s Beginner’ to
Guide
age u g n a L h c Cze Basic vocab ulary & gra mmar for AFS-stu dents in CZ E
Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................3! Pronounciation............................................................................................................................4! Vowels.....................................................................................................................................4! Consonants .............................................................................................................................4! Vocabulary ..................................................................................................................................5! Home ......................................................................................................................................5! Family .....................................................................................................................................5! Personal data ...........................................................................................................................6! School & work .........................................................................................................................6! Free time .................................................................................................................................7! Places & getting around ............................................................................................................7! Time .......................................................................................................................................8! Food .......................................................................................................................................9! Nature .....................................................................................................................................9! Verbs ..................................................................................................................................... 10! Adjectives .............................................................................................................................. 11! Nouns ................................................................................................................................... 12! Question words ...................................................................................................................... 13! Prepositions ........................................................................................................................... 13! Conjunctions ......................................................................................................................... 13! Numbers ............................................................................................................................... 13! Quantities .............................................................................................................................. 14! Personal pronouns ................................................................................................................. 14! Miscellaneous ........................................................................................................................ 14! To like & to love .................................................................................................................... 14! Grammar .................................................................................................................................. 15! Adjectives .............................................................................................................................. 15! Possesive pronouns ................................................................................................................ 15! Demonstrative pronouns ........................................................................................................ 15! Use of personal pronouns ....................................................................................................... 15! Verbs ..................................................................................................................................... 16! Cases..................................................................................................................................... 18! Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 19! Notes ........................................................................................................................................ 20!
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Introduction This booklet can help you to learn Czech language during the first months of your stay. The sooner you start learning our language, the sooner you’ll be able to get around by yourself, make new friends, discover new activities… Using this “beginner’s guide” is a first step towards a more interesting life in the Czech Republic, so make the most of it! The first part explains basic pronounciation rules. Of course it’s quite hard to explain pronounciation in a written text, but at least it’s a start. If you’re having doubts, just go online and try to find some recordings of Czech words. The second part is a mini-dictionary. The words you’ll need in daily life are arranged by a couple of themes, like “school”, “food”, “family”… You can try to learn a couple of words every day. Decide for yourself which ones are most useful for you to know and start with those. In the third part we’ve included an introduction to some grammar rules. Depending on your native language, some things may seem quite complicated, or fairly easy. Don’t worry too much about it though. It’s just some basics, the real language you’ll learn by practising. We truly hope this will help you to understand and speak Czech more easily. It might seem very hard sometimes, but remember that many students succeeded in the past, and so can you! Just try a little bit every day and practise, practise, practise…
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Pronounciation Vowels Short vowels
a e i
o u y
u in but, a in father e in ten y in happy
o in hot, but more rounded u in put y in happy
Long vowels
In general these sounds are the same as the short vowels but pronounced about 1,75 times as long. Long vowels are marked by an „accent“ (čárka). This does NOT indicate that the syllable is stressed, only that the sound of the vowel is longer. The meaning of the word can be different depending on the length of the vowel, so try to pronounce the difference between a long and a short vowel clearly. á é í ó ú ů (same sound as ú) ý Special vowel
ě
ye in yes
Diphthongs
ou
au
ow in show
ow in now
Consonants Same as in English
The following consonants have the same sound as the ones in English:
b
d
f
g
l
m
n
s
v
z
The following consonants have sounds that also exist in English, but are represented by different letters: c ts in bits j y in yes č ch in church š sh in shock Similar to English
k, p, t h
ž r
never aspirated! always voiced, as in ham
similar to s in vision rolled, like in Spanish
Non-existent in English
ď ch ň ř ť
almost d in dune, there should be a soft y-sound (as in yes) following the sound of d ch in loch (Scottish) or Bach (German) almost n in new, there should be a soft y-sound (as in yes) following the sound of n combine the sound of a (rolling) r and sh at the same time almost t in tune, there should be a soft y-sound (as in yes) following the sound of t 4
Vocabulary When speaking Czech, you’ll notice it’s important to know whether a noun is masculine, feminine or neutral. To make it easier for you, we’ll be using colours to indicate the grammatical gender of the word. When you arrive to the Czech Republic, AFS will provide you with a textbook, which uses the same system to indicate the type of the words. Masculine (animate) dark blue Masculine (inanimate) light blue Feminine orange Neutral green All other types of words (adjectives, verbs, adverbs…) are simply printed in black.
