English for Masochists

Very often students tell me they used a 'translator' to translate a word or phrase. I sarcastically ask how much they paid the translator. Of course they are talking about Google Translate or DeepL or suchlike. After I admonish (look it up, preferably in a dictionary) them for using a translation device rather than a dictionary, I explain that a translator is a person who translates.

The reason for their mistake is that in Czech, Google Translate is called Google Překladač, and překladač means translator. They are always surprised when they check the English language version and find out. In English we wouldn't use a general noun for this kind of application but rather the actual name of the application.

The other day a Czech sent me an e-mail, signing it off with 'Have a nice day'. The message was sent at 18.04, so I was tempted to reply saying there wasn't much of the day left for me to have a nice one. And it wasn't an isolated example. Very often students at the end of the lesson wish me a nice day, no matter what the time is. For a (British) native speaker it sounds strange if they say it towards the end of the day. After all, you wouldn't say to someone 'Have a nice weekend' on Sunday afternoon.

Some might blame it on the direct translation of the Czech 'Hezký den', but I think, as usual, the Americans are responsible. In films we see shop assistants cheerily wish customers 'Have a nice day!'. To Brits this sounds like the stereotypical empty American politeness/friendliness. I would never say it (and not only because I don't care whether they do or not). To students I typically say 'Have a nice week', as it will be one week until I see them again.

This links into another common Czech error- misuse of the phrase 'Have a nice time'. Native speakers only use it in the context of a specific event e.g. - "I'm going to the cinema tonight." - "Have a nice time". There has to be a grammatical object (even unstated)- something specific to enjoy, rather than using it in general. In Czech the equivalent would be 'Užij si to'.

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'Fast food' refers to the style of food, not the place where we eat it. For that we say 'fast food restaurant'. Even though they're not really restaurants.

What's more, 'food' is usually uncountable, but occasionally it isn't. For instance, you could say "I have tried various Asian foods (different types of food)", but "There are two foods" sounds strange.

Two mistakes in an advert of four words is an impressive ratio.

Recently I went to see the excellent British film 'Bird'. The translator had a tough job as there was lots of youth slang in it. On the whole they coped quite well with it, but they clearly didn't know (and didn't check) the idiomatic phrase 'Bob's your uncle', and therefore translated it literally.

It means that everything is sorted out, something like the equivalent of 'a je to' in Czech, or 'voila' in French. It's often used to emphasise that something is simple.

For instance:
You just press this button, wait two minutes, and Bob's your uncle, the flan is ready.
The interview's easy to pass. Just smile, say a few nice things about the company, and Bob's your uncle.
Your dad's brother is called Robert. Bob's your uncle.

Confusing words vol. 42 518: rise vs raise

Lots of students mix up these two words, or even don't realise there are two different words.

Their meanings are very similar, but there is a subtle difference. When we are talking about something that happens naturally, without human intervention, we use 'rise' e.g. the sun rises (this is a natural occurrence). When we are talking about a conscious action, we use 'raise' e.g. he raised his hand (he decided to put his hand up).

Note the contrast between 'They have raised the price' (they have made a decision to increase the price), and 'prices have risen' (prices have gone up in general, not through the decision of one person to increase them).

Here's a better explanation, and some exercises:
https://www.helpforenglish.cz/article/2011031801-rise-vs-raise
https://www.helpforenglish.cz/article/2015070101-cviceni-rise-vs-raise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mf-BIZumaA

Five feet high and rising - Johnny Cash http://www.jcinfocenter.com

When is a city not a city? When it's a town.

Recently a student spent half the lesson trying to convince me that Slavkov (population 7169) is a city. Another student referred to Ivančice (population 9971) as a city.

So what is the definition of a city? Historically, it is necessary to have a cathedral to be a city. This still often applies in the UK (although some towns without one have been officially made cities), so for instance sleepy Salisbury (population 45 477) is a city, whereas the dynamic metropolis of Swindon (population 222 193) is a town.

But outside of the UK the deciding factor is size. There isn't an exact figure, but at around 100 000 inhabitants we can start calling a place a city. So in the Czech Republic, Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava and Plzeň are all cities (although apart from Prague, they could also be called large towns), whereas Slavkov and Ivančice definitely aren't.

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In contrast to Czech, when English borrows a word from another language, it leaves it as it is. We might pronounce it weirdly, but we don't try to anglicise the spelling.

I've heard many students say 'kindergarden'. I don't know if they're softening the T into a D in a New York-style accent, or if they weren't paying attention in German lessons at school, but the actual word is 'kindergarten'. If we were going to translate garten into English then we might as well translate kinder as well, giving us the word childgarden, which sounds like some kind of sci-fi genetic engineering facility.

Recently I received an e-mail asking for some information. The sender ended the message with the sentence 'Thanks for the early info'. This sounds as if I have already provided the information. In English we don't usually say thank you for something that hasn't been agreed to yet. In fact, it sounds a bit passive-aggressive, pushing me to provide the information quickly, as if there's no other possibility, like in the phrase 'Thank you for understanding' when giving bad news, or 'Thank you for your cooperation', when an authority is politely ordering us to cooperate.

If it is a simple request and they have already agreed to do it, we can say 'Thanks in advance for...'

'Early info' also sounds strange. It's not the information which is early, but our (potential) response, and this isn't early, but quick.

A native speaker wouldn't say 'the Englishmen' here, because 'the' makes it sound as if he's talking about a specific group of Englishmen, rather than Englishmen in general, and 'Englishmen' makes it sound as if he's only talking about English men, not women.

Saying 'I am an Englishman', rather than I am 'English', sounds very old-fashioned and pompous. I would never use it, except ironically.

With most nationalities, such as German, Italian and Russian, where the adjective can also be used as a noun, you can say the Germans, the Italians, the Russians.

But with some nationalities, like English, Welsh, French, you can't use the adjective as a noun (unless you add -men or -women) i.e. we can't say an English.

In English, you can refer to groups of people using 'the + adjective¨. Not just for nationalities, but for any group e.g. the rich, the unemployed, the ill-informed. So a native speaker, such as Banksy, would say 'the English', rather than 'Englishmen'.