Learn how to describe someone's appearance
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Beginner Season 1 Lesson 15 - Talking About Your Favorite Celebrity in Czech. Becky Here. |
| Martin: Ahoj! I'm Martin. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to describe one's appearance. The conversation takes place on the way to the cinema. |
| Martin: It's between Matěj and Helena. |
| Becky: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will speak informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Matěj: Víš že George Clooney je označen za nejvíc sexy muže světa? |
| Helena: Vím. Vlasy barvy pepře, štíhlej, uhlazenej. Je to švihák. |
| Matěj: No, tak v tý nový roli bys ho nepoznala. Je z něj agent CIA. |
| Matěj: Nosí obyčejný trička s limečkem a zelenej kabát, tmavý brejle. A musel změnit vzhled. |
| Helena: Změnit vzhled? A jak? |
| Matěj: Musel přibrat 17 (sedmnáct) kilogramů, nechat si narůst hustej plnovous, a přečesat vlasy dopředu |
| Helena: Aha, tak to určitě musí vypadat oplácanej a starší než ve skutečnosti. |
| Matěj: Jo, ale díky tomu vzhledu a jak hrál, získal Oskara. |
| Helena: Tak se mu to vyplatilo, vypadat hůř. |
| Matěj: Přibrat tolik kilogramů byla prý nejtěžší práce. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| Matěj: Víš že George Clooney je označen za nejvíc sexy muže světa? |
| Helena: Vím. Vlasy barvy pepře, štíhlej, uhlazenej. Je to švihák. |
| Matěj: No, tak v tý nový roli bys ho nepoznala. Je z něj agent CIA. |
| Matěj: Nosí obyčejný trička s limečkem a zelenej kabát, tmavý brejle. A musel změnit vzhled. |
| Helena: Změnit vzhled? A jak? |
| Matěj: Musel přibrat 17 (sedmnáct) kilogramů, nechat si narůst hustej plnovous, a přečesat vlasy dopředu |
| Helena: Aha, tak to určitě musí vypadat oplácanej a starší než ve skutečnosti. |
| Matěj: Jo, ale díky tomu vzhledu a jak hrál, získal Oskara. |
| Helena: Tak se mu to vyplatilo, vypadat hůř. |
| Matěj: Přibrat tolik kilogramů byla prý nejtěžší práce. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Matěj: Do you know that George Clooney is said to be the sexiest man alive? |
| Helena: I know. Salt and pepper hair, slim, smooth. He looks smart. |
| Matěj: Well, in his new role you wouldn’t recognize him. He's a CIA agent. |
| Matěj: Wearing plain polo shirts and green coat, dark glasses. He had to change his looks. |
| Helena: Change his looks? How? |
| Matěj: He had to gain 17 kilograms, grow a thick beard, and brush his hair forward. |
| Helena: I see. So he must look chubby and older than he really is. |
| Matěj: Yeah, but thanks to his new look and acting, he got an Oscar. |
| Helena: So it was worth looking worse. |
| Matěj: Apparently, the hardest job was to gain the weight. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Martin, is going to the cinema popular in the Czech Republic? |
| Martin: Yes, it is. Recently they have also opened many chains of multiplex cinemas. On the other hand, small cinemas have nearly disappeared, as it’s very difficult for them to compete. |
| Becky: I guess that smaller places screen more niche movies. |
| Martin: Right. Anyway, with the development of the Internet, Czech people often choose to stay at home and watch TV, play DVDs, or stream movies on their computer. |
| Becky: So, we can say that, as in many other countries, cinema in the Czech Republic is at a crossroads. |
| Martin: That’s right. Even if people still like going to the movies, it’s quite expensive, and most people don’t go to the cinema more than twice a year. |
| Becky: Is there a useful word we should learn? |
| Martin: Sometimes in the Czech Republic, during the summer, you can still find Letní kino. |
| Becky: which means "Open-air cinema." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Martin: nejvíc [natural native speed] |
| Becky: most |
| Martin: nejvíc[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nejvíc [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: štíhlej [natural native speed] |
| Becky: slim |
| Martin: štíhlej[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: štíhlej [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: švihák [natural native speed] |
| Becky: looking smart, dandy |
| Martin: švihák[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: švihák [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: poznat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to recognize |
| Martin: poznat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: poznat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: nosit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to wear |
| Martin: nosit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: nosit [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: muset [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to have to, must |
| Martin: muset[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: muset [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: vypadat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to look like |
| Martin: vypadat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: vypadat [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: oplácanej [natural native speed] |
| Becky: chubby |
| Martin: oplácanej[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: oplácanej [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Martin: starší [natural native speed] |
| Becky: older |
| Martin: starší[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: starší [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last... |
| Martin: než [natural native speed] |
| Becky: than |
