Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 7 - Introducing Your Friend in Czech. Michael here.
Martin: Ahoj. I'm Martin.
Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn about introducing someone and explaining how you know each other. This conversation takes place in Tom's car. They are on the way to Tom's house.
Martin: It's between Tom, Tom’s wife Irina and Martin.
Michael: Tom and Martin are friends but Tom's wife, Irina, is meeting his friend Martin for the first time, so some of the expressions are formal but the overall tone is informal. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Tomáš: Martine, tohle je moje žena Irena.
Martin: Irena? Těší mě, já jsem Martin.
Irena: Dobrý den, Martine. Vy jste Tomův kolega a kamarád, že? Ráda Vás poznávám.
Martin: Konečně jsme se taky poznali!
Michael: Listen to the conversation one time slowly.
Tomáš: Martine, tohle je moje žena Irena.
Martin: Irena? Těší mě, já jsem Martin.
Irena: Dobrý den, Martine. Vy jste Tomův kolega a kamarád, že? Ráda Vás poznávám.
Martin: Konečně jsme se taky poznali!
Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation.
Tomáš: Martin, this is my wife Irina.
Martin: Irina? Hello, I'm Martin.
Irena: Hello, Martin. You are Tom's colleague and friend, right? Nice to meet you.
Martin: Nice to finally meet you too!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Michael: Martin, is it easy to make friends in the Czech Republic?
Martin: Yes, definitely. Czech people tend to be quite open even when they’re meeting people the first time. They’re happy to talk about their lives if they feel a new friendship clicks.
Michael: Does this mean that we can avoid formal language?
Martin: If you really want to be friends with someone, it's good to start openly and to reach the point where you both feel comfortable with dropping formal language.
Michael: This can sometimes happen very quickly, and sometimes, as you said, conversation even starts without formal language. It all depends on the situation. Martin, how can we understand when it’s okay to use informal language?
Martin: It’s very likely that if you are of a similar age, or if you are introduced through a friend, formalities will be dropped very soon.
Michael: What’s a useful sentence for making friends?
Martin: When you become friendly with someone, you could try to ask Popovídáme si u kávy?
Michael:"Shall we have a chat over coffee?" Good to know, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Martin: tohle [natural native speed]
Michael: this
Martin: tohle[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: tohle [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: moje [natural native speed]
Michael: my, mine
Martin: moje[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: moje [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: žena [natural native speed]
Michael: woman
Martin: žena[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: žena [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: kolega [natural native speed]
Michael: colleague
Martin: kolega[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: kolega [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: kamarád [natural native speed]
Michael: friend, mate
Martin: kamarád[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: kamarád [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: rád [natural native speed]
Michael: glad, pleased, delighted, happy
Martin: rád [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: rád [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: Vy [natural native speed]
Michael: you (formal)
Martin: Vy [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: Vy [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: poznávat [natural native speed]
Michael: get to know, to explore, become aware, to recognize
Martin: poznávat[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: poznávat [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: konečně [natural native speed]
Michael: finally, at last, in the end
Martin: konečně[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: konečně [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Martin: setkat se [natural native speed]
Michael: to meet, to meet up
Martin: setkat se[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Martin: setkat se [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 word is..
Martin: kamarád
Michael: meaning "friend, mate."
Martin: Listeners, please be careful because when you’re talking about a female friend, the word changes and it becomes kamarádka. On the other hand kamarádit s means “to be friends with.”
Michael:These terms are used only to describe friendship with somebody, not for an intimate relationship with a girlfriend or a boyfriend.
Martin: Czech people don't say “this is my girlfriend,” or “boyfriend,” instead, they say tohle je moje holka
Michael: Literally, “This is my girl,”
Martin: or tohle je muj kluk
Michael: “This is my boy.” Can you give us an example using the word “friend”?
Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Zuzka je moje věrná kamarádka.
Michael: ..which means "Zuzka is my loyal friend." Okay, what's the next word?
Martin: konečně
Michael: meaning "finally, at least, after all."
Martin: This is derived from the word konec which means “end.” Konečně means “finally” or “at last.” A similar word is konečný, meaning "final."
Michael: Is the use of this adverb the same as in English? For example, is it something you can use when you’re talking about something that happened after a certain time of waiting, or in the same sense as the English "after all," for example “After all, he's not alone”?
Martin: Yes, it is. Konečně is often used as an exclamation too, as in No konečně!
Michael: “Well, at last!” People would say this after having been made to wait for some time. Martin, can you give us an example using this word?
Martin: Sure. For example, you can say.. Konečně přijeli!
Michael: .. which means "They finally arrived!" Okay, what's the next word?
Martin: ...že?
Michael: meaning "...isn't it?" This word corresponds to various questions that are asked at the end of a sentence, such as "aren't you?", "isn't he?", "Isn't it?", "won't we?", "can't they?" and so on. Like in English, in this form you only use it at the end of a sentence when you’re seeking confirmation from another person.
Martin: Yes, for example Mohli by vyhrát, že?
Michael: “They could win, couldn't they?”
Martin: Or Dnes je pěkná zima, že?
Michael: .. which means "Today is really cold, isn't it?" Okay, now onto the grammar.