Home floor terrace
Buildings & rooms
house apartment balcony bathroom kitchen dining room room building stairs garage garden wall hall living room toilet basement
podlaha terasa
dům byt balkon koupelna kuchyň jídelna pokoj budova schody (plural) garáž zahrada stěna chodba obývák záchod sklep
plant door television window clock toothbrush toothpaste hair dryer towel lamp bed drawer chair shelf
rostlina dveře (plural) televize okno hodiny (plural) zubní kartáček zubní pasta fén ručník lampa postel šuplík židle polička
rodina dědeček, děda babička bratr sestra matka otec maminka, máma tatínek, táta strýc
aunt husband wife son daughter cousin parents nephew niece marital status
teta manžel manželka syn dcera bratranec, sestřenice rodiče (plural) synovec neteř rodinný stav
Things
Family family grandfather grandmother brother sister mother (formal) father (formal) mother (informal) father (informal) uncle
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married (man) ženatý (muž) married (woman) vdaná (žena)
divorced single
rozvedený/rozvedená svobodný/svobodná
first second third point residence telephone
první druhý třetí tečka bydliště telefon
blackboard chair
tabule židle
Personal data personal data @ postal code electronic mail number floor
osobní údaje (plural) zavináč poštovní směrovací číslo elektronická pošta číslo patro
School & work Subjects in school
subject biology phys. education physics geography informatic literature math chemistry break religion
předmět biologie tělesná výchova fyzika zeměpis informatika literatura matematika chemie přestávka náboženství
Professions
profession lawyer actor architect waiter singer chef dentist electrician businessman doctor model musician laborer painter policeman assistant taxi driver salesman
Things
thing, things high school school library pen eraser class notebook dictionary pencil case pencil book map table backpack computer paper trash bin
věc, věci gymnázium škola knihovna propiska guma třída sešit slovník penál tužka kniha, knížka mapa stůl batoh počítač papír odpadkový koš
povolání právník, právnička herec, herečka architekt, architektka číšník, servírka zpěvák, zpěvačka kuchař, kuchařka zubař, zubařka elektrikář podnikatel lékař/doktor, lékařka model, modelka hudebník, hudebnice dělník, dělnice malíř, malířka policista, policistka asistent, asistentka taxikář, taxikářka prodavač, prodavačka
Workplace
workplace clinic company studio fabric hospital office shop
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pracoviště klinika firma studio, ateliér továrna nemocnice kancelář obchod
Free time to stand up to dance to take a bath to walk to have a rest to do sports to take pictures to play to swim to travel to ski to exercise to ride (bicycle) to go out to drive
Basics
activity free time cinema concert culture sport style exhibition favorite gym music nature movie theater martial arts dance
aktivita volný čas kino koncert kultura sport styl výstava oblíbený posilovna hudba příroda film divadlo bojová umění tanec
Events
event championship race contest festival party fireworks orchestra course
Activities
to go lay down to have breakfast to have lunch to have dinner to drink to eat to buy to sleep
vstávat tancovat vykoupat se chodit, jít odpočívat sportovat fotit hrát plavat cestovat lyžovat cvičit jezdit (na kole) vyjít si, jít ven řídit
jít spát snídat obědvat večeřet pít jíst nakupovat , koupit spát
událost turnaj, mistrovství závod soutěž festival slavnost ohňostroj orchestr kurz, workshop
Places & getting around Places
place bar house cottage center city town village hotel monument pool restaurant square, place corner
Shops
shop butcher’s fruit shop delicatessen market bakery fish shop supermarket vegetables shop drugstore drugstore (pills) open closed
