"To je špatný František!"
Translation:That is the wrong František!
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Can't it be also translated as "That is bad František!"? I mean... That is František, the bad guy.
It sounds unnatural. I wouldn't use it. In any case, you can say something like "František je špatný kluk!", if František is a little child who, I don't know, have just throwned a stone at puppy. You probably won't say that about an adult man. In that case is common to use "zlý", for instance "František je zlý muž." And there is plenty of other expressions, of course :-)
Sorry, I accidentally deleted my comment (and also accidentally downvoted deleted remainder of that comment:-) )
Again: It sounds unnatural. I wouldn't use it. Only maybe, if František is little child who is not yet aware of morality and have just throwned a stone at puppy. "František je špatný kluk" could be used.
"František je zlý kluk" is a bit more natural. I might use "špatný" in a reference to a man or a person, if that particular man or person is bad, but I don't want to sound too rough. "František je špatný muž, pije, kouří, provozuje hazard." (="František is bad man, he drinks, smokes, gambles.")
But in a case that František also beats his wife, I would use "František je zlý muž."
So in a nutshell: "špatný" is a bit soft if you refer to a person. More common is to use it in a reference to things. "Ta pizza je špatná". (=That pizza is bad.") Pizza is feminine, that is why there is used ending -á.
What if you were send to a train station to pick up František and you brought another guy whose name happens to be František and who was expecting to be picked up by a driver. You, apparently, picked up the wrong František...
Yeah, but that is another meaning of "špatný". In this case "špatný" = "wrong"/"incorrect"/"different".
"V mém autě sedí špatný František." = "There's wrong František sitting in my car."
Maybe I should have mentioned it. I referred only to character's traits. But in any case, thanks for pointing that out and please, feel free to correct me, I have zero experience in giving advice on learning Czech, besides learning bunch of Albanian guys Czech swear-words :)
The sentence is ok for a multiverse sci-fi; the meaning of spatny is predominantly nespravný=WRONG, not zkažený=MEAN. The sentence in Czech is weird. You would not say it when pointing at someone for being a rascal. For a mean person one would use 'guy' or 'man', verbatim like you wrote...To je František, špatný chlap, špatný člověk.
Špatný have several different meanings.
- not suitable, inappropriate for its purpose, of poor quality
- not satisfying the requirements
- morally unsatisfactory, dishonest
- incorrect, wrong
- unfavorable, unpleasant
I'm missing something here because I translated this as, "That is wrong/bad Frantisek." Like maybe a teacher correcting a student or a parent talking to a child. How can I tell that it would be, "That is THE wrong Frantisek" vs "That is wrong Frantisek"?
Did you mean someone talking to František, telling him that something is wrong? There would be a comma before F.: "That is wrong, František." - and quite a different sentence in Czech: the word "wrong" would be an adverb and František would have to be in the vocative because you're addressing him, thus: "To je špatně, Františku."
I feel we learners are being led into a trap by this far-fetched sentence, because in most of the other sentences, translating 'spatny' as 'bad' works just fine.
In previous lessons "spatny" was translated as bad, not wrong. How can I spot the difference without knowing the context?
You often cannot. Špatný can mean either. Therefore, both translations are often possible and accepted.
That is a very random and specific sentence for a beginner of czech, sounds like high school or university level czech conversation vocabulary
This is a "false friend", in Polish there's this word "szpetny" which means really ugly and I totally still mistake the meaning of "špatný" for "ugly"
It does. Notice that you can express a similar meaning with "ten špatný František".
My comment was left when I thought špatný was being used as meanig bad, as it had been for all the previous exercises. Translated as "wrong" I agree it's correct. I just need to recognize how the word is being used. I ran into a similar issue with "žena ". My parents always used the word as meaning wife. I had to adjust that Duolingo meaning is usually woman.
And, just wondering, what word did your parents use when they wanted to say "woman"?
I am native AmE. We are talking about a specific person named František: "That is the wrong František." So the definite article "the" is needed here, not the indefinite article "a."