Lesson focus

Michael: In this lesson you'll learn how to answer the question “Can you tell me who this is?” in Czech. We will focus on introducing someone and explaining how you know each other.
Martin: When you are going to introduce somebody you can start with the phrase Tohle je…..
Michael:meaning “this is…”
Martin: or alternatively, to je… also meaning “this is” or Tohle je můj or moje...
Michael: meaning “this is my…” After this phrase you can add any name or title to start the introduction of a person.
Martin: Right. Moje, meaning “my,” refers to a female subject. Tohle je moje...could be followed by something like kolegyně
Michael: “female colleague”
Martin: maminka
Michael: “mom”
Martin: sestra
Michael: “sister”
Martin: dcera
Michael: “daughter.” And what if it’s a male subject?
Martin: Tohle je můj will be followed by something like kolega
Michael: “colleague”
Martin: bratr
Michael: “brother”
Martin: tatínek
Michael: “dad”
Martin: kamarád
Michael: “male friend.” Let’s take a look at the most important vocabulary for family members.
Martin: Please keep in mind that some of the words have both formal and informal versions.
Michael: Ok, I will give the English word and Martin will give the Czech version. Let’s start with “Parents”
Martin: Rodiče
Michael: “Mother”
Martin:Matka, or we can also use the informal Maminka, meaning “Mom.”
Michael: “Father”
Martin: Otec or we can also use the informal Tatínek, meaning “Dad.”
Michael: “Sister”
Martin: The formal form is Sestra, the informal is Ségra.
Michael: “Brother”
Martin: The formal form is Bratr, the informal is Brácha.
Michael: Listeners, you’ll find a complete list in the lesson notes. Make sure to check them out! Now let’s go ahead with the possessive pronouns. Let’s start with the first person, “I”
Martin: Já. This “I” can be translated in different ways, according to the gender of the following noun.
Michael: Let’s see in the order of masculine, feminine and neutral.
Martin: Můj pes
Michael: “my dog”
Martin: Moje kočka
Michael: “my cat”
Martin: Moje morče
Michael: “my guinea pig.” And how do you say “this is mine”?
Martin: Tohle je moje
Michael: Ok, now let’s see the second person singular “you.”
Martin: Ty. Using the same order, we would have Tvůj pes
Michael: Meaning “your dog”
Martin: Tvoje or tvá kočka
Michael: “your cat”
Martin: Tvoje or tvé morče
Michael: “your guinea pig.” What about the third person?
Martin: We have to distinguish between On meaning “he,” and Ona meaning “she.”
Michael: Ok, let’s see the same examples for “he” and “his.”
Martin: Actually, it’s always the same. Jeho pes, Jeho kočka, Jeho morče.
Michael: and for “she” and “her?”
Martin: That’s also always the same. Její pes, Její kočka, Její morče.
Michael: Ok. Let’s also quickly review the plural forms. How about “We” and “ours?”
Martin: “we” is My. Use Náš for masculine and Naše for both feminine and neutral forms.
Michael: How about “you” and “your” in the plural?
Martin: “You” is Vy and “your” is Váš for masculine and Vaše for feminine and neutral.
Michael: And “they” and “their?”
Martin: “They” is Oni. “Their” in this case is also always the same, Jejich.
Michael: Ok, let’s wrap up with some sample sentences.
Martin: Sure thing! Firstly, Tohle je náš dům.
Michael: "This is our house."
Martin: Tady je jeho maminka.
Michael: "Here is his mom."
Martin: Radka je moje spolužačka.
Michael: "Radka is my classmate."

Outro

Michael: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Martin: Děkuji.

Comments

Hide