Learn about verbal constructions
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 15 - Talking About Your Family's Well-Being. Michael, here. |
| Veronika: Ahoj, I'm Veronika. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn about verbal constructions. The conversation takes place at the gym. |
| Veronika: It's between Hana Hornikova and Pavel Petricek. |
| Michael: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will speak informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Jak to jde doma, je všechno v pořádku? |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Mám trošku strach o manželčinu babičku, chová se poslední dobou divně. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Opravdu? To je mi líto. Proč ji nevezmeš k doktorovi? |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Ach, já vím. Měla by jít k doktorovi, ale má ze svého obvoďáka strach. Je paranoidní. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: To je špatný, opravdu ji musíš vzít k doktorovi. Asi má nějakou nemoc stáří. |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Jo, předpokládám, že má Alzheimera. Nic si nepamatuje. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Vím, jak se cítíš, můj děda taky měl špatnou paměť. Vůbec mě nepoznával. |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Odvezu ji k doktorovi hned zítra, tak uvidíme. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Ať se babička dá do pořádku! Držím palce. |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Jo, díky za podporu. Dám ti vědět, jak to dopadlo. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Jak to jde doma, je všechno v pořádku? |
| Michael: How's it going at home, is everything alright? |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Mám trošku strach o manželčinu babičku, chová se poslední dobou divně. |
| Michael: I'm a little worried about my wife's grandmother. Lately she’s been behaving strangely. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Opravdu? To je mi líto. Proč ji nevezmeš k doktorovi? |
| Michael: Really? I'm sorry. Why don't you take her to the doctor? |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Ach, já vím. Měla by jít k doktorovi, ale má ze svého obvoďáka strach. Je paranoidní. |
| Michael: Oh, I know. She should go to the doctor, but she is afraid of her practitioner. She is paranoid. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: To je špatný, opravdu ji musíš vzít k doktorovi. Asi má nějakou nemoc stáří. |
| Michael: This is bad. Really, you have to take her to the doctor. She probably has a disease of old age. |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Jo, předpokládám, že má Alzheimera. Nic si nepamatuje. |
| Michael: Yeah, I suppose she has Alzheimer's. She doesn't remember anything. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Vím, jak se cítíš, můj děda taky měl špatnou paměť. Vůbec mě nepoznával. |
| Michael: I know how you feel; my grandfather also had a bad memory. He didn't recognise me at all. |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Odvezu ji k doktorovi hned zítra, tak uvidíme. |
| Michael: I'll take her to the doctor tomorrow, so we'll see. |
| HANA HORNIKOVA: Ať se babička dá do pořádku! Držím palce. |
| Michael: Let your grandmother be okay! Fingers crossed! |
| PAVEL PETŘÍČEK: Jo, díky za podporu. Dám ti vědět, jak to dopadlo. |
| Michael: Yeah, thanks for your support. I'll let you know how it turned out. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Does the Czech Republic have an aging population? |
| Veronika: Yes. The elderly over 65 are now the most rapidly growing segment of the population and represent 13% of all Czech residents. |
| Michael: Wow, that’s a lot! Czech people often live to the retirement age in good physical and mental condition and are even able to continue to actively participate in social events. |
| Veronika: Although, many old people who retired are still working part-time to earn some more money for their pensions. |
| Michael: What do pensioners that don’t work do with their time? |
| Veronika: They often attend univerzita třetího věku, “university of the third age.” This provides general, hobby and non-professional education at the university level. |
| Michael: It’s specifically for people with pensioner status, disabled pensioners and unemployed persons aged 50+. Does the average Czech person show respect to the eldery? Is it common for people to give up their seat on the bus, for example? |
| Veronika: Yes. If all of the seats are full and an eldery person gets on the bus, offer them your seat. You should also do this for pregnant women. |
| Michael: What about homes for the elderly? |
| Veronika: They’re called domov pro seniory. They’re for people who need the permanent help of another person. |
| Michael: These homes usually permanently or temporarily replace the client’s home. |
| Veronika: The aim is to enable them to participate as much as possible in everyday life. |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Veronika: babička [natural native speed] |
| Michael: grandmother |
| Veronika: babička[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: babička [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: chovat se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: conduct |
| Veronika: chovat se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: chovat se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: divně [natural native speed] |
| Michael: strangely, weirdly |
