Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 7 - Rules Have to be Followed in Czech Republic
INTRODUCTION
Michael: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CzechClass101.com This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 7 - Rules Have to be Followed in the Czech Republic. Michael, here.
Veronika: Ahoj, I'm Veronika.
Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about expressing agreement or disagreement politely. The conversation takes place in a street.
Veronika: It's between Vojtech Vydra and Jozefina Jerabkova.
Michael: The speakers are strangers, therefore, they will speak both formal and informal Czech. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Vojtěch Vydra: Dobrý den, paní řidičko. Tady nesmíte parkovat, to je pěší zóna.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Dobrý den, pane strážníku. Omlouvám se. Myslela jsem, že tu smím zaparkovat. Nejsem z Prahy...
Vojtěch Vydra: Neznalost neomlová! To bude pokuta 500 (pět set) korun. Smím vidět vaše jízdní doklady.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Pokuta? Vždyť se nic nestalo. Nemůžete udělat výjimku?
Vojtěch Vydra: Buďte ráda za pokutu, mohli jsme také vaše auto odtáhnout. To by bylo dražší. Ukažte mi ty doklady!
Jozefína Jeřábková: Dobrá, souhlasím, pokuta je lepší než odtažené auto. Tady je můj řidičský průkaz.
Vojtěch Vydra: [čte] Slečna Jeřábková... Koukám, že neřídíte příliš dlouho.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Ano, řidičák jsem dostala nedávno. Jsou to dva roky. V Praze autem jsem poprvé.
Vojtěch Vydra: Poprvé? No tak dobře, já přivřu oči. Pro jednou... Dnes to bude bez pokuty. Smíte odjet.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Děkuji Vám! Víckrát se to nestane.
Michael: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Vojtěch Vydra: Dobrý den, paní řidičko. Tady nesmíte parkovat, to je pěší zóna.
Michael: Good morning, ma'am. You are not allowed to park here, it is a pedestrian zone.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Dobrý den, pane strážníku. Omlouvám se. Myslela jsem, že tu smím zaparkovat. Nejsem z Prahy...
Michael: Good morning, Officer. I am sorry. I thought I was allowed to park here. I am not from Prague…
Vojtěch Vydra: Neznalost neomlová! To bude pokuta 500 (pět set) korun. Smím vidět vaše jízdní doklady.
Michael: Ignorance is no excuse. It will be a fine of 500 crowns. May I see your driving documents?
Jozefína Jeřábková: Pokuta? Vždyť se nic nestalo. Nemůžete udělat výjimku?
Michael: Fine? After all, nothing happened! Can't you make an exception?
Vojtěch Vydra: Buďte ráda za pokutu, mohli jsme také vaše auto odtáhnout. To by bylo dražší. Ukažte mi ty doklady!
Michael: Be glad for the fine, we could also tow away your car. That would be more expensive. Show me your documents!
JOZEFÍNA JEŘÁBKOV: Dobrá, souhlasím, pokuta je lepší než odtažené auto. Tady je můj řidičský průkaz.
Michael: Well, I agree, the fine is better than a towed car. Here is my driver's license.
Vojtěch Vydra: [čte] Slečna Jeřábková... Koukám, že neřídíte příliš dlouho.
Michael: [reads] Ms. Jeřábková... I see that you haven't driven for a long time.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Ano, řidičák jsem dostala nedávno. Jsou to dva roky. V Praze autem jsem poprvé.
Michael: Yes, I obtained my driving license recently. It has been two years. It's my first time in Prague by car.
Vojtěch Vydra: Poprvé? No tak dobře, já přivřu oči. Pro jednou... Dnes to bude bez pokuty. Smíte odjet.
Michael: For the first time? Okay, so I will narrow my eyes. For once. Today there will be no fine. You may go.
Jozefína Jeřábková: Děkuji Vám! Víckrát se to nestane.
Michael: Thank you! It will not happen again.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Michael: In the Czech Republic, there is a difference between surnames used by men and women. In recent years women have begun to become interested in choosing a male surname.
Veronika: Unfortunately, current legislation prevents this.
Michael: As the world becomes more and more globalized, more and more women work on the global stage. Having a female surname can cause unnecessary problems.
Veronika: In some states, authorities don't understand that spouses have different surnames, such as Novák and Nováková.
Michael: This is why so many women are now against this tradition of adding a suffix to the end of their surname when they get married.
Veronika: Yes, the suffix is -ová.
Michael: Historically, this means "belonging to a husband." However, it does have a grammatical function.
Veronika: It helps us understand the subject in a sentence.
Michael: There are now plenty of women in the Czech public sphere that don't use these types of surnames.
Veronika: Such as Emma Smetana, Eliška Kaplicky, Kateřina Jacques and Karolína Peake.
