LESSON NOTES

Beginner S1 #9
Making Dinner Reservations in
Czech

CONTENTS
2 Czech
2 English
3 Vocabulary
4 Sample Sentences
5 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
6 Grammar
10 Cultural Insight

# 9
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 CZECH

1. Matěj: Dobrý den, chtěl bych rezervovat stůl pro tři lidi.

2. Číšnice: Ano, jistě. A na který den?

3. Matěj: Na sobotu večer. Máte ještě volná místa?

4. Číšnice: Ano, máme. Ale už jen v nekuřáckém salonku.

5. Matěj: To mi zrovna vyhovuje. Nikdo z nás nekouří.

6. Číšnice: Dobře. Na kolik hodin byste chtěl tu rezervaci?

7. Matěj: Asi na 8 (osm) hodin.

8. Číšnice: Dobře.

9. Matěj: Ještě bych se chtěl zeptat, máte také vegetariánské menu?

10 . Číšnice: V hlavním menu máme výběr několika vegetariánských jídel.

11. Matěj: To mi bude stačit. Děkuji.

12. Číšnice: Není zač. Také vám děkuji.

ENGLISH

1. Matěj: Hello. I'd like to reserve a table for three people.

2. Waitress: Yes, certainly. Which day?

CONT'D OVER

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3. Matěj: Saturday evening. Do you still have available seats?

4. Waitress: Yes, we do, but only in the non-smoking room.

5. Matěj: That suits me just fine. None of us smoke.

6. Waitress: All right. And what time would you like the reservation for?

7. Matěj: About eight o'clock.

8. Waitress: Sure.

9. Matěj: Also, I'd like to ask, do you have a vegetarian menu?

10 . Waitress: We have a choice of vegetarian dishes on the main menu.

11. Matěj: That will do for me. Thank you.

12. Waitress: You're welcome. Thank you too.

VOCABULARY

Czech English Class

pro for preposition

lidé people noun

který which, what pronoun

den day noun

večer evening noun

what, how many, how

kolik much quantifier

nekuřácký non-smoking adjective

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 zeptat se to ask, to enquire perfective verb

výběr choice, selection noun

několik several, some, few quantifier

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Pro muže. Lidé se shromažďují v ulicích.

"For men." "People are gat hering in t he

st reet s."

Lidé z různých kout ů svět a mají Lidé zdraví.

rozdílnou víru a rozdílné zvyky.
The people are saying, "Hello."
"People from different part s of
t he world have different beliefs
and cust oms."

Lidé jedou do Los Angeles. Lidé si dávají jahody.

"They are going t o Los Angeles." The people are t aking t he

st rawberries.

Kt erý den přijdeš? Dobrý den!

"Which day will you come?" "Good day!"

Dobrý večer! Tenisový kurt je ot evřený i

večer.
"Good evening!"
"The t ennis court is open in t he
evening, t oo."

Za t eplých let ních večerů St ůl pro kolik osob?

hrajeme čast o kart y.
"A t able for how many people?"
"We oft en play cards on a warm
summer evening."

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Prosím míst nost pro nekuřáky. Zept ám se obsluhy.

"A room for non-smokers, "I'll ask t he wait st aff."

please."

Není t o moc dobrý výběr. Zbývá jen několik minut .

"It 's not a very good choice." "Only a few minut es are left ."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

volný
"f ree, unreserved"

Volný is an adjective with many meanings, the basic ones being "free,
independent, vacant, loose, unrestricted," etc. There are lots of possible
translations of this word in English.

There are about eight different situations where the adjective volný can be used.
Somebody can be volný when speaking about being free or independent. When
talking about there being no restrictions, something or somebody can be volný,
i.e. volný přístup, "unrestricted access," or volný trh, "free market." When we
talk about time, volný čas is "free/leisure time," and ve svém volném čase is "in
one's spare time." When we talk about a place that is vacant, free, or unoccupied,
we can say Je tu volné místo?, "Is this seat free?" We can also use volný in terms
of a free/borderless place or area, for example, na volném moři "in the open
sea," or ve volné přírodě "in the wild, in the open." Also, access or a ticket can
be volný - volný vstup "free admission," or volná vstupenka "complimentary
ticket." When talking about clothes, we can use volný oděv, "loose/loose-fitting/
baggy clothes."

