Frequent Czech Expressions Used in the Past – Part 1 (S02/E36 – daily podcast CZECH YOUR DAY)

THIS WEEK’S TOPIC: Kam jsi šel/šla?/Where did you go?

THE TRANSCRIPT/HANDOUT IS DOWN BELOW

Mastering “Yesterday” in Czech

To express “yesterday” combined with different times of the day is straightforward in Czech. Simply take the word “yesterday,” which is „včera“ (yesterday), and pair it with the specific part of the day. Let’s break it down:

• Včera ráno (yesterday morning)
• Včera v poledne (yesterday at noon)
• Včera odpoledne (yesterday afternoon)
• Včera večer (yesterday evening)
• Včera v noci (yesterday at night)
• Včera o půlnoci (yesterday at midnight)

Watch out: ráno, odpoledne and večer aren’t used with prepositions (unlike English).

Understanding “The Day Before Yesterday”

Now, how do we say “the day before yesterday” in Czech? The answer is „předevčírem“ (the day before yesterday).

When you look at it, it really is „before yesterday“ = před + včera = předevčírem

“Last” in Czech

And how is LAST expressed in Czech, such as in “last week,” “last month,” or “last year.”

In Czech, these are expressed as follows:

• Minulý týden (last week)
• Minulý měsíc (last month)
• Minulý rok (last year)
• There are of course more expressions (eg. před rokem or vloni), but we will talk about them in the upcoming episodes. Let’s digest these ones first.