Michael: There doesn't seem to be any issues with them doing this! Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Michael: Let's take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Veronika: řidička [natural native speed]
Michael: female driver
Veronika: řidička[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: řidička [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: strážník [natural native speed]
Michael: police officer
Veronika: strážník[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: strážník [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: pěší zóna [natural native speed]
Michael: pedestrian zone
Veronika: pěší zóna[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: pěší zóna [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: výjimka [natural native speed]
Michael: exception
Veronika: výjimka[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: výjimka [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: omlouvat se [natural native speed]
Michael: apologize
Veronika: omlouvat se[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: omlouvat se [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: pokuta [natural native speed]
Michael: fine
Veronika: pokuta[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: pokuta [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: řidičský průkaz, řidičák (informal) [natural native speed]
Michael: driver's license
Veronika: řidičský průkaz [slowly - broken down by syllable] then [natural native speed]
Veronika: řidičák (informal) [slowly - broken down by syllable] then [natural native speed]
Michael: Next we have..
Veronika: odtáhnout [natural native speed]
Michael: to tow away
Veronika: odtáhnout[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: odtáhnout [natural native speed]
Michael: And lastly..
Veronika: přivřít [natural native speed]
Michael: to pull, to turn down, to set ajar
Veronika: přivřít[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Veronika: přivřít [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: Neznalost zákona neomlouvá.
Michael: meaning "Ignorance of the law is no excuse"
Michael: This phrase means that you can't defend your actions by claiming that you don't know what the law is.
Veronika: The Czech expression is used in the same way as the English one.
Michael: You say it to someone who is breaking the law without knowing it.
Veronika: That's right.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Neznalost zákona tě neomlouvá.
Michael: ..which means "Ignorance of the law does not excuse you."
Michael: Okay, what's the next phrase?
Veronika: přivřít oči
Michael: meaning "to narrow one's eyes, to tolerate something "
Michael: The literal meaning is to narrow your eyes.
Veronika: Think of narrowing your eyes so that you don't see something.
Michael: Yes, you're intentionally overlooking something so you're tolerating it. There is a verbal prefix in this phrase.
Veronika: při
Michael: This means to almost close something.
Veronika: The phrase is used to tolerate something that isn't right.
Michael: Can you give us an example using this phrase?
Veronika: Sure. For example, you can say.. Učitel přivřel oči a nechal studenta projít.
Michael: .. which means "The teacher narrowed his eyes and let the student pass."
Michael: Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Michael: In this lesson, you'll learn about expressing agreement or disagreement politely.
Michael: To begin with, we look at using the Czech modal verb that means "may" or "be allowed to." What is this verb, Veronika?
Veronika: smět
Michael: You can use this to express warning or for permission. It's followed by another verb in infinitive.
Veronika: The verb smět is very similar to another modal verb - moct.
Michael: This means "can, be able to." However, it is less formal and polite. Let's hear some examples.
Veronika: Můžu něco namítnout?
Michael: "Can I object?"
Veronika: Smím něco namítnout?
Michael: "May I object?"
Veronika: Smíš jít ven, nebo musíš zůstat doma?
Michael: "Are you allowed to go out, or do you have to stay home?"
Veronika: Malé děti nesmí samy přecházet ulici.
Michael: "Young children are not allowed to cross the street alone." The lesson notes have a conjugation table so make sure you check it out! Next we'll look at the vocative case.
Veronika: In Czech, we call this vokativ or pátý pád.
Michael: It's used to address people or pets. It's not normally used for objects, unless the speaker wants to personalize them. In writing, the vocative form is always separated by commas and nouns in singular change their form in vocative, however, nouns in plural stay the same as in nominative.
Veronika: When addressing people by their profession we use pan "Mr." or paní "Mrs."
Michael: To form the vocative of nouns depends on their gender and whether they are hard or soft nouns.
Veronika: The ending of the nouns also affects this.
Michael: The lesson notes have the full details of this. Veronika, can we hear some example sentences?
Veronika: Pane profesore, můžete to zopakovat?
Michael: "Mr. Professor, can you repeat it?"
Veronika: Nesouhlasím s tebou, Jitko!
Michael: "I don't agree with you, Jitka!"
Veronika: Milí kolegové, prosím o vaši pozornost.
Michael: "Dear colleagues, may I have your attention, please." Finally, let's look at female nouns when it comes to professions and nationalities.
Veronika: Male and female nouns are treated differently.
Michael: Female nouns are derived from male nouns, but have additional suffixes.
Veronika: These are -ka, -ice, -yně
Michael: Let's hear some examples. First Veronika will say the male word and then the female one.
Veronika: profesor, profesorka
Michael: "professor"
Veronika: řezník, řeznice
Michael: "butcher"
Veronika: Řek, Řekyně
Michael: "Greek." Most Czech female first names are also derived from male equivalents.
Veronika: We just add -a. For example, Roman and Romana.
Michael: The forms of female surnames are most often created for historical and linguistic reasons by deviating from male surnames. In Czech, this is usually performed with the special suffixes:
Veronika: -ová, -á
Michael: Let's hear an example. Male first, female second.
Veronika: doktor Říha, doktorka Říhová
Michael: Thank you, Veronika!

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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