Basic phrases in Czech. Czech language - is it easy to learn? Will Czechs understand Russian?

Therefore, remembering some of school curriculum one of the European languages, getting directions if you get lost in the narrow streets of Prague is not a problem. Almost all restaurants and pubs have a menu in English or at least one waiter who speaks good English, the same is true with shops, a little worse with. And, fortunately for tourists from Russia, most of The older generation of native Prague residents understands and speaks Russian quite well, thanks to our common socialist past. In general, you can go to Prague even without knowing the Czech language - in any situation there will be an opportunity to explain yourself and understand your interlocutor.

However, when going on vacation, it is always better to know a few of the most necessary expressions and words in the language of the country you are going to. The easiest way, perhaps, is to buy a small phrasebook, or select the phrases you think you need on the Internet before leaving. If you didn’t remember this in time, or simply didn’t have enough time, here is a small selection of simple phrases and words that may be useful to you during your holidays in beautiful Prague.

Words and expressions that will definitely be useful to you (stressed vowels are in bold):

Phrases that may be useful when shopping:

Phrases that will help you navigate the city:

Phrases we hope you won't need:

Czech, along with Russian, Finnish and Thai, is considered one of the most complex languages in the world. Czech, like Russian, is a Slavic language, however, despite this, for Russian ears the Czech language is quite unusual in the presence of a large number of consonants, and in some Czech words there are no vowels at all: for example, finger - prst, neck - krk, and the wolf is vlk. Also, many Czech words and their meanings may seem funny to you, or may even confuse you:

What prompted me to think about this issue is that it is believed that the Czech language is very easy for students from the countries of the former CIS to learn. In this article I will try to talk about the arguments both for and against. By the way, I have been studying languages ​​for a long time - I studied at school with in-depth study English, I even won a couple of Olympiads, I took French and German courses for a couple of years (and I still remember a little of them), I taught at the institute Spanish- in general, you can trust me :)

First, I would like to talk about a couple of myths, where they come from and confirm/refute them.

Myth one. The Czech language is very easy, like Russian, only in Latin letters.

The Czech Republic is a fairly attractive country for tourists. Of course, the main flow of tourists goes to Prague. She is especially popular center. Entrepreneurs are not fools at all, so their services provide on different languages . Russian, English - including. An unprepared person will draw his first conclusions here after hearing Russian speech and seeing many signs. In fact, this is, nevertheless, a purely tourist place, and drawing conclusions here is stupid.

Those who are lucky enough to get outside of Prague will also not experience huge problems. For example, what can be seen in Poděbrady - the words “museum”, “církev”, “ostrov” (see the sign on the right) - are quite clear, and if something is not clear, you can guess it from the pictogram. From this we can also conclude that Czech is very clear language, However, it is not. In fact, all signs are made in order to attract the maximum number of people, so they are written as simply as possible. In such cases, international variants of words are often used.

In fact, the vocabulary hidden from tourist eyes is not as easy as it might seem. For those who want to try their hand at understanding Czech texts right away, you can try reading the news on http://ihned.cz/ - it’s unlikely to be very easy.

Speaking of what language Czech is similar to - it is similar only in Slovak. With the others there is only similarity, which does not always help, and more often it only hinders.

Myth two. You can learn Czech quickly.

This myth is born mainly among those who have already tried to start learning this language. And it’s hard to argue here - the first period of study is quite easy for Russian-speaking students - in the first month of our study, almost everyone had excellent grades.

Then, very often, everything falls into place - the grammar becomes complex. The main problem (for me personally) is the frequent illogicality. If a rule applies in one case, it is not a fact that it can be applied in another. However, this feature is inherent in many Slavic languages, including Russian.

The test results at the end of the year are proof of my words. Rare student more than 90%. As for admission to top universities in Prague, I’m just silent.

Myth four. I am a techie (doctor/lawyer/athlete/idiot), I won’t need Czech in my profession.

(If you want to find out whether a Czech student can work -!).

