Learn about the Accusative case
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| Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 16 - Interrogation at the Police Station |
| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 16 - Interrogation at the Police Station. Michael, here. |
| Veronika: Ahoj, I'm Veronika. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn about both the singular and plural accusative case. The conversation takes place at a police station. |
| Veronika: It's between Vojtech Vydra and Jack Jones. |
| Michael: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak formal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| VOJTĚCH VYDRA: Pane Jonesi, máme vás jako očitého svědka. Popište mi přesně, co jste viděl? |
| JACK JONES : Viděl jsem dva muže, kteří se hádali na ulici před restaurací. |
| VOJTĚCH VYDRA: Viděl jste jejich tváře? |
| JACK JONES : Ne, jejich obličeje jsem neviděl. Byla tma. |
| VOJTĚCH VYDRA: Slyšel jste, co říkali? |
| JACK JONES : Říkali něco o botách, ale byl jsem daleko, slyšel jsem hlasy a nikoliv jejich přesná slova. |
| VOJTĚCH VYDRA: Můžete popsat, co měli na sobě? |
| JACK JONES : Ano, jeden muž měl krátké kalhoty a neměl boty. Druhý muž měl brýle a čepici. |
| VOJTĚCH VYDRA: Cože? Jeden z nich neměl boty? |
| JACK JONES : Ano, myslím, že mu je ten druhý muž ukradl, a proto se hádali. |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Vojtěch Vydra: Pane Jonesi, máme vás jako očitého svědka. Popište mi přesně, co jste viděl? |
| Michael: Mr. Jones, we have you as an eyewitness. Tell me: exactly what did you see? |
| Jack Jones: Viděl jsem dva muže, kteří se hádali na ulici před restaurací. |
| Michael: I saw two men arguing in the street outside of the restaurant. |
| Vojtěch Vydra: Viděl jste jejich tváře? |
| Michael: Did you see their faces? |
| Jack Jones: Ne, jejich obličeje jsem neviděl. Byla tma. |
| Michael: No, I did not see their faces. It was dark. |
| Vojtěch Vydra: Slyšel jste, co říkali? |
| Michael: Did you hear what they said? |
| Jack Jones: Říkali něco o botách, ale byl jsem daleko, slyšel jsem hlasy a nikoliv jejich přesná slova. |
| Michael: They said something about shoes, but I was far away. I heard the voices and not their exact words. |
| Vojtěch Vydra: Můžete popsat, co měli na sobě? |
| Michael: Can you describe what they were wearing? |
| Jack Jones: Ano, jeden muž měl krátké kalhoty a neměl boty. Druhý muž měl brýle a čepici. |
| Michael: Yes, one man had short pants and no shoes. The second man had distinctive glasses and a hat. |
| Vojtěch Vydra: Cože? Jeden z nich neměl boty? |
| Michael: What? One of them did not have shoes? |
| Jack Jones: Ano, myslím, že mu je ten druhý muž ukradl, a proto se hádali. |
| Michael: Yes, I think that the second man stole them from him. That's why they argued. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: What can you tell us about the Czech police force? |
| Veronika: It is called Policie České republiky and is the national law enforcement of the Czech Republic. |
| Michael: It was established by National Council Act on June 21st, 1991. |
| Veronika: The main tasks of the Czech Police are to protect citizens, their property and public order. |
| Michael: The state police cooperate with the municipal police. |
| Veronika: That’s městská policie or obecní policie. |
| Michael: What are the responsibilities of the National Police of the Czech Republic? |
| Veronika: They deal with public security and crime investigation matters. |
| Michael: Whereas the municipal police are responsible for traffic and public order. What are useful numbers that people should remember if they’re in the Czech Republic? |
| Veronika: 158 is for the state police, and 156 for municipal police. |
| Michael: The general EU number for urgent help from police, fire, or medical assistance works in the Czech Republic, too. That’s 112. |
| Veronika: 112 guarantees English-speaking operators. |
| 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: popsat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to describe |
| Veronika: popsat[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: popsat [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: hádat se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to argue |
| Veronika: hádat se[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: hádat se [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: tvář [natural native speed] |
| Michael: face, cheek |
| Veronika: tvář[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: tvář [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: obličej [natural native speed] |
| Michael: face |
| Veronika: obličej[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: obličej [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: tma [natural native speed] |
| Michael: dark |
| Veronika: tma[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: tma [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: vidět [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to see |
| Veronika: vidět[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: vidět [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: slyšet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: hear |
| Veronika: slyšet[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: slyšet [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: hlas [natural native speed] |
| Michael: voice |
| Veronika: hlas[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: hlas [natural native speed] |
| Michael: And lastly.. |
| Veronika: ukrást [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to steal |
| Veronika: ukrást[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: ukrást [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: Je tma. |
| Michael: meaning "It is dark." |
| Michael: This is an impersonal phrase with no subject. The subject is in general “it,” but this isn’t expressed. Instead, we have the verb |
| Veronika: být |
| Michael: “to be” conjugated into the third person singular. |
