"Řekli jsme mu to."

Translation: We told him that.

[tompw89]

Would "jemu" also be correct here?

[Nemesis_NaR]

"Řekli jsme to jemu" is gramatically ok, but the meaning is slightly different (it answer the question "Whom did you tell it?").

"Jemu jsme to řekli" is fine as well.

"Řekli jsme jemu to" is wrong.

[Mark841597]

Could you explain why "Řekli jsme jemu to" is wrong? Thanks in advance :-)

[VladaFu]

I think it is because of the stress in the sentence. "Jemu" is a stressed pronoun but "mu" is not stressed, it is a clitic. This is more general when there are two forms available, one monosylabic and one longer.

So when the position in the sentence is stressed, you use "jemu", if it is unstressed, you use "mu". Usually the unstressed position is right after the first stressed word.

The position of "mu" in "Řekli jsme mu to." is unstressed. You can use "jemu" in stressed position at the begin, or at the end: "Řekli jsme to jemu.", "Jemu jse to řekli."

You can modify the stress by adding words like: "To jemu jsme to řekli!", "Tak jemu jsme to řekli!" and this way you can get stress to the second word of the sentence and you use the longer form.

[VladaFu]

Or perhaps a better explanation here https://www.duolingo.com/comment/25198717

[vladik233475]

is correct we told him it??

[Steve254604]

In English, with the verb "to tell", we can say "We told him THAT", but with "it", we have to say "We told it to him".

With the verb "to say", we have to say "We said that to him" and "We said it to him". (That is, you can "tell" someone something, but you can only "say" something TO someone.)

[NancyEcker4]

Why isn't "Rekli jsme" conjugated to "Reklime jsme"? I don't follow.

[BoneheadBass]

Have a look at this link for the conjugation of říct: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%C5%99%C3%ADct. If the table is not immediately visible, click Conjugation and then Show.

[NancyEcker4]

Thanks. By the way, is it okay to use Františku instead of Františkovi in the direct object form?

[BoneheadBass]

In addition to being vocative, Františku is dative (INdirect object) and locative. Františkovi is likewise dative and locative. But neither would be used for the direct object of the verb, since that calls for the accusative Františka. One of the Czech natives on the team may weigh in on whether there is a grammatical requirement or personal preference for Františku vs. Františkovi when both are available.

[NancyEcker4]

Sorry, I should have used it in the sentence Duolingo has: "Pomáhám Františkovi." My question: Is "Františku" interchangeable with "Františkovi" as the direct object here? If not, why not?

[BoneheadBass]

"Pomáhám Františkovi" uses an indirect object (dative). I would expect both Františku and. Františkovi to be accepted where the dative is called for -- unless, as I said, there is a requirement or preference for one over the other of which I'm not aware.

[VladaFu]

There are some preferences that are not so simple. One would prefer Františkovi, if you use it on its own, but Františku, if you use the whole name to avoid repeating the -ovi.

Pomáhám Františkovi.
Pomáhám Františku Novákovi.