Everything here is also quite controversial. Firstly, working in the Czech Republic without knowing the Czech language is strange, to say the least. Secondly, you need to be very lucky to immediately get to a foreign country like this. Thirdly, you need to learn, but here you can’t live without a language - foreign students have the same rights as Czech students (and, therefore, the same responsibilities), which means that studies will take place in Czech. And in the end, sooner or later you will also want to talk to someone.

One of the subtypes of this myth is the myth that knowing English is enough here. I admit, I thought so too. It seemed to me that if I knew the language, then everyone knew it too. And this is Europe, civilization. Oh, how wrong I was. English language, mostly educated people know, which means they are unlikely to help you in everyday tasks - in shops, banks, at the post office - everything is in Czech. And if suddenly a person knows English, this is also unlikely to help you. Usually, it was taught at school and forgotten without practice, so you won’t be able to show off your knowledge.

It just so happens that I am now (yes, which is the antivirus). The working language is English; you can also speak Czech with colleagues. Do you think there are many techies here who boast that language is just a tool? In a nutshell: if you don’t know the language, well done, go work where you don’t need to communicate.

Well, I guess I talked about myths. Now, I think it’s worth talking about the Czech language and looking at it with my Russian-speaking eyes :)

Czech language belongs to Indo-European family(like Hindi, Farsi, Spanish - do you think they are all similar?). This is a very large group of languages, and they are quite different. Czech belongs to the Slavic group of languages ​​(that is, it still has something in common with Russian), and more precisely, to the West Slavic group (together with Slovak and Polish, which actually already have a lot in common with Czech).

Czechs write in Latin letters with diacritics. There are 3 diacritics: charka (á), gachek (č) and krouzek (ů). There are 42 letters in the Czech alphabet, it is very easy to begin to understand the Czech letter.

Now - about the difficulties that any Russian-speaking student will most likely encounter.

1) False friends of the translator

This phenomenon has been known for a long time. For example, the word “město” (read as mnesto) is translated as city. Everyone will definitely come across the word “pozor” (read as disgrace) - this is a call to be more attentive. In fact, it happens very often, so it’s a shame!

As you can see in the picture, there are a lot of them. There is no need to learn everything; it comes naturally with the experience of living in a particular place. In Russia the situation is different, on Far East You will most likely be understood just as well as in Moscow (if they still speak Russian in Moscow 🙂).

On the other side, single standard, nevertheless, exists - it is what is studied in schools, universities, and used in official documents.

5) Ignorance of Czech realities and history

From my own experience, knowing these things is very important for learning a language. Sometimes only history helps to understand why a word is called one way and not another. And knowledge of realities recent years In general, it is necessary - in order to understand peers.

So, let's summarize. Czech is a difficult language. Only Slovaks understand it relatively easily; the rest need to work on themselves. Knowledge of the Russian language does not always help, and even more often it confuses. Knowing English helps very little. On the other hand, if you use this knowledge correctly, success in learning Czech is much easier to achieve. It is worth learning a language (any language) in the country in which it is spoken. However, if it is not needed for practical application, but as a hobby, you can do it at home. It’s also worth saying that you shouldn’t judge the Czech Republic and the Czech language by the center of Prague - there are a lot of interesting things around, take it at least.

Today, learning the Czech language is gradually becoming fashionable among our compatriots. And the reason for this, not least of all, is the fact that Czech belongs to the Western Slavic language group, which means it has a lot in common with Russian. Literally after a few minutes of being in the Czech Republic you will begin to understand the meaning of many signs, the meaning of individual words and expressions, and after a few days you will probably be able to exchange a few phrases with local residents.
Those who also know another Slavic language, such as Ukrainian, will be especially lucky: these travelers will be able to almost freely understand most conversations on everyday topics.
And yet, before plunging into the language environment, let's take a closer look at its features.

