Learn about the Dative case
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 18 - Christmas in the Czech Republic. Michael, here. |
| Veronika: Ahoj I'm Veronika. |
| Michael: In this lesson, you’ll learn the singular and plural dative cases. The conversation takes place in a classroom. |
| Veronika: Jozefina Jerabkova is speaking. |
| Michael: She is speaking to her classmates, so she will speak formal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Dnes vám představím, jak moje rodina slaví Vánoce. Díky vánočním dárkům se Vánoce nejvíce líbí dětem. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Zaprvé dárky. Ty nosí Ježíšek. Děti píší Ježíškovi, jaké by chtěly dárky pod stromeček. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Zadruhé, jídlo. Každý rok pomáhám babičkám péct cukroví. Cukroví pak jíme celé vánoční prázdniny. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Důležité je, že podle tradice na Štědrý den k obědu nejíme maso. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: K večeři máme smaženého kapra a tradiční bramborový salát. Kdo nemá rád kapra, má k večeři řízek. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Po večeři jde celá rodina ke stromečku, rozdáváme si dárky a zpíváme koledy. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Poté se celá rodina koukáme na nějakou pohádku v televizi. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Potom jdou malé děti spát a dospělí členové rodiny pokračují do kostela na mši. Tam Štědrý večer končí. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Děkuji za pozornost. Máte nějaké otázky? |
| Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Dnes vám představím, jak moje rodina slaví Vánoce. Díky vánočním dárkům se Vánoce nejvíce líbí dětem. |
| Michael: Today, I will present to you how my family celebrates Christmas. Thanks to Christmas presents, children like Christmas the most. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Zaprvé dárky. Ty nosí Ježíšek. Děti píší Ježíškovi, jaké by chtěly dárky pod stromeček. |
| Michael: First, gifts. Ježíšek (Baby Jesus) brings the presents. Children write to Ježíšek about what presents they would like to get under the tree. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Zadruhé, jídlo. Každý rok pomáhám babičkám péct cukroví. Cukroví pak jíme celé vánoční prázdniny. |
| Michael: Secondly, the food. Every year I help my grandmothers to bake Christmas cookies. Then we eat the cookies during the entire Christmas holidays. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Důležité je, že podle tradice na Štědrý den k obědu nejíme maso. |
| Michael: The important thing is that, according to the tradition, on Christmas Day, we don't eat meat for lunch. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: K večeři máme smaženého kapra a tradiční bramborový salát. Kdo nemá rád kapra, má k večeři řízek. |
| Michael: For dinner we have fried carp and traditional potato salad. Whoever doesn't like carp has schnitzel for dinner. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Po večeři jde celá rodina ke stromečku, rozdáváme si dárky a zpíváme koledy. |
| Michael: After dinner, the whole family goes to the tree. We give presents to each other and sing carols. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Poté se celá rodina koukáme na nějakou pohádku v televizi. |
| Michael: Then the whole family watches a fairy tale on television. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Potom jdou malé děti spát a dospělí členové rodiny pokračují do kostela na mši. Tam Štědrý večer končí. |
| Michael: Then small children go to bed and adult family members continue to church for Mass. There, Christmas Eve ends. |
| JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOVÁ: Děkuji za pozornost. Máte nějaké otázky? |
| Michael: Thank you for your attention. Do you have any questions? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Michael: Can you tell us more about Christmas in the Czech Republic? |
| Veronika: The whole family gathers together for dinner on Štědrý večer. |
| Michael: “Christmas Eve.” |
| Veronika: It’s considered unlucky to get up from the table, so the table is loaded with food and sweets. |
| Michael: What is the traditional Czech meal? |
| Veronika: It’s fried carp with potato salad and fish soup. One symbol of a Czech Christmas is vánoční cukroví. |
| Michael: I know these, they’re special sweets that are baked by almost every family. Most Christmas sweets in the Czech Republic are prepared by baking from a mixture of flour, sugar, eggs and butter. |
| Veronika: With the additional aromas of vanilla, rum, and cinnamon. Think of sweets like gingerbread and vanilla rolls. |
| Michael: How do presents fit into a Czech Christmas? |
| Veronika: After Christmas dinner, a bell is run which means that Ježíšek has left presents under the tree. |
| Michael: Oh, so it’s “baby Jesus” that leaves presents. What do families usually do after the gift opening? |
| Veronika: Watch a Czech TV fairytale, such as Tři oříšky pro Popelku. |
| Michael: “Three Wishes for Cinderella.” After this, families attend midnight mass. Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Michael: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Veronika: představit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: to present, to introduce |
| Veronika: představit[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: představit [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: Vánoce [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Christmas |
| Veronika: Vánoce[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: Vánoce [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: stromeček [natural native speed] |
| Michael: little tree |
| Veronika: stromeček[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: stromeček [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: cukroví [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Christmas sweets, cookies |
| Veronika: cukroví[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: cukroví [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: tradice [natural native speed] |
| Michael: tradition |
| Veronika: tradice[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: tradice [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: štědrý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: generous |
