Learn some expressions you can use to apologize
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12 - A Day of Czech Traffic Chaos. Becky here. |
| Martin: Ahoj! I'm Martin. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn some useful expressions for making apologies. The conversation takes place over the phone. |
| Martin: It's between Matěj and Helena. |
| Becky: The speakers are co-workers, so they’ll speak both formal and informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Matěj: Prosím, u telefonu Matěj Hollan. |
| Helena: Ahoj Matěji, tady Helena Černá. |
| Helena: Obávám se, že dorazím pozdě na schůzku. |
| Matěj: Aha. Copak se děje? |
| Helena: Vážně se omlouvám, ale uvázla jsem v zácpě. Jsem tu už 30 (třicet) minut. |
| Helena: Nevím, jestli je tam nějaká nehoda, nebo práce na silnici. |
| Matěj: Dobře, nic se neděje. Jitka taky přijde pozdě. V kolik asi dorazíš? |
| Helena: Upřímně, to netuším. Ten provoz se táhne. Možná budu mít spoždění 30 (třicet) minut. |
| Matěj: Dobře. Kdybys měla ještě větší spoždění, dej mi vědět. |
| Helena: Rozumim. Tak zatim. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Matěj: Prosím, u telefonu Matěj Hollan. |
| Helena: Ahoj Matěji, tady Helena Černá. |
| Helena: Obávám se, že dorazím pozdě na schůzku. |
| Matěj: Aha. Copak se děje? |
| Helena: Vážně se omlouvám, ale uvázla jsem v zácpě. Jsem tu už 30 (třicet) minut. |
| Helena: Nevím, jestli je tam nějaká nehoda, nebo práce na silnici. |
| Matěj: Dobře, nic se neděje. Jitka taky přijde pozdě. V kolik asi dorazíš? |
| Helena: Upřímně, to netuším. Ten provoz se táhne. Možná budu mít spoždění 30 (třicet) minut. |
| Matěj: Dobře. Kdybys měla ještě větší spoždění, dej mi vědět. |
| Helena: Rozumim. Tak zatim. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Matěj: Hello, Matěj Hollan speaking. |
| Helena: Hi Matěj, this is Helena Černá. |
| Helena: I'm afraid that I'll be late for the meeting. |
| Matěj: I see. Is something going on? |
| Helena: I'm really sorry, but I'm stuck in a traffic jam. I've been here for the last thirty minutes. |
| Helena: I'm not sure if there's been an accident or if there’s road work going on. |
| Matěj: I see. Don't worry. Jitka is also running late. When will you be here? |
| Helena: To be honest, I'm not sure. The traffic's been crawling. I may be thirty minutes late. |
| Matěj: Alright. If you’re going to be any later, let me know. |
| Helena: I will. See you later. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Martin, let’s talk about work and holidays in the Czech Republic. How is work regulated? |
| Martin: According to law, working hours in the Czech Republic generally should not exceed 40 hours per week. |
| Becky: How are they organized? |
| Martin: The 40 working hours are divided into eight hours per day, five days a week, and a one-hour lunch break is not included in the working hours. |
| Becky: Are there any exceptions? |
| Martin: Larger companies may have a so-called collective contract, or kolektivní dohoda, in which they specify conditions and alternatives. |
| Becky: This may include things like extra pay for overtime, extra days off, subsidies for holidays or children’s schooling, retirement, and so on. Martin, how many holidays are guaranteed by law? |
| Martin: Four weeks in total, but the longest period for consecutive holidays is usually two weeks. |
| Becky: When do Czech people tend to take their holiday? |
| Martin: Usually in July and over the Christmas period. |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Martin: telefon [natural native speed] |
| Becky: telephone |
| Martin: telefon[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: telefon [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: obávat se [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to be afraid |
| Martin: obávat se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: obávat se [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: dorazit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to arrive, to get somewhere |
| Martin: dorazit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dorazit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: pozdě [natural native speed] |
| Becky: late |
| Martin: pozdě[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: pozdě [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: vážně [natural native speed] |
| Becky: seriously |
| Martin: vážně [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vážně [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: uvíznout [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to get stuck |
| Martin: uvíznout[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: uvíznout [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: dít se [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to happen, to be going on |
| Martin: dít se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dít se [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: upřímně [natural native speed] |