All Slavic languages ​​have one common source - the Old Church Slavonic language, which was spread by the well-known Cyril and Methodius. However, if the Russian alphabet inherited the so-called Cyrillic writing of letters, then in the Czech Republic, as a European country, they began to use the Latin alphabet, adapting it to the peculiarities of the local pre-existing language using superscripts - apostrophes and acutes. Apostrophes were placed above consonants to indicate their hardness (for example, the word lekař (doctor) sounds like “doctor”) and above the vowel “e” to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant. Acutes, which look like an accent mark, to denote long vowels (á, é, í, ó, ý). To indicate a long “u”, a small circle (ů) was placed above it. These rules exist in the Czech language to this day.
Unlike Russian, the Czech language has retained a large number of archaic forms. For example, in addition to the six main cases of nouns, it also has the so-called vocative case form, the analogue of which in Russian is appeal.

A few words about the peculiarities of pronunciation in the Czech language. First of all, it should be noted that, unlike Russian, the stress here always falls on the first syllable (in polysyllabic words there is an additional stress). Now about what sounds correspond to individual letters:
the letter “c” corresponds to the sound [ts],
č is pronounced like [h],
the combination of letters ch means one sound [x],
the sound of the letter “h” resembles the Ukrainian [g], which in Russian is preserved in the exclamation “Wow!”
“ř” means either the sound [рж] or [рш], depending on its position in the word,
“š” sounds like [sh],
“ž” sounds like [zh],
"j" sounds like [th],
the letter “ň” corresponds to the sound [н].
In addition, there are a huge number of nuances associated with pronunciation, which are simply not possible to talk about in one article.

It would be nice, of course, to know a few words and expressions that can be useful in different situations when communicating with the staff of a hotel, restaurant, store and others.
Here's a small one phrasebook, containing the most common of them:

Everyday
Good morning! Good morning! [Good early!]
Good afternoon Good day! [Goodbye Dan!]
How are/are you doing? Jak se mate/maš? [Yak se mate/mash?]
Thank you, good Děkuji, dobře [Děkuji, kinder]
My name is... Jmenuji se... [Ymenui se...]
Goodbye! Na shledanou! [Na shladanou!]
Morning Ráno [Early]
Afternoon Odpoledne [Odpoledne]
Evening Večer [Evening]
Night Noc [Noc]
Today Dnes [Dnes]
Yesterday Včera [Yesterday]
Tomorrow Zitra [Zitra]
Do you speak Russian (English, German)? Mluvíte ruština (anglicky, německy?) [Mluvite ruština (English, German)?]
I don’t understand Nerozumím [Ne rosumim]
Please repeat again Řekněte to ještě jadnou, prosim [Rzhekněte to ishte ednou we ask]
Thank you Děkuji
Please Prosim [We ask]
Who/what Kdo/co [Gdo/co]
Which Jaký [Yaki]
Where/where Kde/kam [Where/kam]
How/how much Jak/kolik [Yak/kolik]
How long/when? Jak dlouho / kdy? [Yak dlougo/gdy]
Why? Proč? [Other?]
How is this in Czech? Jak ten to česky? [Yak ten to cheski?]
Can you help me? Můžete mi pomoci? [Muzhete mi pomotsi?]
Yes/no Ano/ne [Ano/not]
Sorry Promiňte [Prominte]

Tourist
Do they provide information to tourists here? Je tu turistiká informace? [Ie tu tourist information?]
I need a city plan / list of hotels Máte plan města / seznam hotelů? [Mate plan for the place / I wanted to]
When does the museum/church/exhibition open? Kdy je otevřeny museum/kostel/výstava? [Where are the museum/church/exhibitions?]

In the shop
Where can I find… ? Kde dostanu… ? [Where can I get it...?]
What is the price? Kolik to stoji? [How long are you standing?]
It's too expensive To je moc drahé [To je moc drahé]
Don't/like Ne/libi [Ne/libi]
Do you have this item in a different color/size? Máte to ještě v jiné barvě/velikosti? [Mate to yestje in ine barvier/greatness?]
I take it Vezmu si to [Vezmu si to]
Give me 100 g of cheese / 1 kg of oranges Dejte mi deset deka sýra / jadno kilo pomerančů [Dejte mi deset deka sýra / jadno kilo pomerančů]
Do you have newspapers? Máte noviny? [Mate new?]

