# Problems with examples provided in the book 401 Czech Verbs



## moctest

A few pages into the book 401 Czech verbs and I have some problems with the examples they provide.


> četl jsem dobrou kinhu
> I've read a good book.



To me this indicates the action is finished, ie. the book has been completely read.  Čist is imperfektivních, and as such, the action should be in progress or incomplete.

As such, I think the translation should be "I have been reading a good book" or "I was reading a book". This way we don't know if the book is finished or not, perhaps the person will go back to reading it.



> Cvičil žáka v gramatice
> He trained the pupil in grammar


If the pupil is "trained" then it's over and down with, the action is finished. Wouldn't it be better to say "He has been training the pupil in grammar. or "he was training the pupil in grammar". This way we don't know if the pupils training is finished or not.


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## kolobezka1.

"I've read a good book" is realy the best translations of "četl jsem dobrou knihu". It is meant as new information. I'd suppose that the conversation is going to continue. I'd ask more details about the book or the person is going to recommend the book to me...

As for "cvičil žáka v gramatice", you're right, it could be translated with past simple, past continuous, present perfect, depeding on context. However, the sentence sounds a bit artificial anyway.


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## moctest

kolobezka1. said:


> "I've read a good book" is realy the best translations of "četl jsem dobrou knihu".



In that case, how would you translate "přečetl jsem dobrou knihu" ?

or perhaps a better question is. What's the difference between these two sentences?

četl jsem dobrou knihu
přečetl jsem dobrou knihu


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## Tinwetari

moctest said:


> In that case, how would you translate "přečetl jsem dobrou knihu" ?
> 
> 
> or perhaps a better question is. What's the difference between these two sentences?
> 
> četl jsem dobrou knihu
> přečetl jsem dobrou knihu



In these examples without any context "přečíst" and "číst" can substitute each other. Sometimes you can use both in the same context. But there is a slight difference. 

"Přečetl jsem dobrou knihu" stresses that you have finished reading the book.
The sentence "četl jsem dobrou knihu" emphasizes action. You use verb "číst" e.g. when you want to say what happened during reading.
Actually, "číst" can be used for complete actions (as in the example "četl jsem knihu") but "přečíst" stresses the completeness.

"Přečíst" expresses the past, reading is finished. "Přečíst" has no declarative form in present. 
On the contrary "číst" can be used either in present (já čtu) or in past (četl jsem).


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## Tchesko

kolobezka1. said:


> "I've read a good book" is realy the best translations of "četl jsem dobrou knihu".


I disagree. The Czech aspect has no one-to-one grammatical equivalent in English. The past simple / present perfect opposition doesn't reflect the perfective vs imperfective distinction found in Czech and other slavic languages (nor do the progressive forms).
Depending on the general context, you could use the following translations:

Četl jsem dobrou knihu. Najednou zazvonil telefon. I was reading a good book. Suddenly, the telephone rang.
Co jsi dnes dělal, že vypadáš tak šťastně? Četl jsem dobrou knihu. What have you done today that makes you look so happy? I've read a good book.

As for "I have been reading a good book", to me (as a non-English native) it means "I started reading a good book (more or less) recently and I am still in the process of reading it". In Czech, this translates simply into "Čtu dobrou knihu" (present tense). I can't find any example of "I have been reading a good book" as a translation of "Četl jsem dobrou knihu".


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## kolobezka1.

Tchesko said:


> The Czech aspect has no one-to-one grammatical equivalent in English.



Yes, of course, OK. However, if you just say "četl jsem dobrou knihu", without any futher context or as phrase in a textbook, what meaning (and thus translation) do you think of?


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## Enquiring Mind

I can't disagree with the posts so far, especially the ones which say you can't specify out of context which English tense is most appropriate to translate "četl jsem dobrou knihu". As koloběžka1 says in #2, it sounds artificial in Czech. 

I have to say that - again, *out of context* - I am inclined to go for the perfect progressive (_have been ~ing_) form, especially since there is _a relevance to the present time_ - a key criterion for using the perfect, as stated on this page from TalkEnglish.com. You have been doing something, and whatever you have been doing has had the result that *now* you look happy.
Co jsi dnes dělal, že vypadáš tak šťastně? Četl jsem dobrou knihu.
What have you been doing today to make you look so happy? I've been reading a good book/I've been talking on the phone to my brother who lives in Australia/I've been swimming/I've been baking buns/I've been sitting in the pub/I've been lying in the park sunbathing/I've been watching a film/I've been skateboarding, etc., etc., etc.  

You are not necessarily still doing the activity at the time you make the statement, and there is no indication that any specific action was completed or any result was achieved, which would be a criterion for a perfective verb in Czech.

(P.s. it would have been better if *Talk*English had called itself *Speak*English, but that's a different kettle of fish ...)


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## Tchesko

As you can see, there has been quite a bit of disagreement about the (natural) meaning of the first Czech sentence ("četl jsem dobrou knihu") although there have been only 4 contributors so far, further complicated by our imperfect knowledge of English (well... at least for some of us).
As for the criteria concerning the imperfective/perfective distinction in Czech, I've just found a great online resource, _Aspect Pairs of Czech Verbs_ by Karel Tahal (2011), with a supplement _Czech Verbal Aspect_. It can be found here.


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