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

Ahoj, já jsem Veronika. Hi everybody! I am Veronika.
Welcome to CzechClass101.com’s “Česky za 3 minuty”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Czech.
In the last lesson you learned the phrase Kolik to stojí? meaning “How much is it?” In this lesson you’ll learn how you can answer that question by counting crowns in Czech. In the Czech Republic, the currency is the Czech crown, koruna.
Please pay attention to this word's pronunciation.
Koruna.
Let’s try to say prices in Czech. Start by trying to say "26 crowns and 50 heller."
Dvacet šest korun a padesát halířů.
[slowly] Dvacet šest korun a padesát halířů.
Korun is the genitive plural form of koruna. We use this form with numbers starting from 5 and above. Koruna, which is the nominative, is used with “one” - Jedna koruna. Counting from two to four, you should use the form koruny, which is the plural. For example, tři koruny meaning “three crowns”.
Halíř is “one heller”. For the numbers two to four, use the form halíře. For example, dva halíře, or “two hellers”. For the numbers five and above, you should use the genitive plural form halířů. For example, thirty heller is třicet halířů in Czech.
It's really straightforward. First, you say the number of crowns, then "korun”, then the number of hellers, and finally "halířů.”
Let’s try another example:
"34 crowns and 90 hellers."
Třicet čtyři korun a devadesát halířů .
[slowly] Třicet čtyři korun a devadesát halířů.
Get ready for the next example:
"178 crowns and 90 hellers."
Sto sedmdesát osm korun a devadesát halířů.
[slowly] Sto sedmdesát osm korun a devadesát halířů.
That takes a lot of effort to say, doesn’t it! You can shorten it in two ways. First, you don’t need to say a. You also don’t have to say halířů.
Sto sedmdesát osm korun devadesát. This means “178 crowns 90”.
If it’s obvious that you are talking about crowns, you don’t even have to say korun. Just say the amount and that’s it.
Now it’s time for Veronika’s Insights.
One crown can be converted into 100 hellers. But because of deflation in recent decades, the heller coins have been abandoned and are not in use anymore. The prices in shops are still in hellers though. When you’re shopping, all the items are marked and the final bill is rounded off to crowns.
You should ask your friends in the Czech Republic if they want to go shopping with you to practice these phrases! But first you’ll have to check if they have other plans or not. Do you know how to ask that in Czech? If not, I’ll see you in the next Česky za 3 minuty lesson!
Ahoj!

Comments

Hide