At the restaurant
Menu please Jidelní listek, prosím [Jdelní listek we ask]
Bread Chléb [Bread]
Tea Čaj [Tea]
Coffee Káva [Kava]
With milk/sugar S mlékem/cukrem [With mlek/cukrem]
Orange juice Pomerančova št’áva [Pomerančova shtiava]
White/red/rosé wine Vino bile/Červené/Růžové [Wine bile/Červené/Růžové]
Lemonade Limonada [Lemonade]
Beer Pivo [Beer]
Water Voda [Water]
Mineral water Mineralní voda [Minerania water]
Soup Polevka [Polevka]
Fish Ryba [Fish]
Meat Maso [Maso]
Salad Salát [Salad]
Dessert Dezert [Dezert]
Fruit Ovoce [Ovoce]
Ice cream Zmrzlina [Zmrzlina]
Breakfast Snidaně [Snidaně]
Lunch Oběd [Lunch]
Dinner Večeře [Večerzhe]
Invoice, please Účet prosím [Account, please]

At the hotel
I booked a room with you Mám u vás reservaci [Mam you have reserve]
Is there a double room? Máte volný dvoulůžkovy pokoj? [Mate are free to peace of mind?]
With a balcony S balkónem? [With balcony]
With shower and toilet Se sprchou a WC [Se sprchou a vetse]
What is the room rate per night? Kolik stojí pokoj na noc? [Kolik stand still at night?]
With breakfast? Se snidani? [Se nidanim?]
Can I have a look around the room? Mohu se podívat na pokoj? [Can I go to rest?]
Is there another room? Máte ještě jiný pokoj? [Mate is still in peace?]
Where can I park? Kde mohu parkovat? [Where can I park?]
Bring my luggage please Můžete donést moje zavazadlo na pokoj prosím? [Muzhete mi donest moi zavazadlo ask for peace?]

Different situations
Where is the bank/exchange office? Kde je tady bank / vyméný punkt? [Where is the bank/exchange point?]
Where's the phone? Kdye mogu telefonovat? [Where can I phone?]
Where can I buy a calling card? Kde mohu dostat telefonni kartu? [Where can I get a phone card?]
I need a doctor/dentist Potřebuji lékaře/zubaře [Potrřebuji lékaře/zubaře]
Call the ambulance/police Zavolejte prosím zachrannu službu/policii [Zavolejte ask zachrannu službu/policii]
Where is the police station? Kde je policejní komisařství? [Where are the police officers of the Commissariat?]
They stole from me... Ukradli mně... [Stole my mne...]

Download and print the phrasebook (.doc format), which will be useful to you on your trip.

A little history
Every National language is directly connected both with an individual person who speaks it, and with the entire people as a whole. And, like people, it tends to change over time - to develop or, conversely, to fade, to be influenced by other languages, to transform in every possible way own rules and so on.
Before acquiring its current form, the Czech language underwent many different reforms and improvements. However, the most interesting fact from his history is, perhaps, that the official state language he became twice. First in the 15th century, after the main literary norms and rules, and then at the beginning of the twentieth century. Why did this happen, you ask. The point is that early XVII centuries, after the fatal battle at White Mountain, the Czech Republic was part of the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire, ruled by representatives of the German House of Habsburg, for three centuries. In order to strengthen their power in the occupied states, the Habsburgs tried to strengthen the influence of the German language in these territories. Despite the fact that the members of the government were chosen from the circles of the German nobility, the main population of the Czech Republic still spoke native language, moreover, it continued to develop: books and treatises were published in Czech, grammatical rules were formed, and in late XIX century, the first Czech encyclopedia was published.
By the way, traces of the historical past are noticeable in the Czech Republic to this day: there are still tourists here who speak German, understand better than those who speak English. In 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded, and two years later the Czech language (more precisely, Czechoslovak) again acquired official status.

