r/learnczech • u/Late_Journalist7094 • 16d ago
Is this really wrong?
Section 4, Unit 17
Why shouldn't have happened something to the dogs in the bathroom?
I know Duolingo is not the best, but the only free learning option. Since I'm living in Germany near the border to Czechia I'm often there and talking Czech which helps more than Duolingo.
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u/Flamewakerr 16d ago
Why on earth is this on Duolingo? Like for real, no one uses super formal grammar like this in day to day situations
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u/Qwe5Cz 16d ago
It even tricks native speakers that need to learn it and often forget it after a few years out of school without using it.
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u/Flaccid-Cabbage 16d ago
It should not trick any native speaker that passed like 4th grade. The sentence is nonsensical shit, but the grammar is quite clear.
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u/Qwe5Cz 16d ago edited 16d ago
Thanks for the downvote but the reality is that nobody really uses "jenž" and won't remember that overly confusing table which was the thing I was pointing out but it seems like the downvoters don't understand that.
But I would rather identify the correct sentence by "byly".
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u/Flaccid-Cabbage 16d ago
No downvote given. Yes, shoda přísudku s podmětem is the main giveaway. Jež/jenž is somewhat unnatural to use, agreed there
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u/Machovec 12d ago
It's byly vs byli. That's not something I'd describe as a super formar grammar rule no one uses.
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u/Gallapfel 16d ago
psům (masculine animate, plural): psům, již byli v koupelně
jež is for feminine, bot singular and plural
jenž is for singular masculine
I had to check it even as a native speaker. I don't use jenž/jež/již/etc. often when speaking, It feels archaic
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u/Lenticularis19 16d ago
Some forms are used more than others: "Na Marsu našli minerál, z něhož vznikají rubíny. Jenže podle chemie tam skoro neměl být." (recent headline)
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u/smugandfurious 16d ago
that's completely different word though, it just sounds similar. This post was about "which/who", but your comment is about "but"
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u/bmxrichard 16d ago
It’s a literary term that anyone who wants to write professionally should probably know.
But we didn’t learn it in school, not even in high school...
Teaching this to someone who’s just learning Czech is silly. It’s like burdening them with transgressive.
("Jeda domů jeda kebab")4
u/Lenticularis19 16d ago
I did learn it in school, and it is used in newspapers very frequently, you need to know it to be able to read them.
And no, the transgressive (přechodník; "participle" is příčestí) is very dead and has been for hundreds of years, before the 19th century revivalists tried to bring it back.
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u/bmxrichard 16d ago
Thanks for correction.
Some transgressives are pretty common like chtě, počínaje, konče, soudě.
("Chtě nechtě to udělal. Všichni stáli v řadě, počínaje Petrem, konče Pavlem. Soudě dle jeho výrazu, se mu to nelíbilo")And some are used for pacing even by teens in fanfictions: "Slyšíc jeho hlas, okamžitě se otočila."
(Although that might just be my bias based on what I read.)2
u/bmxrichard 16d ago
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u/Accomplished_Use1473 16d ago
Podle mě je celkem škoda, že se přechodník už nepoužívá, vypadá hrozně zajímavě 😅
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u/Odran345 16d ago
You dont really need to know exactly what jenž means to get the gist of what the headline means, its not a realy important word for a headline, youll just fill the meaning from the context
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u/Heidi739 16d ago
Yes. While "jenž" is not really used in spoken Czech and most Czechs use it wrong as a result, it's still a part of Czech grammar, and it has different forms for male/female nouns. And more importantly, you need to distinguish byly/byli. If there is any noun that is male and animated (which "pes" is), the verb ends with i. If there are only female, neutral or male non-animated ("myš" is female), you need to use y.
I would definitely suggest using a textbook, not just Duolingo, because Czech language has very complicated grammar rules and Duolingo won't explain them properly. And many Czechs struggle with the rules as well, so asking others might not always help.
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u/Late_Journalist7094 16d ago
I don't expect to speak 100% perfect Czech in the future. It's enough for me to understand 75% and express every not too complicated thing.
I'll not live in Czechia in the next time
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u/vampirehunter725 16d ago
That is fair I think that learning czech to the level of understand and speaking (so that ppl understand you) is not that hard, but to be grammatically correct is unhinged level of difficulty.
