Learn how to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, Season 1 Lesson 4 - Offering Your Apologies in Czech. Michael here. |
| Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say “excuse me” and “I'm sorry.” This conversation takes place on a bus. |
| Martin: It's between Mike and Jane. |
| Michael: The speakers don’t know each other, so they’re using formal language. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jana: Au! ...promiňte? |
| Michal: Ano? |
| Jana: Moje noha... |
| Michal: Aha, omlouvám se! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jana: Au!...promiňte? |
| Michal: Ano? |
| Jana: Moje noha... |
| Michal: Aha, omlouvám se! |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Jana: Ouch!...excuse me? |
| Michal: Yes? |
| Jana: My leg... |
| Michal: Oh, I'm sorry! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Martin, what do we to know when we’re saying sorry to others in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: A "sorry" can be simply translated as promiňte in the Czech language. Depending on the situation, a formal promiňte can be enough to apologize for a minor thing, such as stepping on a foot, bumping into somebody you didn't see, or other minor accidents. A more sincere apology, as we are going to see in this lesson, would be omlouvám se, or moc se omlouvám, |
| Michael: meaning “I apologize” and “I really apologize.” What do you say when you want to ask somebody to let you go through, or when you pass by somebody in a narrow space? |
| Martin: Here you can also say promiňte. If you are among friends just promiň, without the formal te, is enough. |
| Michael: Are there any slang words to apologize? |
| Martin: Teenagers often use the English “sorry” among themselves, or a very colloquial expression, soráč. |
| Michael: What can you say when you’re surprised that you've caused something to happen to another person? |
| Martin: Czech people tend to use the exclamation ježiš promiňte! |
| Michael: The translation of this is "Jesus, I'm sorry!" but the meaning of it is more like "Oh my, I'm sorry!". |
| Martin: Right, there’s no longer a religious meaning to this expression, instead ježiš has just become an exclamation of surprise in a negative sense. |
| Michael: In an unexpected case like this, you can say... |
| Martin: Ježiš! Já nechtěl! Promiňte. |
| Michael: meaning "Oh my! I didn't mean to! I'm sorry. " Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: au [natural native speed] |
| Michael: ouch |
| Martin: au[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: au [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: prominout [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to excuse |
| Martin: prominout [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: prominout [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: ano [natural native speed] |
| Michael: yes |
| Martin: ano[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: ano [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: můj [natural native speed] |
| Michael: my, mine |
| Martin: můj[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: můj [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: noha [natural native speed] |
| Michael: leg |
| Martin: noha[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: noha [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: aha [natural native speed] |
| Michael: ah, I see |
| Martin: aha[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: aha [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Martin: omlouvat se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to apologize |
| Martin: omlouvat se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: omlouvat se [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, which is an interjection, is... |
| Martin: au |
| Michael: meaning "ouch." |
| Martin: This is an interjection of pain. One very colloquial version is auvajs. |
| Michael: Is this interjection only for our own pain? |
| Martin: No, you can use it also when you’re sympathizing with somebody by saying something like Au, to muselo bolet. |
| Michael:“Ouch, it must have hurt.” And how would we use it for ourselves? |
| Martin: For example, you can say.. Au, to bolí! |
| Michael: ..which means "Ouch, it hurts!" Okay, what's the next word? |
| Martin: aha |
| Michael: meaning "I see,” or “oh." This is an interjection for grasping or understanding something. |
| Martin: You use it at the beginning of a sentence, or just on its own. Aha is a conjugation that lets us express that we are listening and understanding. Here’s an example .. Aha, on se ztratil? |
| Michael: .. which means "Oh, I see, he got lost?" Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to express that you are sorry and how to apologize in Czech. |
| Martin: The infinitive form of "to apologize" in Czech is omlouvat. This is a reflexive verb that takes the accusative form of the reflexive pronoun se, meaning “oneself,” to express your own apology for doing something wrong. |
| Michael: So “I apologize” would sound like... |
| Martin: Omlouvám se. |
| Michael: Ok, let’s give the whole conjugation. Martin will say the Czech and I’ll give the translation. |
| Martin: já omlouvám se |
| Michael:“I apologize.” |
| Martin: ty omlouváš se or Vy omlouváte se |
| Michael: Both mean “you apologize,” but the second one is the formal honorific one. |
| Martin: on, ona, ono omlouvá se |
| Michael:“he, she, it apologizes.” |
| Martin: my omlouváme se |
| Michael: “we apologize.” |
| Martin: vy omlouváte se |
| Michael: “you apologize.” |
| Martin: oni omlouvají se |
| Michael: “they apologize.” The reflexive se is important here because if we take it away from the verb, the meaning of omlouvat changes, right? |
| Martin: Yes, it turns into a verb meaning “to excuse,” “to justify,” “to give excuses,” or “to excuse something or somebody” for doing wrong. |
| Michael: Please give us examples for both cases. |
| Martin: Sure! Omlouvám se, že jdu pozdě. |
| Michael: “I apologize for being late.” |
| Martin: Oni se to snaží omlouvat. |
| Michael: “They are trying to make excuses.” |
| Martin: Also please remember the negative form, Neomlouvat. |
| Michael: Which means “no excuse, no justification.” Ok, now let’s focus more on the most common apologetic phrases. |
| Martin: As we said earlier, omlouvat se can be also expressed in another way corresponding to the English “to be sorry” for something. There are two versions of this, formal and informal. |
| Michael: The formal way is- |
| Martin: Promiňte |
| Michael:“I’m sorry.” The informal way is |
| Martin: Promiň |
| Michael: Also “I’m sorry.” Listeners, these two phrases are used on a daily basis and they are easy to master for students because they don’t involve complicated conjugation. Let’s hear them in context. Say you accidentally run into an adult stranger in the street and you need to apologize. |
| Martin: You can say- Promiňte, já nechtěl! |
| Michael: “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to.” This situation requires formal language because you don’t know this person. |
| Martin: Right. On the other hand, say you accidentally knock your friend’s drink out of his or her hand. |
| Michael: This situation can be informal because you’re friends. |
| Martin: You might say- Promiň, já nechtěl! |
| Michael: “I’m sorry, I didn't mean to!” |
| Martin: Right, with Promiň instead of Promiňte. |
| Michael: When you feel that the situation requires a more sincere and thoughtful apology, can you use the same expression? |
| Martin: It may be better to use omlouvám se, meaning “I apologize,” or moc se omlouvám, meaning “I really apologize.” There are moments when saying just promiňte sounds too light, especially in formal situations. |
| Michael: Ok! Can you give us any useful sample sentences to help us remember this difference? |
| Martin: Here’s one - Promiňte, nemáte drobný? |
| Michael: "Excuse me, do you have small change?" |
| Martin: Promiň, omlouvám se, že jdu pozdě. |
| Michael: "I'm sorry. I apologize for being late." |
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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