# Spell vs Kouzlo



## questin

I'm trying to translate:
_How do you spell this word?
_in CzechSome translators say:
_Můžete kouzlo tohoto slova__?_

But I'm afraid this is a mistake...
Some help up there?
Thanks!


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## jazyk

There is a big mistake. Kouzlo is indeed a spell, but the spell witches supposedly cast on people.

What you want is: Jak se píše to(hle/to) slovo? Psát - to write, conjugated in the present: píšu/píši, píšeš, píše, píšeme, píšete, píšou/píší.


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## littledogboy

Alternative translation for different context: 
_Můžete to (slovo) hláskovat?_
= Please spell that (word) for me.


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## questin

littledogboy said:


> Alternative translation for different context:
> _Můžete to (slovo) hláskovat?_
> = Please spell that (word) for me.



Sorry, which different context you mean?
_Hláskovat_ appears on dictionaries as cast or spell in the "magic" meaning, but not in the linguistic one...


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## Emys

spell as a verb (as in your sentence) means hláskovat in Czech, deletrear en español
spell as a noun means kouzlo in Czech, encanto o hechizo en español
but, as Jazyk says, it's more natural to say Jak se to slovo píše?


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## Vlasatej

questin said:


> _Hláskovat_ appears on dictionaries as cast or spell in the "magic" meaning, but not in the linguistic one...


If there is a dictionary entry connecting _hláskovat_ to _spell_ in the terms of magic, it is wrong. The verb _hláskovat_ is derived from the noun _hláska_ which can be translated as _speech sound_ - the sound of a single letter. Therefore _hláskovat_ really means just spell (in the linguistic sense), or spell out loud.

It is not very common to use this verb in everyday speech, though. I would normally say something similar to what jazyk and Emys already wrote:
Jak se to slovo píše?
Jak byste napsal(a) tohle slovo?


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