Learn how to use negative sentences and verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 25 - A Change of Plans in the Czech Republic. Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this final lesson of the series, you’ll learn how to make negative sentences. This conversation takes place at a restaurant. |
| Martin: It's between Irena and Martin. |
| Michael: The speakers know each other, so they’ll be using informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Irena: Martine, jaký máš plány až se vrátíš do Japonska? |
| Martin: Já se tam vlastně nevracím. |
| Irena: Proč ne? |
| Martin: Chyběli mi kamarádi z Čech. V Japonsku jsem neměl moc známých. Taky jsem neměl práci, protože nemluvím japonsky. |
| Irena: Aha... |
| Martin: To je v pohodě. Teď jsem tady a budu hledat práci. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Irena: Martine, jaký máš plány až se vrátíš do Japonska? |
| Martin: Já se tam vlastně nevracím. |
| Irena: Proč ne? |
| Martin: Chyběli mi kamarádi z Čech. V Japonsku jsem neměl moc známých. Taky jsem neměl práci, protože nemluvím japonsky. |
| Irena: Aha... |
| Martin: To je v pohodě. Teď jsem tady a budu hledat práci. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Irena: Martin, what's your plan after going back to Japan? |
| Martin: Actually, I'm not going back there. |
| Irena: Why not? |
| Martin: I missed my friends in the Czech Republic. In Japan, I couldn't make many friends. I also didn't have a job because I don't speak any Japanese. |
| Irena: Oh.. |
| Martin: It's okay. I'm back here. I'm going to look for a job. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, what's the job market like in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: Compared to other EU states, the rate of employment in the Czech Republic is above average. |
| Michael: Where is the best labor market and what are some popular fields? |
| Martin: The capital Prague, probably offers the best jobs, but generally speaking, the market depends greatly on the region of the Czech Republic. |
| Michael: Other regions have been catching up, but despite an upswing in tourism, there is still a lack of jobs in rural areas because of the decline of the leatherworking and textile industries and agriculture. |
| Martin: That’s pretty common in the rest of Europe too. Work shortages can also be found among IT specialists, engineers, and skilled manual workers including craftsmen, machine workers and assemblers. |
| Michael: How long is the average work week in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: The average working hours are typically 40 hours per week and workers get four weeks of holiday per year. |
| Michael: That sounds pretty good! Are there any related phrases you can teach us? |
| Martin: Práce na částečný úvazek. |
| Michael: Which means "A part-time job. " Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: plán [natural native speed] |
| Michael: plan |
| Martin: plán[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: plán [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: vrátit se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to return, to come back, to get back, to be restored |
| Martin: vrátit se [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vrátit se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: proč [natural native speed] |
| Michael: why, what for, for what reason |
| Martin: proč[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: proč [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: chybět [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to lack, to miss, to be absent, to be short of |
| Martin: chybět[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: chybět [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: kamarád [natural native speed] |
| Michael: friend, mate, pal, buddy |
| Martin: kamarád[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: kamarád [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: mít [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to have, to posses, to carry, to hold |
| Martin: mít[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: mít [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: známý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: friend, acquaintance |
| Martin: známý[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: známý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: práce [natural native speed] |
| Michael: work, job, labor, employment |
| Martin: práce[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: práce [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: pohoda [natural native speed] |
| Michael: well being, ease, peace, contentment |
| Martin: pohoda[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: pohoda [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: hledat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to look for, to search for, to seek |