Deceptive words
Despite the fact that the Russian and Czech languages ​​have very strong similarities in vocabulary and the meaning of most words can be determined simply by inspiration, in Czech there are many so-called deceiver words. Such words sound or are written almost the same as in Russian, but have a completely different meaning. For example, the word “stůl” means table, “čerstvý” means fresh, and “smetana” means cream. Most often, the difference in values ​​causes only slight bewilderment, but there are times when it causes wild merriment among our fellow citizens. This is not surprising, because when you find out that in order to buy a fashionable dress in a store, you need to ask for a robe (Czech “roba”), the phrase “pleasant smell” does not exist in principle, because the word “zapach” means stench (with In this case, perfume in Czech sounds like “stink”), and “pitomec” is not a pet at all, but a fool; it is simply impossible to hold back a smile.

Interesting statistics
Many linguists argue that language statistics is not such a useless exercise as it might seem at first glance. In particular, according to ratings of the frequency of use of certain parts of speech or even their percentage you can get some (albeit incomplete) insight into the psychology of people who speak a particular language.
What is he like? national character Czech people, we will leave the right to judge to you. We have selected here the results of some statistical studies of the Czech language and seasoned them with some interesting linguistic facts.

The most frequently used words in Czech are:
a (conjunctions “and”, “a” and “but”), být (to be, to be), ten (that, this), v (prepositions “on”, “by”, “in”), on (pronoun “ he"), na (prepositions “to”, “in”, “for”, “from”), že (prepositions “from”, “from”), s (se) (preposition “with”), z (ze ) (preposition “from”), který (which, which).

The most common nouns in the Czech language are:
pan (pán) (mister (before the surname)), život (life), člověk (person), práce (work, business), ruka (hand), den (day, date), zem (země) (country), lidé (people), doba (period, century, time), hlava (head).

The most common verbs in the Czech language are:
být (to be), mít (to have, to possess), moci (to be able to, to be able to), muset (to be obliged to do something, to have to), vědět (to know, to be able to), chtít (to want, to desire), jít (to go ), říci (to say), vidět (to see), dát se (to start, for example, dat se do pláče start crying).

The most common adjectives in the Czech language are:
celý (whole, whole, complete), velký (veliký) (big), nový (new), starý (old), český (Czech, in Czech), dobrý (good, kind), malý (small), možný ( possible, feasible, probable), živý (živ) (alive, vigorous, temperamental).

If we talk about the frequency of use
Most synonyms describe character hardness: pevný, trvanlivý, odolný, solidní, bytelný, nezdolný, nezmarný, silný, tuhý, kompaktní, hutný, nehybný, nepohyblivý, stanovený, nezměnitelný, neměnný, stálý, ustá lený, fixní, stabilní, trvalý, zajištěný, jistý, bezpečný, nepoddajný , nezlomný, nezdolný, neoblomný, nesmlouvavý, houževnatý, sukovitý, neochvějný, rázný, rozhodný, důrazný, odhodlaný, energický, průbojný, průrazný, tvrdý, hluboky.
Longest word without vowels: scvrnklý (withered, wrinkled).
Longest word that can be read from right to left: nepochoopen (misunderstanding).

Regarding the frequency of use different parts speech in the Czech language, the popularity rating here is as follows: the first place was taken by nouns (38.93%), the second place was taken by verbs (27.05%), the third place went to adjectives (20.98%), the fourth place went to adverbs (9 ,04%), the remaining places with a small gap from each other were divided into pronouns, numerals, conjunctions and prepositions. And Czechs use interjections least of all - only 0.36%. These are some interesting statistics!

The Czech Republic is a state with a long history. On the territory of the republic there are more than 2 thousand ancient castles and all kinds of medieval buildings that attract tourists from all over the world. After another exciting excursion, you will be able to drink a glass of the best beer in the world, for which the Czech Republic is famous. This country also has excellent ski resorts and mineral springs, Karlovy Vary water is especially popular among tourists. The people here are very kind and responsive, and having a phrase book at hand, you can easily talk with passers-by and learn a lot of interesting things about the Czech Republic from them.