místo bar, hospoda dům chalupa, chata centrum město malé město vesnice hotel památka bazén restaurace náměstí roh 7
obchod řeznictví ovoce uzenářství trh, tržiště pekárna rybárna supermarket zelenina drogérie lékárna otevřeno zavřeno
Transportation
transport by foot metro stop (place) port, harbour tram train to get (to a place)
bank atm football field castle cathedral mall cybercafé police station ice cream shop church postal office park
doprava pěšky metro zastávka přístav tramvaj vlak přijít, přijet
City life
in the city
ve městě
banka bankomat fotbalové hřiště hrad katedrála obchodní centrum internetová kavárna policejní stanice zmrzlinárna kostel pošta park
Time Basics
time when? now day night tomorrow today yesterday 2 days ago morning noon afternoon evening soon late last night hour minute
Months
month January February March April May June July August September October November December year
čas kdy? teď den noc zítra dnes, dneska včera předevčírem ráno, dopoledne poledne odpoledne večer brzy pozdě včera večer hodina minuta
Frequency
how often? always often usually sometimes seldom never already
Days
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday weekend week
měsíc leden únor březen duben květen červen červenec srpen září říjen listopad prosinec rok
pondělí úterý středa čtvrtek pátek sobota neděle víkend týden
jak často? vždy často většinou někdy, občas málokdy nikdy už
Others
in/at the end last time after (time) early
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nakonec naposled, posledně potom, pak časně
Food bread baguette cheese pasta yogurt
Fruit & vegetables
fruit strawberry apple orange banana vegetable garlic onion lettuce potato cucumber paprika tomato
ovoce jahoda jablko pomeranč banán zelenina česnek cibule ledový salát brambora okurka paprika rajče
Drinks
drink water alcohol beer coffee wine tea
expensive quarter gram kilogram can liter half offer to pay pack more
ryba tuňák kreveta mořské plody (plural) treska losos maso vepřové maso telecí maso hovězí maso šunka kuře
drahý čtvrt gram kilo plechovka litr půl akce, nabídka platit balík, balení víc
Restaurant
sladkosti (plural) cukr čokoláda zmrzlina dort, koláč, buchta olivový olej rýže cereálie (plural) vejce mléko
restaurant bill salad fried macaronis menu to order plate dessert tip to serve to drink
restaurace účet salát smažený makarony (plural) menu, jídelní lístek objednat talíř dezert, zákusek spropitné servírovat, podávat pít
zvíře
dog cat monkey
pes kočka opice
Sweets & others
sweets sugar chocolate ice cream cake olive oil rice cereal egg milk
nápoj voda alkohol pivo káva, kafe víno čaj
Buying food
Meat & fish
fish tuna shrimps seafood hake salmon meat pork veal beef ham chicken
chléb, chleba bageta sýr těstoviny (plural) jogurt
Nature Animals
animal
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turtle fish ant bee dinosaur bird snake horse cow butterfly squirrel sheep chicken shark pet penguin worm
sun wind
želva ryba mravenec včela dinosaurus pták had kůň kráva motýl veverka ovce kuře žralok domácí mazlíček tučňák červ
Seasons
season winter autumn spring summer
roční období zima podzim jaro léto
Others
Weather
weather hot cold degree to rain to snow cloudy
slunce vítr
počasí teplo zima stupeň pršet sněžit zataženo
nature east north west south landscape region forest coast lake mountain beach river sea
příroda východ sever západ jih krajina oblast, region les pobřeží jezero hora pláž řeka moře
to say to speak to fall in love to be to do, to make to go to watch to prefer to want
říkat mluvit zamilovat se být dělat jít, jet dívat se mít radši chtít
Verbs Basic conjugated verbs
I am I want I can I must I have to I have got
jsem chci můžu musím musím mám
Verbs I
to sing to listen to write to be to read to ask to have to see to be bored to think
Verbs II
zpívat poslouchat psát být číst ptát se mít vidět nudit se myslet si
