# Period of drought



## eduard85

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to translate *Period of drought* into Czech but I'm not sure if *Období sucha* is correct.

By 'period of drought' I mean the number of consecutive days without rain. This information is useful to farmers and will be displayed in a weather report website with limited space.

Here's an example:

Period of drought: 4 days

Thanks for your help!


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## eduard85

Thanks ilocas2, the phrase you propose it too long and does not seem to mean what I need.

I just need to translate *Period of drought*, which is the number of consecutive days without rainfall. If it didn't rain in the last 3 days, then the period of drought = 3


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi eduard, I am not a _native_ Czech speaker (probably my greatest regret in life, you understand ), but in an attempt to be helpful, I would suggest simply "suché dny" - "dry days" in your context, if I understand it correctly.  "Období" _usually_ tends to suggest a period longer than three or four days, though obviously in a particular context it could be used for this kind of period, and "sucho" as the noun for "drought" would also usually suggest a period longer than three or four days, as "drought" does in English, though I realise you are using "drought" as a technical meteorological term.

So _suché dny_ is my suggestion, but I bow to the opinion of the native speakers. This doesn't convey the idea that the days are consecutive, but perhaps that will be understood in the way you are proposing to use the term on the site. We haven't enough information to judge.


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## eduard85

Thanks for your reply, yes users of the site know what Period of drought means because it is explained in our FAQ page.


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## werrr

As for *období*, I agree with Enquiring Mind. It is closer to English term *season* than to *period.* You  should avoid it when refering to a short period of several days. Use *dny* (= days) or *týdny* (= weeks) instead.

As for *sucho*, it doesn't refer to a period lacking rainfalls but to a period lacking water in general. In Czech conditions, farmers may be more concerned with the rainfalls up the river than with local rainfalls.

In other words, a period without rains could be wet enough, but also it could be dry despite of rains.

In terms of meteorology, stuck with the term *srážky *(= precipitation = rainfalls + snowfalls), ie. *period of drought* = *dny bez srážek.*


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## Barubek

I agree with werrr that dny bez srážek is perhaps the best solution, although it should be rather dny beze srážek. But both versions are in common use.

"Suché dny" suggested by Enquiring Mind sounds horrible.


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## eduard85

Thanks for your help guys! I think I will use *Dny beze srážek* even though it means Period without rain instead of Period of drought.


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi Barubek, with due respect to the fact that you're the native speaker, I'm afraid I can't agree with your opinion that "suché dny" sounds horrible. Words are always used in a context. "Suché dny", meaning "dry days", is used in many contexts. The term can describe a time during the menstrual/ovulation cycle, it can be used in the context of bed-wetting (the days when the child doesn't wet the bed are "suché dny" - dry days), it can be used to describe those days when an alcoholic hasn't used alcohol ("dry days"), it is the term for the Ember Days in the church calendar, and above all - and most often - it is used to describe a length of time without rain - in a weather and agricultural context. There are tens of thousands of examples of it being used in this context on the internet:

(source: arixhop.cz) Vegetation report 2007 in Žatec (hop-growing area): 
_Maximální srážky mm 1,3 11,4         Maximum rainfall (mm) 1.3, 11.4
Počet suchých dnů      28  24           Number of dry days       28   24_

(source: neviditelnypes.lidovky.cz) _V období 1970 až 1985 byl počet vlhkých dnů prakticky stejný jako v předchozím období, ale výrazně poklesl počet suchých dnů._
(source: tachovsky.denik.cz) _Zeleň trápí vytrvalé suché dny._
(source: ostrava.idnes.cz) _Uplynulým horkým a suchým dnům předcházelo spíše chladné červencové počasí. _
(source: domazlicky.denik.cz) _Vedoucí Služeb města Poběžovice Václav Antony se v suchých dnech stará i o zavlažování zeleně._
(plus thousands more examples)

The original poster made it clear that the context was weather reporting, and the term is perfectly normal in this sense in Czech. I agree that the suggestions made by the other native speakers are better, but the original poster needed something short for a box on a website.


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## eduard85

Thanks for your replies. Please keep in mind that I need to translate *Period *of drought and not *Days *of drought. 

For instance:

Period of drought = 3 days
Period of drought = 1 month


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## risa2000

Hello eduard, if the period can cover a few days as well as a few months then you have to use *období*. It is not natural to hear *období bez srážek trvalo 3 dny,* because *období* associates a longer period, but there is nothing wrong with that technically.
On the other hand, you defined the period of drought as a period without rain in your first post yourself, so you may as well need to accept that *without rain* in Czech is best translated by *bez srážek* even though the direct translation would be *bez dešťů*.
If you would want to insist on *období sucha* then you need to keep in mind the small but important distinction explained by werrr above. While *období* *sucha *typically means also *období bez srážek*, it is perfectly possible to have *období bez srážek* without having *období sucha*.


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