Learn the top five Czech phrases teachers want to hear
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Martin: Hi everyone, I’m Martin. |
| Gabriella: And I’m Gabriella. Welcome back to CzechClass101.com! This is All About, lesson 15 – Top 5 Czech Phrases from the Hosts. In this last lesson of the series, we'll go over our top five favorite phrases! We are going to cover practical phrases for use in the Czech Republic. |
Lesson focus |
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| Martin: That's right. And you will learn the most natural way to say them. |
| Gabriella: Ok, so what’s the first phrase? |
| Martin: Jak se máš? or Jak se máte? |
| Gabriella: What do they mean? |
| Martin: They both mean “how are you doing”. The first phrase “Jak se máš?” is used with a friend, and there is no need to be formal. The second phrase “jak se máte?”means “How are you (Mr./ Mrs.) doing?” used with the honorific ‘’te’’ at the end of the verb. |
| Gabriella: Ok, great! What about the next one? |
| Martin: Díky, fajn/ or Děkuju, dobře. |
| Gabriella: And what do these mean? |
| Martin: These phrases are answers to the above two questions. “Díky, fajn” means “I’m fine, thanks” and it’s an informal answer to a friend. The second one “Děkuju, dobře” means “I’m doing well, thank you” and it’s a formal answer. |
| Gabriella: Let’s combine the question and answer. |
| Martin: The question is “Jak se máš?” - “How are you doing?” and the answer is “Diky, fajn” - “I’m doing fine, thanks.” |
| Gabriella: And the other pair... |
| Martin: The question: “Jak se máte?” - “How are you doing?” And the answer is “Děkuju, dobře” - “I’m doing well, thank you.” |
| Gabriella: Now, let’s continue with the next phrase. What is it? |
| Martin: "Kde je” , which means “where is” |
| Gabriella: It’s a useful phrase - short, concise, and easy to use, and you normally use it for things you are having difficulty finding. The order of words in Czech questions is the same as in English. |
| Martin: Right. For example, “kde je pošta?” means “where is the post office?” Same question, same word order as in English. “Pošta” means “post office”. |
| Gabriella: Alright. And our next phrase is... |
| Martin: Pro boha! |
| Gabriella: Which means? |
| Martin: “Oh my God”. You’ll say it when something unfavorable happens and it’s like the start of a complaint. It’s a very common phrase in daily Czech, although Czech people tend to use even more colloquial exclamations like ‘’ježiš maria!’’ more often. ‘’Ježiš’’ stands for ‘’Jesus’’ and ‘’maria’’ for ‘’Maria’’. |
| Gabriella: This is a very fun phrase. Czech people would be totally surprised if they heard you say this. |
| Martin: Absolutely. It’s so colloquial that it would come as a complete surprise if a local heard a foreigner use it! You can hear it everyday when you go to the Czech Republic. |
| Gabriella: So, what is our last phrase? |
| Martin: “Jasný”. |
| Gabriella: Ah, I know this. This is another way of saying “yes” to a question, and it’s used in the same way as “sure” in English. It shows that you willingly and happily agree to the question. |
| Martin: That’s right. |
| Gabriella: For example, you can use it when replying to an invitation to go to the cinema. The entire question is... |
| Martin: “Nepůjdem dneska do kina?”... |
| Gabriella: “Shall we go to the cinema tonight?”. Then you reply with... |
| Martin: “Jasný.”... |
| Gabriella: “Sure, why not?” Great. So, can we wrap up this lesson here? |
| Martin: Jasný! |
| Gabriella: (laughs) So there you have it! Five phrases that we find really useful, that we have now passed on to you! Try using them the next time you have a conversation in Czech! |
| Martin: And this is the end of our All About series! |
| Gabriella: Don’t forget to visit CzechClass101.com and check out our other series, like Basic Boot Camp, Absolute Beginner, Pronunciation, and Survival Phrases. |
Outro |
| Gabriella: Okay, that’s it for this lesson and this series. Thank you for listening everyone. And we’ll see you in another series! |
| Martin: Ahoj! |
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