to act to fix to help to cook to know to take care to teach to paint to work 10
hrát, vystupovat opravovat pomáhat vařit znát, poznat starat se učit malovat pracovat
to sell to live (somewhere) to live (be alive) to open to rent to go downstairs to start to invite to call to close to finish to pass to use to drink to say
to carry to construct to feel to shave to kill to destruct to take to translate
prodávat bydlet žít otevřít pronajmout jít dolů začít pozvat zavolat zavřít skončit vstoupit používat pít říkat
Verbs IV
to drink pít to look for hledat to change změnit, vyměnit to eat jíst to complete doplnit, dokončit to buy koupit, nakupovat to must muset to have fun bavit se to sleep spát to last trvat to elaborate vyrobit to find najít to write psát to work (function) fungovat to like líbit se to do, make dělat to go away odejít to read číst to fight bojovat to need potřebovat to hate nenávidět to recommend doporučovat, doporučit
Verbs III
to leave, to let to smoke to put to produce to approve to agree to dive to find to surf to watch out to forget to lose to receive to remember to go upstairs
nosit stavět (po)cítit oholit zabít ničit vzít překládat, přeložit
nechat kouřit dát (něco někam), položit vyrábět schválit souhlasit potápět se najít surfovat pozorovat zapomenout ztratit dostat vzpomenout, pamatovat jít nahoru
Adjectives boring beautiful short difficult fun easy ugly big new long small old young
Colours
colour yellow blue white brown black red green
barva žlutý modrý bílý hnědý černý červený zelený
Basic adjectives
good bad
dobrý špatný 11
nudný hezký, krásný krátký těžký zábavný lehký ošklivý velký nový dlouhý malý starý mladý
Characteristics
character happy kind good person sweet cute mean talkative intelligent bad nervous weird serious sociable nice dumb lazy
incredible better best worse worst
povaha veselý milý hodný sladký roztomilý sobecký upovídaný inteligentní zlý nervózní zvláštní, divný vážný společenský sympatický hloupý líný
More adjectives
Experiences, opinions
awesome fantastic fatal great terrible
neuvěřitelný lepší nejlepší horší nejhorší
báječný úžasný hrozný skvělý hrůzný
same different older younger pleasant hot comfortable cold forbidden alike healthy complicated valuable clueless important organized last previous, last fake
stejný jiný starší mladší příjemný teplý, horký pohodlný studený zakázaný podobný zdravý komplikovaný cenný zmatený důležitý uspořádaný, organizovaný poslední minulý falešný
mobil mustache neighbour noise pants postcard poster product purse radio schedule shirt shoes soul suitcase swimsuit ticket turist vacation
mobil knír soused, sousedka hluk kalhoty (plural) pohled plakát výrobek kabelka rádio rozvrh tričko boty (plural) duše kufr plavky (plural) lístek turista prázdniny (plural)
Nouns age beard birthday bottle bus camera car cd death eye fear football force friend gift hair health kind, sort magazine message
věk vousy (plural) narozeniny (plural) láhev autobus foťák auto cd smrt oko obava, strach fotbal síla kamarád dárek vlasy (plural) zdraví druh časopis sms, vzkaz 12
Beginner’s Guide to Czech Language
Question words how many? how much? why? where to? where? which?
how? whose? what? who? when?
jak? koho?, čí? co? kdo? kdy?
since, from from in front of between down up below, under inside behind above
od z naproti mezi dole nahoře pod v za nad
a nebo ale proto
because if than that
protože jestli (simple conditional) než (comparison) že (connecting sentences)
jeden, jedna, jedno dva, dvě, dvě tři čtyři pět šest sedm osm devět deset jedenáct dvanáct třináct čtrnáct patnáct šestnáct
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1000
sedmnáct osmnáct devatenáct dvacet dvacet jedna dvacet dva dvacet tři třicet čtyřicet padesát šedesát sedmdesát osmdesát devadesát sto tisíc
kolik? kolik? proč? kam? kde? jaký?