For example:

1. Na příští dětskou akci je volný vstup.

"For the next children admission to the activity is free. "

vyhovovat
"t o suit "

This is an imperfective verb with three main meanings: "to suit"/ "to be convenient,
to oblige," "to meet"/ "to satisfy."

The most frequent use of this verb is when asking somebody if something is all

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right for him/her, or if something suits their needs: vyhovuje Vám to? "Does it suit
you?" or "Is this convenient for you?"

Another possible use is when talking about services, and vyhovovat to

somebody refers to providing a service to somebody, like "to oblige, to
accommodate," although the word vyhovovat is then replaced by-vyhovět. I.e.
Vyhovět zákazníkoví "to oblige/ to cater to/ to accommodate customers' needs."

For example:

1. Vyhovuje Vám odpolední čas?

"Is that time in the afternoon suitable for you?"

výběr
"choice, select ion"

Výběr is a masculine noun. Výběr can either refer to a selection, choice, range,
digest, compilation, or to withdrawal or collection of money.

This is used when talking about choices, as in Výběr zboží, "Selection of

products," or Byl to dobrý výběr! "It was a good choice!", Máme výběr mnoha
barev "We have a range of colors," It can also be used when speaking about a
selection or something, or a compilation, as in Čtenářův výběr "Reader's digest,"
or Výběr z nejlepší hudby "A compilation of the best music." And lastly, výběr
can be used in connection with money. Výběr peněz means "cash withdrawal," or
depending on context, výběr peněz can also mean that money is collected from
somebody, as in Výběr peněžního příspěvku, "A collection of monetary
contribution."

For example:

1. Byl to dobrý výběr!

"It was a good choice!"

GRAMMAR

T he Focus Of T his Lesson Is Using Present Tense and Condit ional

Tense While Making a Phone Reservat ion f or Dinner at a Rest aurant .

Dobrý den, chtěl bych rezervovat stůl pro tři lidi.

"Hello. I'd like t o reserve a t able f or t hree people. "

The present tense in this lesson's conversation is mainly expressed through the
verb mít, "to have." There are several sentences where mít is used in the

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conjugated form according to person.

Máte jěště volná místa?

"Are there/ do you have seats still available?"

Máte vegetariánské menu?

"Is there/ do you have a vegetarian menu?"

Máme výběr několika jídel.

"There is/ we have a choice of several meals."

As you can see, the verb mít can have several translations in English. It is often
translated as "to have" or "there is" or in a question as "is there?, are there?" When
asking a question, the conjugated mít has to be at the beginning of the sentence
without the personal pronoun.

How t o conjugat e mít "t o have" in it s present t ense f orm:

Singular

(já) mám "I have"

(ty) máš "you have"

(on, ona, ono) má "he, she, it has"

Plural

(my) máme "we have"

(vy) máte "you have"

(oni) mají "they have"

When making a reservation at a restaurant or speaking to a stranger over the

phone or in person, never forget to use formal speech, which is the second
person (vy) plural form .

In case of mít, the formal conjugated form is máte.

Example sent ences:

Máte volný stůl?

"Is there/ do you have a free table?"

Máte jěště místo?

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"Is there/ do you still have available seats?"

Máte místo pro nekuřáky?

"Is there/ do you have a room for non-smokers?"

Máte polední menu?

"Do you have a lunch menu?"

Máte dnes otevřeno?

"Is it/ are you open today?"

1.Condit ional t ense bych

When making a reservation in Czech, you also need to use the conditional tense
bych, which adds politeness to the speech. As we already said in lesson 5, bych is
equivalent to the English conditional tense "would" (in other cases also "would do",
"would make", etc). When making a reservation, it is often used in the following
form:

male:

Já bych rád
"I would like"

Já bych chtěl
"I would like"

f emale:

Já bych ráda
"I would like"

Já bych chtěla
"I would like"

Rád or ráda is an adjective meaning "gladly, happy, pleased, with pleasure, etc",
while chtít or chtěl means "want to"(wanted to). When we want to express that
we would like something, both forms can be used. In this case, both sentences
mean the same thing, which is "I would like to.")