| Martin: hledat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: hledat [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: známý |
| Michael: meaning "acquaintance,” or “friend." It’s a noun and it can be conjugated according to the gender of the friend in question. |
| Martin: Známý is the masculine, známá is the feminine, and známé the neuter. |
| Michael: This word can also become an adjective when talking about familiarity, such as "well known,” “famous,” or “popular." Martin, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Tohle je náš známý. |
| Michael: .. which means "This is an acquaintance of ours” and refers to a man. |
| Martin: Here’s a phrase with the word used as an adjective, známá restaurace, |
| Michael: which means “a well-known restaurant.” Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: pohoda |
| Michael: meaning "well being, ease, contentment,” or “peace." This is a feminine noun that’s mostly associated with life and well-being, a status of calm or peace, satisfaction, contentment, or something that is going well and is easy. |
| Martin:The phrase v pohodě is used a lot by Czech people to mean "ok," "no problem." |
| Michael: It’s informal and can be used in reply to someone you’re familiar with or with young people, in the same way that ''Don't worry about it'' or ''It's okay!'' are used in English. Martin, can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Duševní pohoda. |
| Michael: .. which means "Peace of mind. " Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you’ll learn how to make negative sentences. Making a negative sentence in Czech is relatively easy because we just negate the verb. |
| Martin: Exactly. Negating verbs in Czech is done by prefixing them with ne. For example, the infinitive form of the verb “to do” is dělat and its negative form is nedělat. Or the negative form of my chceme, meaning “we want” is my nechceme, |
| Michael: Which means “we don’t want”. Ok, now let’s see the negative forms of some basic verbs. |
| Martin: We’ll look at the verbs být, [pause] mít, and rád |
| Michael: which respectively mean “to be,” “to have,” and “to like.” For example, what’s Czech for “I am not”? |
| Martin: nejsem |
| Michael: All you’ve done is add the prefix ne to the verb. |
| Martin: Right, the positive form is jsem and the negative is nejsem |
| Michael: It’s the same for the rest of the conjugation, right? |
| Martin: Right! Here is an example using a different person. Oni nejsou doma. |
| Michael: which means "They are not at home." |
| Martin: Or To není Robert. |
| Michael: "This isn't Robert." |
| Martin:It’s the same for mít, “to have.” |
| Michael: Let’s see the entire conjugation with both the positive version and the negative. Martin will say the Czech and I’ll give the translation. |
| Martin: mám [pause] nemám |
| Michael: “I have,” “I don’t have” |
| Martin: máš [pause] nemáš |
| Michael: “you have,” “you don’t have” |
| Martin:má [pause] nemá |
| Michael: “he has,” “he doesn’t have” |
| Martin:máme [pause] nemáme |
| Michael: “we have,” “we don’t have” |
| Martin: máte [pause] nemáte |
| Michael: “you have,” “you don’t have” |
| Martin: mají [pause] nemají |
| Michael: “they have,” “they don’t have” |
| Martin: And the exact same thing happens for the verb rád, meaning “to like.” |
| Michael: Can you give us some examples? |
| Martin: Nemáš zítra čas? |
| Michael: "Do you have time tomorrow?" |
| Martin: Here is an example with nerad - Nerad si čistím zuby. |
| Michael: “I don’t like to brush my teeth.” |
| Martin: or Nerad píše dopisy. |
| Michael: “He doesn’t like to write letters.” Ok, finally let’s see a common feature in the Czech language, the multiple negative. |
| Martin: In Czech, it’s almost a rule to have a double or triple negative, although sentences with only one negative are not uncommon. Some sentences may even have four negatives, though that’s rare. |
| Michael: Can you give us some examples? |
| Martin: For example, you can say Nikdy nedělám |
| Michael: This phrase literally translated means “I never don’t…”, but it’s normally used to mean “I never do…” |
| Martin: Here is another, Nic nevím |
| Michael: literally “I don’t know nothing,” but actually meaning “I know nothing.” |
| Martin: I mentioned that there can be three or four negations in a line. Here is an example with three negations, though not all of them are verbs - Nikdy nemám žádné peníze |
| Michael: Literally this means “I never don't have no money” which in English would be “I never have money.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson, and for this series. We hope you’ve enjoyed it and found it useful. If you have any questions or comments, please leave us a message at CzechClass101.com. |
| Martin: We’re happy to help! |
| Michael: In the mean time, thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Martin: Děkuji. |
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