Prepositions in on to, towards near to far from with without after next to before
v, na na do blízko daleko s bez po vedle před
Conjunctions and or but that’s why
Numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
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first second third fourth fifth
první druhý třetí čtvrtý pátý
sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth
šestý sedmý osmý devátý desátý
množství málo, trochu některý nějaký skoro, téměř hodně, moc dost příliš každý
none nobody nothing somebody something everything everybody
žádný nikdo nic někdo něco všechno všichni
it we you (plural) they
ono my vy oni
at/to the left which, that just, only like this alone
nalevo/doleva který jenom takhle sám, sama
Quantities quantity a little/few some any, some almost a lot enough too much each, every
Personal pronouns I you (singular) you (formal) he she
já ty vy on ona
Miscellaneous this too neither here there at/to the right
tento, tato, toto také, taky také ne tady tam napravo/doprava
To like & to love There are 4 different ways of expressing you like or love something: • chutnat to like the taste of something o Chutná mi zmrzlina I like ice cream • líbit se to like something, usually for a specific time, not as a habit o Libí se mi Praha I like Prague • mít rád to like or love something or someone, for a longer period of time o Mám rád kamarády I like friends • milovat to love something or someone, strong and serious feeling o Miluju tě I love you
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Grammar Adjectives The ending of an adjective changes depending on the grammatical gender of the noun it’s describing. There are two types of adjectives. If the basic masculine ending is –ý, then the basic feminine ending is –á and the basic neutral ending is –é. If the basic masculine ending is –í, then the basic feminine and the basic neutral ending are also –í. Masculine (animate) Masculine (inanimate) Feminine Neutral
ý ý á é
dobrý student dobrý banán dobrá káva dobré auto
í í í í
kvalitní student kvalitní banán kvalitní káva kvalitní auto
Possesive pronouns
Like adjectives, possesive pronouns also adapt themselves to the gender of the noun they’re with. In the following table you’ll find all the basic forms: Masculine Masculine Feminine Neutral (animate) (inanimate) my můj můj moje moje your (singular) tvůj tvůj tvoje tvoje his, its jeho jeho jeho jeho her její její její její our náš náš naše naše your (plural) váš váš vaše vaše their jejich jejich jejich jejich
Demonstrative pronouns
Again, demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these) change according to the gender of the noun: Masculine Masculine Feminine Neutral (animate) (inanimate) that ten ten ta to this tenhle tenhle tahle tohle
Use of personal pronouns
In Czech, pronouns are only used when you want to put a stress on who is doing the action. This means that usually, you’ll hear people say “dělám” instead of “já dělám”; or “chceš” instead of “ty chceš”. But when you want to draw attention to the fact that a certain person is doing something, you can add the appropiate pronoun.
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Verbs Present tense
Czech verbs have to be conjugated. This means the ending of the verbs changes according to the person. As in most languages, there are regular verbs, which follow basic rules, and irregular verbs, which need to be memorized. In the following table, you can find the basic rules for three types of regular verbs: OVAT
Á Í Infinitive ends with -ovat -at (mostly) -it, et, ět (mostly) Word Stem = infinitive without -ovat infinitive without -at infinitive without -it, -et, -ět
já ty on, ona, ono my vy oni Example
-uju -uješ -uje -ujeme -ujete -uji milovat já miluju
Conjugation = Word Stem + -ám -áš -á -áme -áte -ají dělat ty děláš
-ím -íš -í -íme -íte -í mluvit on mluví
There are also a lot of irregular verbs. Here are some of the most important ones:
já ty on, ona, ono my vy oni
být jsem jsi je jsme jste jsou
chtít chci chceš chce chceme chcete chtějí
mít mám máš má máme máte mají
jít jdu jdeš jde jdeme jdete jdou
Future tense
The future tense is made as follows: já ty on, ona, ono my vy oni Examples: I will love She will talk We will have
budu budeš bude budeme budete budou
budu milovat bude mluvit budeme mít 16
+ infinitive
moct můžu můžeš může můžeme můžete můžou
There are a few exceptions that have a form of their own, without using the infinitive:
já ty on, ona, ono my vy oni
být budu budeš bude budeme budete budou
jít půjdu půjdeš půjde půjdeme půjdete půjdou
jet pojedu pojedeš pojede pojedeme pojedete pojedou
Past tense
