Learn how to show your appreciation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1 Lesson 3 - Expressing Your Gratitude in Czech. Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say "thank you". The conversation takes place at Tom's house. |
| Martin: It's between Tom and Jane. |
| Michael: The speakers know each other so the overall tone is informal. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Tomáš: Tak tě vítám. Pojd´ dál! |
| Jana: Díky. Tady je malý dárek. Snad se ti bude líbit! |
| Tomáš: Jé, mockrát děkuju! |
| Jana: Není zač. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Tomáš: Tak tě vítám. Pojd´ dál! |
| Jana: Díky. Tady je malý dárek. Snad se ti bude líbit! |
| Tomáš: Jé, mockrát děkuju! |
| Jana: Není zač. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Tomáš: Welcome. Please come in! |
| Jana: Thanks. This is a small gift from me; I hope you like it! |
| Tomáš: Oh, thank you very much! |
| Jana: You're welcome. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, could you please tell us something about etiquette when thanking others in Czech? |
| Martin: Sure! Czech people definitely appreciate eye contact when someone says "thank you" to them! And in formal situations, a handshake should also happen. |
| Michael: What about informal situations? |
| Martin: In informal situations, a genuine smile or a hug, as long as you know the person and it seems appropriate, is also welcome. |
| Michael: It’s definitely a good idea to reciprocate at some point in the future. It can be either with a present for a different occasion or reciprocation in another form, such as helping with something. Is there a useful word we should know here? |
| Martin: Try to learn the verb Revanšovat se, |
| Michael: Which means "to reciprocate." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: vítat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to welcome |
| Martin: vítat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vítat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: jít [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to walk |
| Martin: jít[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: jít [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: dál [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to go in |
| Martin: dál[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dál [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: malý(lá) [natural native speed] |
| Michael: small |
| Martin: malý(lá)[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: malý(lá) [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: dárek [natural native speed] |
| Michael: present, gift |
| Martin: dárek[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dárek [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: snad [natural native speed] |
| Michael: perhaps, maybe, hopefully |
| Martin: snad[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: snad [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: být [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to be |
| Martin: být[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: být [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: líbit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to like |
| Martin: líbit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: líbit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: mockrát [natural native speed] |
| Michael: many times, a lot |
| Martin: mockrát[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: mockrát [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: děkuju [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to thank |
| Martin: děkuju[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: děkuju [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: dárek |
| Michael: meaning "gift,” or “present." |
| Martin: Please notice that "gift" can also be translated as dar. |
| Michael: Is there any difference? |
| Martin: Dárek implies it is a small gift, while dar sounds more like something bigger. If somebody says to byl ale dar! it means "that was a big gift." |
| Michael: When is the first word used? |
| Martin: This word is used at times of gift giving or receiving, or even in terms of a "freebie." Another use of the word dárek is in its diminutive form, dáreček, which means “a tiny present.” This has an ironic figurative sense. For example, je ale dáreček, meaning "what a small present," can be used ironically to describe a misbehaving child. |
| Michael: Interesting. Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: není zač |
| Michael: And it means "you're welcome." |
| Martin: Literally není means “it is not,” and zač is a shortened version of za co meaning "what for." |
| Michael: When do you use it? |
| Martin: You use it to reply to děkuju, mockrát děkuju, or any other form of "thank you" in the Czech language. |
| Michael: Can you give us a sentence using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Petře, není zač. |
| Michael: .. which means "Petre, you're welcome. " Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to show your appreciation in Czech. There are several ways of expressing thanks or gratitude in the Czech language. These phrases are divided into formal and informal expressions. |
| Martin: The most frequently used phrase and suitable in almost every situation is děkuju, which means “thank you.” |
| Michael: This phrase is neither formal nor informal. |
| Martin: Right. Děkuju is the spoken form while děkuji with ‘i’ at the end is a written form that’s not used very often in the standard spoken Czech language. It is used in some regions of the Czech Republic in the local dialects, for example, in Moravia. Having said that, you can use děkuji if you want to sound very polite and proper. |
| Michael: Ok, now let’s hear some phrases for formal situations. |
| Martin: In a formal situation, you can say Děkuju Vám or Děkuji Vám, |
| Michael: meaning “Thank you.” |
| Martin: This is an honorific phrase used in a formal situation toward another person. Please note that when Děkuju vám refers to a group of people, in the written form we should use a lower case v. |
| Michael: And if it refers to one person it should be written with an uppercase V. |
| Martin: Yes, since Vámi is the honorific for “you” in the singular. |
| Michael: What about if you want to say “Thank you very much” in a formal situation? |
| Martin: You can say Mockrát děkuju or Mockrát děkuji, or otherwise Děkuju pěkně or Děkuji pěkně. Mockrát literally means “many times” while Pěkně literally means “nicely.” A well-placed and sincere děkuju or děkuji will always be appreciated by Czechs when somebody does something for you. |
| Michael: Ok, now let’s see the informal phrases. |
| Martin: To thank someone in an informal way, you can say Díky, |
| Michael: “thanks” |
| Martin: Dík |
| Michael: Which means something like “cheers” |
| Martin: or Tisíceré díky |
| Michael: meaning “a thousand thanks.” |
| Martin: There’s also Díky moc which means “thanks a lot.” |
| Michael: Are there any differences we should be aware of here? |
| Martin: In day-to-day life among Czechs you are likely to hear people saying díky or dík. These are shorter forms of děkuju and they are both informal phrases. |
| Michael: They both correspond to the English “thanks,” but there’s a slight difference in nuance between them. |
| Martin: While díky can be still used in semi-formal situations, such as the post office thanking you for the service you used, dík is a much more colloquial phrase. |
| Michael: So it would be used exclusively among friends, family, or people who you are very familiar with, something like “cheers,” right? |
| Martin: Yes. There’s another informal expression that uses díky as part of an exclamation. It’s Díky bohu!, |
| Michael: Which means “Thank God!” or “Thank Goodness!” You’ll use this in situations where you feel grateful that something has finally happened because it was high time, that something has had a good ending, or that something has changed for the better. What if we want to refuse something and be grateful at the same time, what can we say? |
| Martin: In cases like that, you just need to place ne, meaning “no,” in front of děkuji or děkuju. This phrase allows you to refuse anything offered to you with a polite “No, thank you.” Ne, děkuji or Ne, děkuju. |
| Michael: What if you want to refuse something from a friend of yours? |
| Martin: All you need to do is to swap děkuju for díky or dík after saying ne. “Ne, díky.” |
| Michael: “No thanks.” Ok! Finally, could you give us some sample sentences? |
| Martin: Sure! Mockrát děkuju za návštěvu, přijďte zas! |
| Michael: "Thank you very much for your visit, come again!" |
| Martin: A possible answer to that is Není zač, bylo to fajn. |
| Michael: "You're welcome, it was fun. " |
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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