Learn how to answer the question "Smoking or Non-smoking?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| In the last lesson, you learned how to make a reservation in a restaurant. Now that you know how to get a table, you have another big issue to tackle. If you want to enjoy your meal, the smoking issue is very important. If you are a smoker in a non-smoking establishment or a non-smoker in a smoking establishment, this could ruin your meal. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| In this lesson, we'll cover how to ask for a smoking or non-smoking table. |
| ・ |
| First, we will imagine that you are a smoker. Before entering a restaurant, you need to ask, “Excuse me, is smoking allowed here?”: |
| Promiňte, může se tady kouřit? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Pro-miň-te, mů-že se ta-dy kou-řit? |
| Once more: |
| Promiňte, může se tady kouřit? |
| Promiňte, as we have seen, means “Excuse me.” |
| (slow) Pro-miň-te. |
| Promiňte. |
| We follow this with může se which is a form of the verb “can” . It’s translated as “it can” |
| (slow) Mů-že se. |
| Může se. |
| The next word, tady, means “here”. |
| (slow) Ta-dy. |
| Tady. |
| And the last word, kouřit, means “to smoke”. |
| (slow) Kou-řit. |
| Kouřit. |
| Here’s the whole sentence: |
| (slow) Pro-miň-te, mů-že se ta-dy kou-řit? |
| Promiňte, může se tady kouřit? |
| ・ |
| The answer to this question is simple: Ano, tady se může kouřit (“Yes, smoking is allowed”) or Ne, tady se nemůže kouřit (“No, smoking is not allowed”). |
| Let’s break those down: |
| (slow) Ano, tady se může kouřit. |
| (slow) Ne, tady se nemůže kouřit. |
| ・ |
| Now let’s imagine you don’t smoke. In this case, when you go to a Czech restaurant you should ask: ”Do you have tables for non smokers?” |
| Máte stůl pro nekuřáky? |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Má-te stůl pro ne-ku-řá-ky? |
| Once more at natural speed: |
| Máte stůl pro nekuřáky? |
| Máte is a form of the verb which means “to have” |
| (slow) Má-te. |
| Máte. |
| Stůl means “table” |
| (slow) Stůl |
| Stůl |
| Pro means “for.” |
| (slow) Pro. |
| Pro. |
| And the word nekuřáky is a form of the noun which is translated as “non smokers”. |
| (slow) nekuřáky |
| nekuřáky |
| The whole question is: |
| (slow) Má-te stůl pro ne-ku-řá-ky? |
| Máte stůl pro nekuřáky? |
| ・ |
| Now let’s go over the possible answers to this question. If it’s a positive answer, you might hear |
| Ano, máme and if the answer is negative Ne, nemáme. |
| In these expressions: |
| Ano means “yes” |
| Ne means “no” and |
| Máme and nemáme are conjugated forms of the verb “mít” translated as “to have” and “not to have”. |
| (slow) Má-me |
| (slow) Ne-má-me. |
| Máme |
| Nemáme. |
| Let’s hear the expressions again: |
| Ano, máme. |
| Ne, nemáme. |
| When the answer is negative, you will also hear “we are sorry” attached to ne, nemáme. The phrase will sound like this: Ne, nemáme, promiňte. |
| Meaning, “no we haven’t, sorry” |
| Let’s break it down: |
| (slow) Ne, ne-má-me, pro-miň-te. |
| Once more at natural speed: |
| Ne, nemáme, promiňte. |
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