EnglishOne

I am on my jolly way to Prague in three weeks, and have been trying to practice a few words, out of courtesy to our Czech friends. However, can't quite get the pronunciation - eg. Hello = Dobry den - is this said 'dobraa DAN OR DEN. Or indeed, dobREE?

Please = Prosim - I think this is pronounced prosEEM, but where do you place the emphasis, on the PROS or EMM?

I know this sounds daft, sorry, but I don't want to sound silly or discourteous. Many thanks

sirod

(I have Czech parents) so I would say Dobree Den, and emphasize the first syllable of PROseem.

Lesli

http://www.travlang.com/languages/

Has sound clips and written pronunciation of just about every language you can think of!

hike

Dobry den, would that literally mean "Good day" like bonjour or guten tag?

EnglishOne

Thanks folks. Great website Lesli, just practising my 'thanks yous' in czech! Hike, according to this website, it lists dobry den as meaning 'hello' only. Can I say 'ahoj' for hello, or is this too informal? And can someone tell me the word for 'cheers!' when toasting?

Christina

I don't have Czech parents but studied it a little. Czech is actually pretty simple to pronounce as words are pronounced like they are spelled, as long as you understand the basic pronunciation rules and that diacritical marks affect the pronunciation.

dobry den has an accent mark on the y which probably won't show on Fodors so I won't try (called accent aigu in French, a mark slanting to the right). Prosim also has one over the i. Either a y or i with that mark on it is pronounced "ee" as in "green". Without that accent mark, it's more like the typical short i sound, just not as protracted as with the accent (between sit and seat). An e without an accent (as in den) or with a hachek (upside down carat) is pronounced like a short e (like bet). The o without accent is more a European o, not long like "oh" but more like "hot", but sort of in-between.

Consonants are pretty normal unless that have marks on them, which you may know (hacek) -- s, r, c, z and n can have these and become sh, rzh (forget it, I can't pronounce that one), ch and zh, and ny (like in onion). There are also some that go after t and d but they aren't as crucial to know as I can't detect the difference that well in pronunciation--it changes a t to more aspirated, I think they say -- like the t in "tune". j is pronounced like the y in "yes", that's common consonant to know.

Stress in multisyllable words is generally on the first syllable.

Maybe you should get a good travelers' phrasebook that has pronunciation in it. Czech/English isn't as commonly found, but there are some (Dover makes a good little one for about US$5 -- Say It In Czech).

HOpe this helps. I found Czech a difficult language because it is so different from Romance languages in grammar and structure.

EnglishOne

Hey I have just found it on Lesli's website, but its not a very clear soundbite. Na zdraví!

coco

Hi EnglishOne,
I don't think you are daft at all and did the same before my trip to Prague and Budapest last summer. I got a lot of smiles with "dobry den, mloviter inglicky?" Almost everyone did speak English but seemed awfully pleased to be asked!

Hana

I am first generation Canadian and speak Czech with my family. As for greetings, "dobry den" is more formal and equivalent to "guten tag" and "buon giorno".
"Ahoj" is more informal(used among friends/family) it's like using "ciao" or "salve" in italy - it can be used for both hello and goodbye.

"Na zdravi" - is like saying "prost" - for health (literally). Have fun in Prague!!