False friends

False friends are pairs of words in two languages that are similar or identical in their form but have different meaning in one language than they do in the other. This may lead to a confusion among learners and recurring use of the incorrect translation may lead to fossilised errors. Some of the common false friends between Czech and English language (and the most bothersome if you ask me) include:

• sympathetic does NOT translate as "sympatický" (it's "soucitný")
• a brilliant scientist does NOT translate as "brilantní věděc" (it's "geniální vědec")
• a billion does NOT translate as "bilión" (it's "miliarda," so actually thousand times less)
• a notebook does NOT translate as "notebook" as in a computer (it's "poznámkový blok," what we call a notebook computer would in English be "a laptop")
• a gymnasium does NOT translate as "gymnázium" (it's "tělocvična," the short of which is "a gym")
• a novel does NOT translate as "novela" (it's "román," what we call "novela" in Czech would be "a novella" in English)

The exampes above are in most cases derrived from the fact that languages borrow words from other languages but in the process they alter or change the meaning altogether. Over the years, the two words may gain entirely different meaning.

There is another instance of false friends based on pure coincidence when two word evolve independently and end up with visual similarity or resablemnce in form. The example of this type of false friends may be the English word for a building (house) and Czech term for a young duck (house) but since the meaning in these cases is understandably entirely different, this type of false friends is not very tricky for ESL learner to see through.

Connected speech

Words in connected speech often get pronounced very differently than they would on their own. This can be very troublesome for English learners. Consider the difference in pronunciation of the following simple sentence between its written form with emphasis on every word and the same sentence in the form how it would be commonly spoken:

What do you have got there? –>  [vot dů jů hef gat thér]

What you have got there? –>

What you got there? –>

Whatcha got there? [uotča gat thér]

The sound changes can be roughly categorized as following:

Catenation (Linking) - a word starting with a vowel joins to the previous word

She’s out again [ší zautegen]

In an afternoon [i nen afternůn]

Here is [hi ris]

an apple [e neple]

each other [í čadr]

Intrusion (r) (j) (w) - an extra sound (that is not present as a letter in the text) links a word starting with a vowel to the previous word

Intrusion (r)

Law and order [ló ren ódr]

here and there [hi ren thér]

Intrusion (j)

I am [ajem]

They are [thejár]

I agree [ajegrí]

the idea [thíajdíja]

Intrusion (w)

You are [juár]

go off [gouof]

grow up [grouap]

blow away [blouevej]

Assimilation (a sound changes) - sounds next to one another in connected speech may influence and change each other, typically the sound at the end of a word changes because of the first sound in the following word

In bed [imbed]

Did you…? [didžju]

this shop [thišop]

good boy [gubój]

bad girl [bégrl]

last year [lásčír]

have to go [heftgou]

do you want [djuvont]

Elision (a sound disappears) - some sounds dissapear in order to ease pronunciation, it is easier to pronounce them in the reduced form than it would be in their full form (contraction is the special case of elision because it is represented by the spelling - “I’ve done it”)

Next week [neksvík]

I don’t know [idonnou]

got to [gata]

chestnut [česnat]

strictly [strikly]

past perfect [pásperfekt]

Overview of English tenses

There are six tenses in English. However, with their continuous forms it makes twelve tenses in total. They are separated into three categories according to the time they refer to - the present, the past and the future. 

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as the table below makes it seem. For example, present perfect tense (1.3) does not actually refer to the present but rather to the past (in Czech, it would be usually translated just like past simple).

Anyway, this is just a brief overview and more thorough look at each of the individual tenses will be the subject of other posts in the future.

1. Present Tenses

1.1 Present simple – I walk

1.2 Present progressive – I am walking

1.3 Present perfect– I have walked

1.4 Present perfect progressive – I have been walking

2. Past Tenses

2.1 Past simple – I walked

2.2 Past progressive – I was walking

2.3 Past perfect – I had walked

2.4 Past perfect progressive – I had been walking

3. Future Tenses

3.1 Future simple – I will walk

3.2 Future progressive – I will be walking

3.3 Future perfect – I will have walked

3.4 Future perfect progressive – I will have been walking

A trip to Paris (reading activity)

1) Discuss with your partner the following questions:

a) Is Ellie still in France at the time she’s writing the letter? How long has she been there?

b) How many times did Ellie visit Paris in the past?

c) Would you say that Ellie is more interested in sightseeing or shopping?

Is André still travelling with Ellie and Lucy?

Summerize each of the three paragraphs of the letter in a single sentence.

#1 .................................................................................................................................

#2 .................................................................................................................................

#3 .................................................................................................................................

Look at the examples of the Present Perfect from the letter. Match them with the uses of the Present Perfect:

We’ve been here in France for about two weeks now.

My friend Lucy is really happy because she has met a handsome French guy.

I have always wanted to visit Paris.

to talk about a past action without saying exactly when it happened

to emphasise a present result of something that happened in the past

to describe something that started in the past and continues in the present

Ask your partner using the correct tense:

about his/her travel experience with France/Paris.

about his/her dream city that they visited or they are going to visit.

about his/her love affair with a handsome stranger from another country.

 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 

Do we use Present Perfect or Past Simple when:

Something happened in the specific time in the past.

The time of the action in the past is not given or known.

A past action has results in the present.

The past action is not linked with the present.

Complete the rules with the correct words in brackets:

We use the Present Perfect to talk about actions that (are happening now / happened in the past) and have clear consequences in the (past / present).

We use the Past Simple to talk about actions that happened in the past and (we know exactly when they happened / we only know they happened at some time before 

download the whole activity in .pdf