| Martin: než[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Martin: než [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is... |
| Martin: být švihák |
| Becky: meaning “to look smart.” |
| Martin: Být means "to be',' švihák means “dandy.” |
| Becky: This expression is used only with men. It’s a compliment that they’re looking smart, tidy, and fashionable. They’re probably well dressed and have well groomed hair. Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say... Náš děda býval velký švihák. |
| Becky: ...which means "Our grand-dad used to be a dandy." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Martin: nepoznat někoho |
| Becky: meaning "to not recognize (somebody)." |
| Martin: Poznat is a perfective verb meaning “to recognize” or “to identify.” Nepoznat… |
| Becky: ...is its negative form. |
| Martin: Někoho derives from the indefinite pronoun někdo meaning “somebody, someone.” |
| Becky: This changes into... |
| Martin: někoho |
| Becky: ...when it becomes the subject of the sentence. The whole phrase can be used in two different contexts: one is in terms of appearance, when we don't see somebody for a long time and we don’t recognize that person at first because their appearance has changed. |
| Martin: For example, Vaše dcera je ostříhaná, ani jsem ji nepoznala. |
| Becky: .. which means "Your daughter had her hair cut; I didn't recognise her." The second meaning regards a person's way of thinking or behavior. It’s used to express surprise. |
| Martin: For example, Já tě nepoznávám, ty jsi najednou tak uzavřený do sebe. |
| Becky: meaning "I don't recognize you. Suddenly you are so introverted." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Martin: muset vypadat |
| Becky: meaning "must look like." |
| Martin: Muset means "must." Vypadat means “to look like." |
| Becky: We use this phrase when expressing what somebody or something ought to look like. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Martin: Sure. For example, you can say... Park pro děti musí vypadat lépe než tohle. |
| Becky: .. which means "A park for children must look better than this." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn about describing one's appearance. |
| Martin: If you want to ask a man or a woman about their appearance, just use the question Jak vypadáš? |
| Becky: That means, “What do you look like?” |
| Martin: Jak is an adverb that stands for the English "what” or “how." The other word is vypadat, which is conjugated from the second-person singular, vypadáš, meaning "you look like." |
| Becky: Let’s consider this verb. If we conjugate it in a different way, we can also ask about someone else’s appearance. |
| Martin: Right, for example, the third person singular is vypadá. You can ask Jak vypadá? |
| Becky: meaning "What does he look like?" or "What does she look like?" depending on the context. |
| Martin: The third person plural is vypada-jí. You can ask Jak vypadají? |
| Becky: which means “What do they look like?” |
| Martin: So the structure of the question stays the same: Jak followed by the conjugated verb. |
| Becky: The possible answers to this question are both endless and, lucky for you, very simple. Let's use Helena’s description of the actor from the dialogue. |
| Martin: She uses some adjectives like štíhlý |
| Becky: meaning "slim." |
| Martin: uhlazený |
| Becky: "neat." |
| Martin: If Helena was describing a woman, she would be using adjectives with the feminine ending -á, for example štíhl-á. As for uhlazený, that’s never used with women. |
| Becky: What can we use with a woman? |
| Martin: You can say upravená, meaning “neat, tidy.” |
| Becky: The next description is about hair. |
| Martin: She says vlasy barvy pepře |
| Becky: literally meaning “hair of pepper colour.” In other words, “gray.” |
| Martin: When we talk about hair, we usually use the verb “to have” which in Czech is mít. |
| Becky: This verb is conjugated according to the personal pronoun, just like any other verb. |
| Martin: You do the same thing when you want to describe someone using být, “to be.” |
| Becky: Ok, let’s give some examples: |
| Martin: Je vysoký a mladý. |
| Becky: "He is tall and young." |
| Martin: Má světlé oči a tmavé vlasy. |
| Becky: “He has light eyes and dark hair.” |
| Martin: Máme tmavé oči, ale náš syn má modré. |
| Becky: “We have dark eyes, but our son has blue.” Listeners, in the lesson notes you can find a complete list of adjectives to describe people |
| Martin: Remember that adjectives have three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. For example, “young” has three singular forms: mladý for masculine, mladá for feminine, and mladé for neuter. |
| Becky: Let’s move on to the final topic of this lesson. |
| Martin: The modal verb muset. |
| Becky: This verb can be translated as “to have to” and expresses a necessity or an obligation. Something that has to be done because the situation requires it, or because a rule requires it. It can also be on a personal level, something a person finds necessary to do, in order to achieve something. |
| Martin: Here are some examples from the conversation: Musel změnit vzhled. |
| Becky: “He had to change his appearance.” |
| Martin: Musel přibrat 15 (patnáct) kilogramů. |
| Becky: “He had to gain 15 (fifteen) kilograms.” |
| Martin: In these sentences the verb muset is conjugated as musel, which is the past form. |
| Becky: In this case this verb is used to talk about an actor’s obligations and what he had to do with his image. |
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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