| Becky: sincerely |
| Martin: upřímně[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: upřímně [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Martin: tušit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to have a clue, to suspect |
| Martin: tušit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: tušit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Martin: dát [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to give, to put in |
| Martin: dát[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: dát [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is.. |
| Martin: obávat se, že |
| Becky: meaning "to be afraid that" |
| Martin: obávat se is an imperfective verb that always uses the reflexive pronoun se, meaning “oneself,” and že means “that.” It’s the connector to the second sentence. |
| Becky: The meaning of the verb is “to fear something,” When used with the conjunction meaning “that,” the meaning becomes like the English “to be afraid that....” Martin, can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Obávám se, že je řada na mě. |
| Becky: ..which means "I'm afraid that it's my turn now.” Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Martin: být upřímný |
| Becky: meaning "to be honest" |
| Martin: být is an imperfective verb meaning "to be, to exist," and upřímný means "sincere,” “honest.” |
| Becky: This phrase is very useful in some formal written formulas. |
| Martin: Right, for example, s upřímným pozdravem |
| Becky: At the end of a formal letter, it means “with sincere regards.” |
| Martin: When giving condolences you can say, upřímnou soustrast |
| Becky: meaning “sincere condolences.” |
| Martin: Here’s an informal sentence, Abych byl upřímný, je to risk. |
| Becky: .. which means "To be honest, it's a risk. " Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn useful expressions for making apologies. If you live or work in the Czech Republic, there will be situations in which you may need to apologize for something. |
| Martin: In the lesson dialogue, Helena needs to apologize for being late to a meeting. She says Obávám se, že dorazím pozdě na schůzku. |
| Becky: meaning “I’m afraid that I'll be late for the meeting.” |
| Martin: we already said that Obávat se can be used just like the English “to be afraid.” |
| Becky: It is used when breaking the bad news and when the sentence has a negative connotation. We already heard some examples. |
| Martin: Omlouvat se can also simply mean “to apologize for oneself.” |
| Becky: Can you give us some examples? |
| Martin: Omlouvám se, že jdu pozdě. |
| Becky: “I apologize for coming late.” |
| Martin: Omlouvám se, že to nevyšlo. |
| Becky: “I apologize that it failed.” You can use an adverb to make the apology sound more sincere. |
| Martin: For example Vážně se omlouvat. |
| Becky: Literally, “To apologize seriously oneself” or, following the Czech order, "seriously oneself to apologize." |
| Martin: If it’s a formal situation, please use velmi instead of vážně, for example Velmi se omlouvám, za zrušení programu. |
| Becky: meaning “I’m very sorry for cancelling the program.’’ |
| Martin: Strašně se omlouvat. |
| Becky: “To apologize terribly for oneself.” Ok, let’s now go through some different expressions. |
| Martin: You can also apologize by starting the sentence with Lituji, že… |
| Becky: meaning ”I feel sorry that.” |
| Martin: For example, Lituji, že jsem vás nechal čekat. |
| Becky: “I’m sorry that I kept you waiting.” |
| Martin: Another expression is Je mi líto, že… |
| Becky: ”I’m sorry that…” |
| Martin: For example Je mi líto, že jsem nepřišel včas. |
| Becky: “I’m sorry that I didn’t come in time.’’ |
| Martin: You can also start with Bohužel… |
| Becky: which means ”Unfortunately...” |
| Martin: For example Bohužel mi to nevyšlo. |
| Becky: “Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it.” Some of these expressions need to be changed whether we are in a formal situation or not. Can we see how the sentence changes? |
| Martin: For example, in an informal setting you can say Omluv mě, budu hned zpět. |
| Becky: “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” How does this change in a formal setting? |
| Martin: Omluvte mě, budu hned zpět. Here’s another example, Nezlob se, nechtěl jsem. |
| Becky: which means “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” |
| Martin: That changes to Nezlobte se, nechtěl jsem in a formal situation. |
| Becky: Ok, now let’s take a look at how to respond to someone who is apologizing. There are many ways, let’s hear some. |
| Martin: To je v pořádku. |
| Becky: “That’s alright.’’ |
| Martin: To nevadí. |
| Becky: “It doesn’t matter.’’ |
| Martin: Netřeba se omlouvat. |
| Becky: “No need to apologize.” |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Martin: Čau. |
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