You can download such a phrasebook on our website. It consists of several topics, with translations of the most common words and phrases.

Necessary phrases and expressions – a topic that includes words and phrases that are important for a tourist.

Appeals

Common phrases

At customs

In public places

In transport

At the hotel

Emergencies

Money

In the shop

Numerals

With this topic you will find the right words in order to call someone for help, ask how to get to a place you are interested in, apologize, thank you, and much more.

Greetings and politeness formulas - thanks to this topic, you can start a conversation with a passerby, ask where this or that person is from, say where you are from, and also politely answer any question.

Seeking mutual understanding - words that will help you communicate with local residents. You can ask to speak more slowly, ask if the person speaks Russian or English, and similar words and phrases.

Standard requests – translation of the most common requests and their pronunciation.

Passport control and customs – answers to the most common questions during passport control and when going through customs.

Hotel – words and answers to frequently asked questions when checking into a hotel. In addition, using this theme you can order food to your room, ask for room cleaning, etc.

Taxi – a list of phrases that will be useful to you in a taxi. By opening this topic, you can order a taxi, explain where you need to go and find out how much the trip will cost.

Shopping - not a single tourist can spend his vacation without buying something as a souvenir. But in order to purchase something you need to know what it is and how much it costs. This list of questions and phrases will help you cope with the purchase of any product, from food to souvenirs.

Inscriptions – translation of frequently encountered signs, signs, inscriptions and the like.

They say that living in Russia today is unfashionable and expensive. Many brave and desperate people go to live and work abroad in distant countries, but many of us, possessing a certain sentimentality and fearing nostalgia, prefer to leave, but not far away. Where? That's right, to Europe! They choose a country closer to them, and preferably a Slavic one. One of these is the Czech Republic.

Do you need to know them?

Having arrived here, you need to say something, but how? Is it difficult to learn at least a minimum of Czech phrases? By the way, Czech is one of the richest Slavic languages ​​in the world. For comparison, the Russian language today has about 130 thousand words, and the Czech language has more than 250 thousand. Phrases in Czech are intuitively understandable to us Slavs, although many words have a certain insidiousness. For example, Russian word“beautiful” sounds like “terrible” in Czech, the word “fresh” sounds like “stale” and the like.

But not only those who left their homeland will have to pore over a Czech textbook. Today, learning this language has simply become a fashionable trend among Russians. For those who know another Slavic language, it will be even easier to understand the Czechs and learn a few phrases in Czech.

Many go to the Czech Republic to get an education. This is one of the few countries in Europe where you can study for free, and the quality of the knowledge gained will be top level on a global scale. Therefore, future students are required to know basic phrases like no one else.

Where will they come in handy?

The Czech language will be needed by everyone who deals with translations - guides, diplomats, translators working both in the country and abroad.

For tourists, learning a few phrases in Czech will not be difficult. Both the service staff at the hotel and the waiter at the restaurant will be pleased to hear a phrase in their native language. And if, God forbid, you get lost in the city, general phrases will help you understand how to get to the right address, because the language will take you to Kyiv. But the Czech language is not at all difficult, and learning it is not only easy, but also fun, especially in a friendly company!

For those going on vacation to the Czech capital, it will be very useful to read our detailed manual, available at the link, which details how to properly organize your trip to Prague so that it is interesting, safe and does not go beyond your budget. In the few minutes it takes to read this article, you will learn how to save a significant amount of money without straining yourself.

Will Czechs understand Russian?

The Czech Republic is one of the most popular destinations for Russians, and most Czechs living in tourist areas will understand us perfectly. And in other cities there should be no problems... Opening borders after the collapse Soviet Union contributed to the influx of emigrants to the Czech Republic, and many Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians went to live in this country. So Russians will be understood in a restaurant, in a store, and on the street. The main thing when communicating is not to forget that goodwill and a smile on your face are a disarming tool for starting absolutely any communication.