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u/Late_Journalist7094 16d ago
Yeah. I just want to talk and understand. I have also to learn for university, so I don't want to learn czech grammar too.
I'm learning best by speaking so I'm happy that I'm near enough to Czechia to connect with Czech's often enough.
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u/Heidi739 16d ago
Obviously it's up to you, but for me, Duolingo is never enough to teach me a language. I need to understand how the language works to understand the language. And Duolingo won't tell you that. But everyone's learning styles are different, if this works for you, go ahead.
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u/iheartdirtyfeet 15d ago
Well I can tell you what is wrong and how it would be right, as a native Czech speaker though, I too have no idea why is this stuff like this and wasn’t made easier for writing over the years. So back to the sentence: For the dogs the correct way would be “Těm psům, JIŽ BYLI”, not “JEŽ BYLY”. The words have different forms for masculine(dogs) and feminine(mice). I studied grammar school and no one ever told me why is it like this, sure they can explain which is which and how it works, but why is this obscure, impossible-to-understand thing still in the language, no one knows that for some reason.
Good luck with learning Czech!
PS: the word jenž/jež/již/jejž is a total nutjob and I got no idea why duolingo teaches you this one. czechs can’t get it right often until they’re grown up, it’s just a silly way to say “THAT” in like 20 forms with very strict rules for applying each one.
no reason for this to still exist in the language honestly and anyone who defends this word is a pompous posh dickhead.
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u/ReddTeeaxd 14d ago
myši (feminine) - byly
psi (masculine) - byli
since there is "byly" it indicates the noun it correlates with will be feminine
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u/vintergroena 16d ago
Lol. Yeah, Duolingo is correct, it's because of the gramatical gender, but c'mon is the grammar you need when you're writing a book or something like that XD
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u/Tough-Importance-661 16d ago
The “jež” part is, wtf do they even put that there, it´s pretty archaic. The byli/byly is important basic grammar though.
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u/RingoKig 16d ago
Yah, "psům" is wrong for psi byl"I" as they are masculine and myši byl"Y" as they are feminine. Ngl, why are you even learning czech?
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u/Late_Journalist7094 16d ago
Why not?
I don't like it to get always completely lost in Czechia (and Slovakia) because I understand nothing, like it was during my first visits.
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u/StevenerCz 16d ago
As a Czech it took me a while to figure out why it's wrong. Also I've never used "jež" or "jenž" in a conversation before, for me it's just a word to put in your essay to not repeat "který"
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u/Sad_Candy9592 16d ago
It’s because “jež” is only permissible for plurals of feminine, neuter, and inanimate masculine nouns in the nominative. “Dogs” is a masculine animate plural so it would be “již”.
This is some insane level Czech you’re learning! I speak Czech as a first language and, though jež sounded wrong, I had to look up the correct conjunction. 😂
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u/go2theground 16d ago
Most of my friends born in Czech Republic would also fail this question tbh…I studied linguistics and even I had to focus for a couple seconds before seeing why “myším” is correct. Also nobody speaks like that, wtf duolingo…”jež/jenž” is only used in books.
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u/rainer_xox 16d ago
the whole sentence implies the subject is feminine (the Y at the end of Byly most notably)
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u/PlasmaDroug 16d ago
as a czech person I can assure you I've never once used "jež" in my entire life
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u/4vrstvy 16d ago edited 16d ago
Strange. I use it quite a lot, alongside with "jenž."
For op: you cant use "psům" because that's plural of "animate masculinum" so the sentence would need to go: "Těm psům, již byli..."
Both the word "jež" (for masculinum jenž/již) and "byly" (for animate masculinum "byli") suggest you need to use the femininum - in this case "ta myš, ty myši."
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u/Matt_Keator 16d ago
Section 4, Unit 17 - Booking a hotel room.
Something happened to those mice in my bathrooom. They do not do synchronised swimming in my toilet anymore?!
One day people will realise Duolingo is waste of time and money... I hope...
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u/JakubErler 15d ago
No one uses "jež" or "jenž" in real life. You will find it in books and newspaper but no in live. Also no one would start sentence with "těm" like this, it is not needed to use the word. Also I do not have mouses or dogs in my bathroom so it all looks like nonsense.