| Veronika: štědrý[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: štědrý [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: kapr [natural native speed] |
| Michael: carp |
| Veronika: kapr[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: kapr [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: koleda [natural native speed] |
| Michael: carol |
| Veronika: koleda[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: koleda [natural native speed] |
| Michael: Next we have.. |
| Veronika: pohádka [natural native speed] |
| Michael: fairytale |
| Veronika: pohádka[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: pohádka [natural native speed] |
| Michael: And last.. |
| Veronika: pozornost [natural native speed] |
| Michael: attention |
| Veronika: pozornost[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Veronika: pozornost [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: Představím vám... |
| Michael: meaning "I will present you" |
| Michael: In this phrase, the subject “I” is not expressed. We use the pronoun |
| Veronika: vám |
| Michael: when speaking to multiple people or when using the polite form of address. This phrase is used when introducing someone or something to others. |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Představím vám svou ženu. |
| Michael: ..which means "I will introduce you to my wife." |
| Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Veronika: Děkuji vám/ti za pozornost. |
| Michael: meaning "Thank you for your attention." |
| Michael: Again, in this phrase the subject “I” is not expressed. This is also another case where |
| Veronika: vám |
| Michael: is used when speaking to multiple people or when using the polite form of address. When speaking to only one person you’re on first-name terms with, you should use |
| Veronika: ti |
| Michael: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Srdečně vám děkuji za vaši pozornost. |
| Michael: .. which means "Thank you very much for your attention." |
| Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about the singular and plural dative cases. |
| Michael: How do we say “dative case” in Czech? |
| Veronika: třetí pád or dativ |
| Michael: The dative case is most frequently used as the indirect object of a verb. This means that the dative expresses the “receiver” or “experiencer” after verbs such as: |
| Veronika: dát |
| Michael: “to give” |
| Veronika: říct |
| Michael: “to tell, to say.” For example: |
| Veronika: Děti píší dopis Ježíškovi. |
| Michael: “Children write a letter to Ježíšek.” |
| Veronika: Policie dala řidiči pokutu. |
| Michael: “The police officer gave a ticket to the driver.” The dative answers the questions: |
| Veronika: komu |
| Michael: “to whom?” |
| Veronika: Čemu? |
| Michael: “to what?” The dative case also follows after several prepositions, for example: |
| Veronika: k(e) |
| Michael: “towards, to” |
| Veronika: naproti |
| Michael: “opposite” |
| Veronika: díky |
| Michael: “thanks to” |
| Veronika: kvůli |
| Michael: “because of, due to.” For example: |
| Veronika: Na Vánoce chodíme k babičce. |
| Michael: “We go to grandma's for Christmas.” |
| Veronika: Naproti pekařství je obchod s potravinami. |
| Michael: “Opposite the bakery is a grocery store.” The dative case also follows after certain verbs, such as: |
| Veronika: rozumět |
| Michael: “to understand” |
| Veronika: děkovat |
| Michael: “to thank” |
| Veronika: pomáhat |
| Michael: “to help” |
| Veronika: věřit |
| Michael: “to believe.” Let’s hear some examples of these: |
| Veronika: Holčička poděkovala mamince za dárek. |
| Michael: “The little girl thanked her mother for the gift.” |
| Veronika: Věřila jeho slibu. |
| Michael: “She believed his promise.” If you check the lesson notes you’ll find a declension table with the dative endings for singular nouns. Note the compulsory consonant alternation of the feminine nouns according to the pattern: |
| Veronika: žena |
| Michael: The forms of the plural dative nouns are different to the singular ones. There is also a declension table for these in the lesson notes, as well as one for the dative endings for demonstrative, possessive pronouns and adjectives in singular and plural. Let’s hear some more examples: |
| Veronika: Půjdu k mým dobrým kamarádům. |
| Michael: “I will go to my good friends.” |
| Veronika: Naproti našemu starému domu je velká garáž. |
| Michael: “Opposite our old house is a big garage” |
| Veronika: Koupili jsme dárky svým malým dcerám. |
| Michael: “We bought presents for your little daughters.” Personal pronouns also change their form in the dative case. For example: |
| Veronika: Zavolám ti. |
| Michael: “I will call you.” |
| Veronika: Rodiče mu dali nové auto. |
| Michael: “Parents gave him a new car.” |
| Veronika: Jejich děti jim pomohly. |
| Michael: “Their children helped them.” Now, let’s look at how to identify and use pluralia tantum nouns. These nouns only have a plural form even though they refer to a single object. In Czech, they are called: |
| Veronika: pomnožná podstatná jména |
| Michael: They are always combined with plural forms of verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. As we heard in lesson 14 of this series, most of these nouns are proper nouns. However, they can also be used to denominate other things such as body parts, like: |
| Veronika: záda |
| Michael: “back, backs.” They can also be used for clothing, for example: |
| Veronika: kalhoty |
| Michael: “pants.” Also, holidays and important dates, such as: |
| Veronika: Vánoce |
| Michael: “Christmas.” And finally, some other objects like: |
| Veronika: dveře |
| Michael: “door, doors.” Pluralia tantum nouns are often difficult to classify in terms of gender, however most plural local names are feminine or inanimate masculine forms. The lesson notes have a declension table for some chosen pluralia tantum nouns. Let’s finish this lesson by hearing some example sentences: |
| Veronika: Stříhal papír nůžkami. |
| Michael: “He was cutting the paper with scissors.” |
| Veronika: Moucha mu vletěla do úst. |
| Michael: “A fly flew into his mouth.” |
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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