Negation
Negation is formed by the prefix ne-. In the future tense and the passive voice it is added to the auxiliary verb být (to be).
- nedělat - not to do
- nedělám - I do not do
- nedělej! do not do!
- nedělal jsem - I did not do
- nebudu dělat - I will not do
- nedělal bych - I would not do
- byl bych neudělal or nebyl bych udělal - I would not have done
- není děláno - it is not done
Unlike English, more negative words can be in a Czech sentence:
- Nic nemám. - I have nothing. (literally I do not have nothing.)
- Nikdy to nikomu neříkej. - Never say it to anybody. (literally Do not never say it to nobody.)
Read more about this topic: Czech Conjugation
Famous quotes containing the word negation:
“I am firmly opposed to the government entering into any business the major purpose of which is competition with our citizens ... for the Federal Government deliberately to go out to build up and expand ... a power and manufacturing business is to break down the initiative and enterprise of the American people; it is the destruction of equality of opportunity amongst our people, it is the negation of the ideals upon which our civilization has been based.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
“Friendship, according to Proust, is the negation of that irremediable solitude to which every human being is condemned.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“Michelangelo said to Pope Julius II, “Self negation is noble, self-culture is beneficent, self-possession is manly, but to the truly great and inspiring soul they are poor and tame compared to self-abuse.” Mr. Brown, here, in one of his latest and most graceful poems refers to it in an eloquent line which is destined to live to the end of time—”None know it but to love it, None name it but to praise.””
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)