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u/Zabijuorla 15d ago
This is the really hard part of pur grammar and you need at least one native speaker to explain it. The reasoning behind this is, that when you have a sentence in past and the subject is in plural or there are more subjects, it changes the y/i/a at the end of the verb. When at least one of the subjects is male(on) and living(the 1st and 4th case are different), then the verb ends in a i, that applies to we and they too, when you assume there is at least one man among them. When all of the subjects are female and/or male not living(the 1st and 4th case are the same), then the verb ends with a y. When the subjects are the middle gender(or how the helk do you call střední rod in English) then the verb ends with an a. I suggest looking this grammar rule up, its called "shoda podnětu s přísudkem". You can find it in almost every Czech school textbook for like 5th grade . The second rule is about the word "jež", thats an ond synonym for který(which). Based on the gender, case and if it is in plural or not, we use different cases of the word jenž(that's the original word from which you get jež). This is a word basically nobody uses now and the rules on when to use which case is completely irregular, that even the natives(me btw) have to learn from a textbook. If you are really interested in how jenž works, you can open the same textbook where you find shoda podnětu s přísudkem.
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u/Late-Appointment-232 15d ago
Sorry, that's a typo, but I don't understand why Dualingo teaches Old Czech.
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u/Late-Appointment-232 15d ago edited 15d ago
or this Ti kteří byli v koupelně se něco stalo. Better
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u/SkillOld2128 15d ago
It’s because “jež” and “byly” agree with the feminine gender. While “pes” is masculine, “myš” is feminine and indeed what the pronoun and verb agrees with.
There’s nothing wrong with the semantics, just with the grammar.
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u/Few_Emu6683 15d ago
this is c2 level czech, few people know these rules and there's almost no difference in spoken language.
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u/katewhatever4 15d ago
I'll give you an advice no one uses jež anymore. We usually use co or který which has more forms. Co is not the most formal thing to use but it's more normal and definitely easier than jenž
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u/AdIll9615 14d ago
yes. Two reasons:
- byly indicates female noun, plural
- jež also indicates female noun
If the correct answer was "psům", it would be:
Těm psům, již byli...
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u/Matysek0007 13d ago
Nobody speaks like this. The Duolingo sentences are always so unhinged. Now more than ever as it is a complete AI slop.
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u/CommunicationOnly432 13d ago
Yes, the "y" is for a female rule, so mice in this case. Dogs would be "i" as a male rule.
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u/maxim171 16d ago
Yea, jež is used only when referring to feminine nouns. If it were dogs, it would’ve been “jenž”
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u/Petufo 16d ago
Distinguish between jež and jenž is quite difficult. The -y shows that the subject is fenininum (thus myši) and not masculinum (psi). Anyway, no-one would say this sentence, it's like from an old book anyway.
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u/Qwe5Cz 16d ago edited 16d ago
It's like from a text book of the Czech language we used as natives. Then the "diktát" was often just full of exceptions and archaisms. Like when you hear Výtoň as a kid outside of Prague for the first time in the test you have no clue if it is í/ý or that ližiny are not derived from lyže.
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u/Lenticularis19 16d ago
No, it's plural: "Těm psům, již byli v koupelně, se něco stalo." But this is considered dated, and the recommended way is to simply say: "Těm psům, kteří byli v koupelně..."
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u/h0neanias 16d ago
Již. The whole table is here: https://cs.wiktionary.org/wiki/jen%C5%BE
I find it ridiculous to teach this to learners, not even most natives can do this from memory.
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u/Terfelus 16d ago
Slovo jež jsem v životě nepoužil
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u/Late_Journalist7094 16d ago
Nemohu používat i ktery?
Myši, který byly v koupelně něco stalo.
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u/Matt_Keator 16d ago
Myši, která (or co) byla v koupelně, se něco stalo. (Singular) Myším, které (or co) byly v koupelně, se něco stalo.
But "co" is very informal...
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u/ParticularUnusual848 14d ago
tbh the whole jenž/jež etc situation is so hard even for native speakers. it is not really used in basic language. I wouldn't know the answer.
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16d ago
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u/Elanaris 16d ago
byly (myši) vs byli (psi)