Test

| ...and the test for the lighthearted |

Test your knowledge of Slovak: Do you understand this joke?

-- Do you speak English?

-- Prosím?

-- Hovoríte po anglicky?

-- Perfektne.

| Answer 3 |

Do you understand this Slovak saying?

Kdo sa bojí, nesmie do lesa.

| Answer 2 |

CZECH ANTHEM: lyrics by Josef Kajetan Tyl (1808-1856), music by Frantisek Skroup (1801-1862). Translated by Martin Gregor.

Kde domov muj, kde domov muj?

Voda hucí po lucinách,

bory sumí po skalinách,

v sade skví se jara kvet,

zemsky ráj to na pohled.

A to je ta krásná zeme,

zeme ceská, domov muj,

zeme ceská, domov muj.

| Translation |

A more advanced test of Czech. What does it mean? (It's a proverb):

Kdyby nebylo kdyby, nebyly by chyby.

| Answer 1 |

A test for the most advanced ...AND LIGHTHEARTED students. If you understand this, you understand not only the grammar but also the culture of the past 40 years. Slovak grammar has 7 cases. There used to be additional 7 cases. (Czech cases would be very similar).

the 8th case: kto - z koho... korytatív

the 9th case: kto - koho... likvidatív

the 10th case: kto - kedy... prokuratív

the 11th case: koho - kam... deliminatív

the 12th case: komu - kol'ko... kriminatív

the 13th case: koho - s kým... konkubinatív

the 14th case: koho - ako... buzeratív

| An attempt to make this comprehensible |

ANSWERS:

1. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

2. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

-- Do you speak English? (Asked in English)

-- I beg your pardon?

-- Do you speak English? (Asked in Slovak)

-- Perfectly.

TRANSLATION:

Where is my home, where is my home?

Water murmurs through the meadows,

Pines whisper over the rocks,

Orchards blossom with spring flowers,

An earthy paradise for the eyes.

And this is that beautiful land,

Czech land, my home,

Czech land, my home.

AN ATTEMPT ...

This one is difficult, because it is based on play on words and endings. Slovak and Czech cases have similar names to US cases. E.g. 1th case is the nominative case (nominatív), 2nd is the genitive case (genitív) etc. To determine which case is which you ask a question. For the 1st case you would ask Who? (for animate-live objects) and What? (for inanimate objects). For the 2nd case you would ask Of who? Of what? etc. So here are the cases. They somehow reflect how people (occasionally) behaved to each other during the communism.

the 8th case: WHO - (at) WHO'S (expense)? It is called EXPLOITATIVE.

the 9th case: WHO - (rids) OF WHO? ... LIQUIDATIVE.

the 10th case: WHO - WHEN? ... PROSECUTIVE.

the 11th case: WHO - WHERE? ... ELIMINATIVE.

the 12th case: TO WHO - HOW MUCH? ...CRIMINATIVE.

the 13th case: WHO - WITH WHO? ... CONCUBINATIVE.

the 14th case: TO WHO - HOW? ... CHICANETIVE.