| Veronika: We use Je tma to say there is no light. |
| Michael: It can be used for either darkness inside, or outside. |
| Veronika: Yes, either the lack of natural or artificial lights. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Venku je naprostá tma. |
| Michael: ..which means "It's completely dark outside." |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Veronika: Dělat obličeje. |
| Michael: meaning "to make faces." |
| Michael: This is grammatically and semantically the same as the English “to make faces.” |
| Veronika: We use it to talk about someone pulling a face. |
| Michael: It can be a facial expression that shows dislike or some other negative emotion. |
| Veronika: It can also be an amusing face! |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Nedělej na mě obličeje! |
| Michael: .. which means "Don't make faces at me!" |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about the singular and plural accusative case. |
| Michael: First, how do we say “accusative case” in Czech? |
| Veronika: akuzativ or čtvrtý pád. |
| Michael: It’s mainly used for the direct object of a verb. Verbs that take a direct object are called transitive verbs. Unlike English where direct objects usually follow right after a verb, in Czech, the place of a direct object in the sentence may vary. Question words used with the accusative case are: |
| Veronika: Koho? |
| Michael: “Whom?” |
| Veronika: Co? |
| Michael: “What?” The accusative case is also used after certain prepositions, such as: |
| Veronika: pro |
| Michael: this mainly corresponds to “for” |
| Veronika: skrz |
| Michael: “through” |
| Veronika: přes |
| Michael: “over” |
| Veronika: mimo |
| Michael: “except.” In the lesson notes, you will find a declension table with the accusative endings for the singular nouns. As you will see, some of the accusative and nominative forms are the same for neuter and masculine inanimate nouns. Plus, feminine nouns ending in consonants remain unchanged in the accusative case. Let’s hear some example sentences. |
| Veronika: Znáš pana Nováka? |
| Michael: “Do you know Mr. Novak?” |
| Veronika: Přes řeku vede most. |
| Michael: “A bridge goes over the river.” The forms of the accusative case for nouns in the plural are different than those in the singular. Again, there is a declension table in the lesson notes and you will see that the accusative forms of masculine inanimate, feminine and neuter plural nouns are the same as in the nominative case. |
| Veronika: But when applying the accusative case, the whole noun phrase requires changes. |
| Michael: This includes things such as demonstrative, possessive pronouns, and adjectives. The lesson notes has a declension table with the accusative endings for demonstrative, possessive pronouns and adjectives in singular and plural. Note that masculine inanimate and neutral demonstrative, possessive pronouns and adjectives in singular stay identical. Let’s hear a nominative example: |
| Veronika: Ten svůj malý stůl. |
| Michael: “My little table.” And here’s an accusative example. |
| Veronika: Vidím ten svůj malý stůl. |
| Michael: “I see my little table.” If you look at the lesson notes however, you’ll see that the accusative endings of masculine animate and feminine demonstrative, possessive pronouns and adjectives differ. Let’s hear some example sentences. |
| Veronika: Znáš mého manžela? |
| Michael: “Do you know my husband?” |
| Veronika: Vidíš toho kluka? |
| Michael: “Do you see that guy?” |
| Veronika: Hledáme hlavní nádraží. |
| Michael: “We are looking for a main station.” When it comes to the plural, masculine inanimate, feminine and neutral noun phrases are identical as in the nominative case. For example: |
| Veronika: Znáš moje dcery? |
| Michael: “Do you know my daughters?” |
| Veronika: Hledáme nové zákazníky. |
| Michael: “We are looking for new customers.” |
| Veronika: Studenti se zajímají o moderní technologie. |
| Michael: “Students are interested in new technologies.” Personal pronouns also change their form in the accusative case. Also, some of the accusative forms differ if they are used with prepositions. Let’s hear some examples, Veronika. |
| Veronika: Nevidím tě. |
| Michael: “I don’t see you.” |
| Veronika: Mám na tebe počkat? |
| Michael: “Should I wait for you?” |
| Veronika: Marek vás hledá. |
| Michael: “Marek is looking for you.” |
| Veronika: Měli byste ji sledovat. |
| Michael: “You should follow her.” |
| Veronika: Byl to dárek pro něho. |
| Michael: “It was a present for him.” Now let’s move onto something different and discuss how to use the past tense in Czech. First, how do we say “past tense”? |
| Veronika: Minulý čas |
| Michael: This is a tense that we use to express an action that happened in the past or a state that previously existed. We can make a sentence in this tense by using a personal pronoun, followed by the auxiliary verb: |
| Veronika: být |
| Michael: meaning “to be” in the present tense, and then finally the past participle of the verb. The past participle of regular verbs is formed from the infinitive form by replacing |
| Veronika: -t |
| Michael: with other endings. These are different depending on things such as gender and number. The lesson notes have the full list, plus a declension table for the auxiliary verb. For irregular verbs, it’s best to memorize the past participles. If the subject of the sentence isn’t present, then the word order changes. |
| Veronika: Yes, the past participle goes before být. |
| Michael: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Veronika: Já jsem viděl dva muže. |
| Michael: “I saw two men.” |
| Veronika: Viděl jsem dva muže. |
| Michael: “I saw two men.” This version doesn’t have the subject. Did you hear the difference? Here’s another example: first with the subject, then without. |
| Veronika: Já jsem slyšel hlasy. |
| Michael: “I heard voices.” |
| Veronika: Slyšel jsem hlasy. |
| Michael: “I heard voices.” |
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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