| Veronika: divně[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: divně [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: obvoďák [natural native speed] |
| Michael: practitioner (informal) |
| Veronika: obvoďák[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: obvoďák [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: stáří [natural native speed] |
| Michael: old age |
| Veronika: stáří[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: stáří [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: předpokládat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to suppose, to assume |
| Veronika: předpokládat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: předpokládat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: cítít se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to feel |
| Veronika: cítít se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: cítít se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: palec [natural native speed] |
| Michael: thumb |
| Veronika: palec[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: palec [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: paměť [natural native speed] |
| Michael: memory |
| Veronika: paměť[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: paměť [natural native speed] |
| Michael: And last.. |
| Veronika: podpora [natural native speed] |
| Michael: support |
| Veronika: podpora[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: podpora [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 phrase is.. |
| Veronika: Vím, jak se cítíš. |
| Michael: meaning "I know how you feel." |
| Michael: This sentence is formed by two clauses. In the first one, there is the unexpressed subject “I.” The second clause begins with an interrogative adverb: |
| Veronika: jak. The verb cítit se, |
| Michael: meaning “to feel,” is reflexive. Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Vím přesně, jak se teď cítíš. |
| Michael: ..which means "I know exactly how you feel now." |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Veronika: Držím ti/vám palce! |
| Michael: meaning "Good luck! Fingers crossed!" |
| Michael: This phrase literally means “I hold my thumbs for you.” The personal pronoun: |
| Veronika: vám |
| Michael: is employed when using the polite form of address. |
| Veronika: We use ti when on first-name terms. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Držím ti palce, ať ti to zítra dobře dopadne! |
| Michael: .. which means "I keep my fingers crossed for you to do well tomorrow!" |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about verbal constructions. |
| Michael: We’ll begin by looking at how to use the descriptive imperative in the third person singular. For persons for whom there is no simple imperative, the imperative can be replaced by other constructions. |
| Veronika: This is done using the particles ať and nechť. |
| Michael: They can both be translated into English as “let.” |
| Veronika: In spoken Czech the particle ať is used more often than nechť. |
| Michael: The latter of those two is more of a literary expression. The descriptive imperative is mainly used for the third-person singular. We make sentences by beginning with one of those two particles, and then using a present tense verb in the singular third-person. |
| Veronika: Nechť pracuje. |
| Michael: “Let him work.” The descriptive imperative is more polite than its simple form. Also, descriptive imperative implies a wish, which is expressed in an imperative manner. Let’s hear some examples. |
| Veronika: Ať se babička dá do pořádku! |
| Michael: “Let your grandmother be okay!” |
| Veronika: Nechť uklidí kuchyň. |
| Michael: “Let him clean the kitchen.” |
| Veronika: Ať si pospíší! |
| Michael: “Let him hurry up.” Now, let’s look at how to construct the verb phrases: |
| Veronika: Muset něco dělat and Mít něco dělat. |
| Michael: These two phrases may seem very similar but their meaning is different. The imperfect |
| Veronika: Muset něco dělat |
| Michael: and the perfect |
| Veronika: Muset něco udělat |
| Michael: have several meanings depending on the context. It can be used as “should” or “ought to (do something)” to ask for advice or to recommend someone to do something. Most often the verb: |
| Veronika: mít |
| Michael: “to have” is in a conditional mood. Let’s hear some examples. |
| Veronika: Cestou z práce musím koupit chleba. |
| Michael: “On the way from work I have to buy bread.” |
| Veronika: Mít něco dělat and Mít něco udělat, |
| Veronika: Měli by se víc učit. |
| Michael: “They should study more.” In some cases, these phrases also correspond to “shall.” |
| Veronika: Máme zavřít dveře? |
| Michael: “Shall we close the door?” Now, let’s look at how to construct a couple of verb phrases. The first one is: |
| Veronika: Mít strach z |
| Michael: which means “to be afraid of,” and then you add something in the genitive case. |
| Veronika: Lukáš má strach z výšek. |
| Michael: “Lukas is afraid of heights.” |
| Veronika: Máme strach z hadů. |
| Michael: “We are afraid of snakes.” The second verb phrase is: |
| Veronika: Mít strach o |
| Michael: This means “to worry about” and is followed by the accusative case. Let’s end this lesson with some final examples. |
| Veronika: Mám strach o babičku, je nemocná. |
| Michael: “I am worried about grandma; she is ill.” |
| Veronika: Martin má strach o manželku, protože se nevrátila domů. |
| Michael: “Martin is worried about his wife, she did not come home yesterday.” |
Outro |
| Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Veronika: Na shledanou! |
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