasons in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: The Czech Republic has relatively cold winters, and the temperature often drops below zero. |
| Michael: When is the coldest time? |
| Martin: The coldest time is January and February, when there is even snow in the higher areas. It’s possible to ski in the Czech mountains or ice skate at ice rinks or even on frozen ponds and reservoirs. |
| Michael: What about summers? |
| Martin: Summers are warm but not extremely hot. There are often showers in summer. The temperature often gets up to 30 degrees and sometimes even a few degrees higher. Autumn usually starts in September and the temperature goes down quickly, especially at night. |
| Michael: Do you have anything similar to “Indian summer”? |
| Martin: Yes, during autumn it’s quite common to experience the warm days of babí léto, which is how Czechs refer to “Indian summer.” |
| Michael: Are there any weather expressions we should know? |
| Martin: Yes, there’s an idiom we use when it’s raining heavily, [clearly pronounced] Leje jako z konve. |
| Michael: The literal translation is ''It's pouring like from a watering can,” the idiomatic equivalent to the English "It's raining cats and dogs." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: včera [natural native speed] |
| Michael: yesterday |
| Martin: včera[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: včera [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: mrak [natural native speed] |
| Michael: cloud |
| Martin: mrak[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: mrak [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: slunečno [natural native speed] |
| Michael: sunny |
| Martin: slunečno[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: slunečno [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: vedro [natural native speed] |
| Michael: hot |
| Martin: vedro[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vedro [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: léto [natural native speed] |
| Michael: summer |
| Martin: léto[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: léto [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: horký [natural native speed] |
| Michael: hot, burning, scorching |
| Martin: horký[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: horký [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: dusný [natural native speed] |
| Michael: sticky, sultry, stuffy, tense |
| Martin: dusný[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dusný [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: pod [natural native speed] |
| Michael: under, below, underneath, beneath, less than |
| Martin: pod[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: pod [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Michael: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: dusný |
| Michael: meaning "sultry,” “stuffy,” or “tense." |
| Martin: Dusný is an adjective and describes the air in hot weather. Dusno is the noun for the same word. Dusný or dusno has three meanings. |
| Michael: One refers to weather, the second is for air in a stuffy room, and the third is for mood and atmosphere, as in a tense atmosphere. Can you give us some examples using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say...venku je dusno |
| Michael: Which means “It’s sultry outside,” |
| Martin: ... when talking about a bad atmosphere or mood at a place, especially when somebody creates a fuss over something, you could say udělal tam hrozný dusno |
| Michael: meaning “He kicked up a massive fuss there.” Just remember that this use is colloquial and used only in informal situations. |
| Martin: Finally, you could also say Tady je ale dusno! |
| Michael: ..which means "It's so stuffy in here!" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: pod |
| Michael: meaning "under,” “underneath,” “below,” “beneath,” or “less than." |
| Martin: pod is a preposition with several meanings. |
| Michael: It can express a physical placement or level of something, it can express the extent of something, the amount of something in numbers, and lastly it can indicate the circumstances of something. Martin, can you give us some examples using this word? |
| Martin: For example, when talking about the physical placement or level of things, you could say pod stolem, |
| Michael: Meaning “Under the table.” |
| Martin: Another example is venku je pět pod nulou, |
| Michael: “It’s five degrees below zero outside.” |
| Martin: Finally, here is an idiom using this preposition- Pod svícnem bývá největsí tma, |
| Michael: .. which means "The greatest darkness is under the candlestick.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: horký |
| Michael: meaning "hot,” “burning,” or “scorching." Horký is an adjective that describes something that is "hot" in temperature. |
| Michael: It can also describe a situation when it’s used figuratively. A situation can be regarded as "hot," which in other words means "serious." Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Dát si horkou vanu. |
| Michael: .. which means "To have a hot bath." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about the weather. |
| Martin: We’ll learn how to describe weather using adjectives. |
| Michael: In the dialogue, Martin said that summer in the Czech Republic seems to be hot. |
| Martin: The Czech phrase goes like this- Léto v Čechách je horký, že? |
| Michael: Let’s break this sentence down. |
| Martin: The first component of the sentence is the noun léto, which means "summer" in English. It is followed by the verb je, meaning "it is," which is the third person singular of the verb být. Next comes the neuter adjective horký, which means "hot" and then že?, which means "isn’t it?" |
| Michael: Why is the adjective in the neuter form? |
| Martin: Because the noun it describes, léto, is a neuter noun. |
| Michael: Ah yes. Adjectives and nouns have to agree when it comes to gender, which means that if, for example, the noun is masculine, the adjective describing it also has to be in the masculine form. Martin, can you list some adjectives related to weather for us? |
| Martin: Sure. slunečný |
| Michael: meaning "sunny" |
| Martin: větrný |
| Michael: "windy" |
| Martin: studený |
| Michael: "cold" |
| Martin: teplý |
| Michael: "warm." Now, Martin, which are the names of the seasons in Czech? |
| Martin: The first is [clearly pronounced] jaro |
| Michael: which means “spring” |
| Martin: Next is [clearly pronounced] léto |
| Michael: “summer” |
| Martin: [clearly pronounced] podzim |
| Michael: "autumn" |
| Martin: [clearly pronounced] zima |
| Michael: "winter." Now let’s give some sample sentences. |
| Martin: Podzim je deštivý a větrný. |
| Michael: meaning "Autumn is rainy and windy." |
| Martin: Léto v Čechách je slunečné. |
| Michael: "Summer in the Czech Republic is sunny." You’ll see the pattern here, when we say “something is” followed by an adjective. |
| Martin: Right, and it’s important to pay attention to the genders. |
| Michael: Let’s see a feminine example |
| Martin: zima je studená |
| Michael: “Winter is cold.” |
| Martin: Please notice that the feminine gender adjectives end with á. Another example is voda je ledová |
| Michael: Which means “Water is icy cold.” How about an example with the masculine gender? |
| Martin: Masculine gender adjectives end with ý , for example sníh je měkký |
| Michael: “Snow is soft.” |
| Martin: Finally we have the neuter adjectives, which take a ý at the end in spoken Czech and an é in the written language. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example for both cases? |
| Martin: [clearly pronounced] jaro je voňavé or jaro je voňavý |
| Michael: Both mean “spring is sweet-smelling.” To wrap up this lesson, let’s give some final examples. |
| Martin: Sure, Loni bylo parné léto. |
| Michael: "It was a sweltering summer last year." |
| Martin: And another - Očekáváme tuhý mráz. |
| Michael: "We are expecting severe frost." Listeners, for more examples please check out the lesson notes! |
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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