"Nebyls ještě ženatý."
Translation:You were not married yet.
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At the risk of sounding pedantic, the use of the past tense and the word yet is incorrect. You were not married 'then' would make sense but 'yet' is a period that runs from the past right up to the present time, which is the not the case here.
I agree, but one could say "You were not yet married when I last met you."
1) Only registered partnership is possible to this day in Czechia
2) Even if you encountered such a situation, you would describe it indirectly. Most probably "Nebyls ještě v manželství."
"Ženatý" is derived from "žena" (woman) and means literally "having a woman". And... this is not the case.
so would you say "vdana", then? even if Czechia doesn't recognize same-gender marriages, other countries do, and you might be talking about someone from one of those other countries.
certainly not vdaná, that is feminine
And I do not like vdaný either, it is asymetric. It would be best to use some other (indirect) formulation. At least until something becomes reasonably established.
Of course, that would have an entirely different meaning, but it would be interesting to know how "You were not still married" would be written in Czech... especially if it would be the same., in which case your answer should be accepted. :-)
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How can I know for sure that it's "you weren't married yet" and not "he wasn't married yet"?
"He wasn't married yet." would be "Nebyl ještě ženatý."
"You weren't married yet." is on the other hand: "Nebyls ještě ženatý." / "Nebyl jsi ještě ženatý." in singular informal or "Nebyl jste ještě ženatý." in plural and/or singular formal.
The CZ sentence shown above is clearly masculine. In the opposite direction, vdaná is also accepted.
The English translation needs changing as it is incorrect. You are not married yet is one correct option. I had "You were not still married" which at least is correct English. Is my understanding that ještě can also mean still? Thanks
The Shorter Oxford Dictionary quotes Addison; "while her beauty was yet in all its height and bloom". This refers clearly to a time in the past.
The fact that one personally avoids certain language constructions does not, ipso-facto, render them incorrect. I would avoid the gerund in the context in which MIKE... uses it above, but am aware that it is in common use, particularly in England. I would not therefore criticise its use by others. (I am referring to M's earlier contribution)
I am native AmE. The English sentence is correct. This is a somewhat rare instance of a virtually literal translation that makes perfect sense in the target language: "You were not - yet - married." And the English word order can also be, as shown above in the main translation, "You were not married yet."
On the other hand, "You ARE not married yet" is not a correct translation of the Czech sentence, because the original is in the past tense.
Perhaps one of the Czech natives on the team will weigh in on whether "You were not still married" is also acceptable, although the meaning is different on the English side.
Thanks for answering and also for your example of how American English is so very different to English English. My question was actually about the meaning of "ještě" although i have now managed to find that out. Thanks anyway