Hello! I wanted to post this on r/learnczech but I currently don’t have posting abilities for that sub. I just started studying Czech, and I wanted to make sure this exchange I wrote is correct.

I know it’s a little awkward (asking someone if they speak English and then continuing in Czech doesn’t sound natural, of course) but I’m mostly concerned with the grammar. Czech speakers, please correct my mistakes! 🙏

by manderlyz

13 comments

  1. anglický -> anglicky

    Ste -> Jste

    český -> česky

    mluvite -> mluvíte

    Je tady -> Tady je

    Just small mistakes, it’s alright overall. Very impressive 🙂

  2. 1. anglicky (normal Y at the end)
    2. I would add “mluvím trochu česky” and ste -> jste
    3. again “česky” (normal Y, or so called short Y)
    4. Ok
    5. Ok
    6. Je tady -> tady je (not grammar mistake, just sounds bit better)
    7. a 8. Ok

    But i was just nictpicking small details, your version is absolutely fine and everyone would understand.

  3. 2nd B: *”Jste”*

    3rd A and B is off.

    You are asking “Is Venceslas Square here?” as if it was a person or an object. The reply also indicates it’s a person.

    *A: Je toto Václavské náměstí?*

    *B: Ne, toto je Vodičkova ulice.*

    Also, “Na shledanou”, two words.

    EDIT: Grammar

  4. ČeskY. ČeskÝ with Ý is an adjective. Mluvíte dobře česky X Český prezident. The same with anglický and anglicky. Anglicky means to speak English, Anglický is an adjective.

    Jste Američan. Ste is incorrect. You can colloquially say [ste], but jste is the correct written form.

  5. A anglicky

    B Nejsem together. Jste

    A česky

    B Mluvíte

    A everything correct

    B Tady je instead of Je tady (this would be used in a question). Václavské náměstí je tam sounds a bit weird, I’d say támhle

  6. A: …mluvíte anglick**y**?

    B: *(Did you mean to say “I’m not an American” or “No, I’m an American”???)* **Nejsem** Američanka, ale.. **J**ste Američan?

    A: …rozumím česk**y**….

    B: Mluv**í**te..

    A: *It’s better to say* “Je tohle/toto Václavské náměstí?”

    B: *It’s better to say* “Ne, není. Tohle/toto je Vodičkova ulice. Václavské náměstí je tam/támhle.”

    A and B: Na shledanou (two words)

  7. 1. anglicky (short y), “anglický” is an adjective so e.g. anglický herec -> english actor
    2. Jste Američan. (And not sure whether the sentence means what you want it to mean -> “I am an American but I speak a little bit” (and since 1) asks whether B speaks english…))
    3. Technically correct, but sounds unnatural. Better would be something like “Ano, česky moc nerozumím.”
    4. Mluvíte (long i)

    5+6) Technically correct, but very unnatural. I think the issue might be in too literal translation of “there is” English phrase. A: “Je toto Václavské námestí?” (Is this the V. square?), B) “Není (no “tady” here), toto je Vodičkova ulice. Václavské náměstí je tam” (No, this is V. street. V. square is over there).

    Edit: As for the “unnatural parts”, I suppose the whole exchange is some textbook/duolinog exercise and in that context, your translations were quite fine, it’s just that the textbook exercises do not always correspond to the normal usage of the language.

  8. I’ll add one more thing, and that’s the word order. Now don’t get discouraged by that, that would be a high level of proficiency, but it should go something like this:

    Nejsem Američanka, ale trochu ano. / trochu anglicky mluvím.

    Děkuji. Václavské náměstí je tady?

    Tady ne. Tady je Vodičkova ulice. / Tohle je Vodičkova ulice.

  9. Better than the Vietnamese people at the local evening store

  10. A – anglicky

    B – nejsem, jste

    But it’s better to say something like “Nejsem Američanka, ale trochu ano.”

    A – česky

    B – mluvíte

    A – It’s better to say “tohle” instead of “tady”

    B – It’s better to say something like “Ne. Tohle je Vodičkova ulice. Václavské náměstí je támhle.”

    A – Na shledanou

    B – Na shledanou

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