To use the past tense, you need the “l-form” of the verb. The l-form is made as follows: • take the infinitive dělat milovat • eliminate the end –t děla milova • add an –l at the end dělal miloval Some exceptions of the l-form: být byl mít měl chtít chtěl číst četl
jíst jít moct pít
mluvit mluvi mluvil
jedl šel (šla, šli) mohl pil
psát spát umřít
psal spal umřel
Then the ending of the l-form has to be adapted to the gender of the subject (similar to an adjective): Masculine singular dělal Feminine singular a dělala Neutral singular o dělalo Plural i dělali Once you have the right l-form, you can create the past tense as follows: já ty on, ona, ono my vy oni Examples: I loved She talked We had
jsem jsi the right l-form
miloval jsem mluvila měli jsme
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jsme jste
Negation
To make a verb negative, you just add ne-: • Present tense add ne- before the conjugated form of the verb. • Future tense add ne- before the conjugated form of the future tense of být (budu, budeš...) • Past tense add ne- before the l-form (NOT before the conjugated form of být!) Examples: I don’t love She will not talk We didn’t have
nemiluju nebude mluvit neměli jsme
Imperfective & perfective verbs
Czech language has two types of verbs: imperfective and perfective verbs. Imperfective verbs describe an action like a video, like an ongoing thing and concentrate on the action itself. Perfective verbs describe an action more like a picture, like something that happened at a certain time and concentrate on the result. This means that most verbs come in pairs: to read čist - přečíst to eat jíst - sníst to do dělat - udělat to paint malovat - namalovat to buy nakupovat - koupit to sell prodávat - prodat to teach učit - naučit to give dávat - dát to cook vařit - uvařit to write psát - napsat to repair opravovat - opravit to wash mýt - umýt In the beginning, you don’t need to worry about using the right type of verb to express what you mean. People will understand you. But it’s nice for you to know, so you don’t get confused; for example when you have learnt that “to write” is “psát” and then somebody is telling you it’s “napsat”… It’s both! Later, when you’ll be used to hearing more Czech around you, you’ll also develop the skills to know which type you should use in which circumstances.
Cases
You might already know that Czech uses “cases”, like German or Latin. This means that depending on the function of the word in a sentence, or which preposition it follows, the ending of the word changes. Again, this is something you don’t need to worry about when you start speaking Czech. You can just make sentences without caring about the cases and people should understand what you mean. Once you have some basic vocabulary and you’re comfortable with conjugating verbs, you can move on to learning the cases as well. Here too, you’ll benefit enormously from hearing Czech every day.
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Acknowledgements First of all, we’d like to thank Juan Hernández, AFS-student from Venezuela in 2011-2012. He’s the one who first started to make a personal dictionary, who organised all the new words he was learning into categories, who added some basic grammar rules and who was so kind to share all of his work with us, so we could make it into the guide it is now. Juan is an excellent example to show that it is truly possible for AFS-students to learn Czech. Next, we’re also grateful for the help of Petra Ferjenčíková, volunteer for AFS Czech Republic, as she devoted her time to check all of Juan’s work and to correct the mistakes. Another “thank you” goes to Martje Calliauw, EVS-volunteer at the AFS office in Prague, for compiling everything Juan sent us and working on the final lay-out of this guide. Finally, a word of appreciation to Monika Nikolová, program director of AFS Czech Republic, who did the last check-up of everything and corrected the last bits and pieces. The colour-system used to indicate the grammatical gender of the nouns is based on the textbook “New Czech Step by Step” by Lída Holá. This book was also an inspiration to explain some of the grammar issues. The basics about Czech pronounciation were mainly taken from the unilangwebsite (http://www.unilang.org/wiki/index.php/Czech_pronunciation). If you would have any comments or suggestions to improve this guide, please let us know. Together we can try to make it as useful as possible for future AFS-students. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
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Notes This page you can use to make some notes or add new words you’re learning…
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