Czech people often use such sentences without the personal pronouns.

rád/ ráda bych

"I would like"

chtěl/ chtěla bych

"I would like"

Examples:

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Rád bych rezervoval stůl pro dva.
"I would like to reserve a table for two."

Ráda bych rezervovala stůl pro čtyři.

"I would like to reserve a table for four."

Chtěl bych rezervovat stůl pro dva.

"I would like to reserve a table for two."

Chtěla bych rezervovat stůl pro čtyři.

"I would like to reserve a table for four."

Conjugat ion of rád + by "would like t o"

Singular

rád/ ráda bych "I would like" (male/ female)

rád/ ráda bys "you would like" (male/ female)

rád/ ráda by "he/ she would like"

Plural

rádi bysme/ bychom* "we would like"

rádi byste "you would like"

rádi by "they would like"

Conjugat ion of chtít + bych condit ional f orm:

Singular

chtěl/ chtěla bych "I would like"

chtěl bys "you would like"

chtěl/chtěla/ chtělo by "he/she/ it would like"

Plural

chtěli bysme/ bychom* "we would like"

chtěli byste "you would like"

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chtěli by "they would like"

*bychom is a formal term, used more in written rather than spoken form.

Example sent ences:

Chtěl bych rezervaci na dnešní večer.

"I'd like a reservation for tonight."

Rád bych rezervoval stůl na dnes večer.

"I'd like to reserve a table for tonight.

Chtěli bysme stůl u okna.

"We'd like a table by the window."

Rádi bysme stůl u okna.

"We'd like a table by the window."

Chtěla bych rezervovat stůl pro pět lidí.

"I'd like to reserve a table for five people."

Examples f rom t he Dialogue

Ano, jistě. A na který den?

"Yes, certainly. Which day?"

Ještě bych se chtěl zeptat, máte také vegetariánské menu?

"Also I'd like to ask, do you have a vegetarian menu?"

Sample Sent ences

Ráda bych stůl pro pět lidí.

"I'd like a table for five people."

Mohli bychom rezervovat celý stůl?

"Could we reserve a whole table?"

Chtěl bych rezervovat místo u okna.

"I'd like to reserve a table by the window."

CULTURAL INSIGHT

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Dining in t he Czech Republic

Traditional Czech cuisine cannot exactly be called healthy. There are many heavy
foods that may not be to everybody's liking, but if not eaten on a daily basis they
are certainly worth trying for their special tastes. One traditional food item not
found in many other countries are the many various types of dumplings Czech
cuisine has to offer. They range from bread dumplings to potato dumplings or
sweet dumplings filled with fruit. Nevertheless, over the past five years, there have
been new trends entering the Czech restaurants in order to attract customers.
These trends include providing food cooked from fresh domestic ingredients,
exotic combinations and unusual preparations. After international cuisines entered
the Czech market, such as Japanese, Mexican, and Vietnamese, the Czech
restaurants are trying to gain customers through Slow Food (this particular food
movement condemns fast-food culture and promotes organic domestic ingredients
without using pre-packed food) or through Fusion Cuisine, which combines two or
more traditional cuisines together and creates new, attractive looking and great
tasting meals. Most common are combined Asian and Western/mainly European
meals.

Typical Czech pubs have also been changing. Pubs used to be primarily a meeting
point for men, especially during the sports World Cups when many male fans came
to support their teams, to socialise over a pint of beer. Now many customers are
also women.This phenomenon is due to modernisation, and pubs are now less
smoky, and the facilities, such as toilets and general seating, are improving. Czech
pubs also offer certain food specialities that cannot be found in other restaurants,
and they tend to have good quality Czech beer.

Useful expression:

Tradiční česká hospoda.

"A traditional Czech pub. "

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