"Já jsem nemluvil příliš často."

Translation: I did not speak too often.

[ion1122]

The English given here is ambiguous It can mean:
1. I did not speak very often.
2. I did not speak more than I should have.
Which of the above does the Czech sentence mean?

[kacenka9]

equally ambiguous in czech

[Woodstockjag]

Why is "I didn't speak too much" not acceptable?

[Renardo_11]

„not … too much“ could mean that you spoke only for a short time (as opposed to a long time apiece). „not … too often“ means that you spoke only few times (as apposed to many times).

The Czech často means “often.” I think without this word the sentence could mean “…not too much.”

[Kajl96]

Why wouldn't this be "nemluvím",

[VladaFu]

past tense

[snikta]

what about "I did not talk too much, often" ? or "I didn't often talk too much"

[VladaFu]

No, the příliš definitely relatos to často. Příliš často - too often.

[Tom128916]

Why is "I did not tell too often." not acceptable?

[VladaFu]

The distinction tell/say (říct) vs. talk/speak (mluvit) exists in Czech too. These verbs are quite different. The first group is about uttering something, the other is about the action of talking.