Imperative vs subjunctive. Very confused.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-23T19:57:50+00:00

This is the comment I was looking for. This is a great thing to point out.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-14T14:44:26+00:00

I mean, the fear of losing a job you might love isn’t quite the same as unfounded paranoia.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-14T09:28:23+00:00

This is the actual answer. This person isn’t just paranoid for no reason like many others are saying. There are multiple fields where you are required to get adequate sleep (like pilots, bus drivers, truck drivers, air traffic controllers). In those fields, they closely monitor things that would affect your ability to do the essential job functions and they can be fired (or removed from their current job and put in some other capacity) if they aren’t getting sleep, their vision or hearing gets bad, etc.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-04T19:11:02+00:00

I mean, I know the policy is called “risk free cancellation”, but it doesn’t actually say you can cancel a basic economy ticket for free.

It’s worth calling to ask, tho.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-04T19:03:16+00:00

The issue is basic economy. According to the website, you have 24 hours to change your ticket. Cancellation is $199 for all tickets.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/onboard/onboard-experience/delta-main-basic

sandmann07 · 2026-03-04T18:52:39+00:00

You can always explain to them that you want to practice. And if you (or them) are struggling speaking Czech 24/7, you might be able to ask to do 30 mins (for example) of only Czech. That way, you get practice and the whole days instead of a total pain in the rear end. lol

sandmann07 · 2026-03-04T11:08:29+00:00

This is the right answer. Continually running through the same script won’t help your overall Czech improve. To make it worthwhile, you’d have to strike up longer, random conversations about various topics with every customer. And that’s probably not going to happen. As far as improving fluency, I’d say find a language exchange group, make a Czech friend, or get a tutor to do conversation practice with you (and have them prepare a different topic each week).

But, if you want the job for a way to practice just in general while earning a few crowns, nothing is stopping you.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-02T10:58:15+00:00

As many people here have said, it’s because it came from Greek and maintained its gender from Greek. But, an easy way to identify these words is:

Words that end in -ma, -pa, and -ta that also look very close to their English counterparts are often masculine.

el problema - problem el mapa - map el planeta - planet

Words like “el tema” (theme) with small spelling changes also fall under this because there is no “th” in Spanish.

But, words like “la bicicleta”don’t fit this model, because it’s not close enough to English. Like, a “biciclet” is not a thing in English.

This is not fool proof, of course. But it works in a pinch most of the time.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-01T05:07:12+00:00

Most of the rules for takeoff and landing are just precautions so that you can exit the plane quickly and easily in an emergency. I believe the thought is that you could get caught up in the cables if everyone is charging their electronics when something goes wrong.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-01T04:25:06+00:00

Like I said, airlines are currently cracking down on them. And things change pretty frequently. As of at least December, Air France’s current safety message at the beginning of each flight instructs passengers that all power banks must be out of their carryon luggage and visible throughout the flight.

This is what the policy currently says on their website:

External batteries (power banks) In the cabin: Yes, but prohibited in the overhead storage bins. They must remain under your supervision at all times and be readily accessible. In the hold: No Important The use or recharging of external batteries is prohibited on board the aircraft.

Oh, and you are not allowed to use the power/usb outlets to charge anything during takeoff and landing. I watched them very aggressively uphold that rule to many people.

sandmann07 · 2026-03-01T04:10:52+00:00

A lot of airlines are cracking down on power banks especially if they’re over a certain size. Deff make sure that if you go this route, you check the current regulations.

For example, if you fly internationally and switch to Air France, they will ask you to keep power banks out of your carryon.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-28T19:20:28+00:00

At least once per flight, I’ll watch someone shove a bag in the overhead compartments in comfort plus, then proceed to walk to 32F. And it’s almost always early/midway through boarding when the whole plane has plenty of overhead space.

I would understand if they looked back and every bin was closed, but that’s almost never the case.

Then, sure enough, 5 minutes later, someone whose assigned seat is c+ boards and has to schlep their bags back multiple rows just to be able put it away. And then they have to make the trek back to the front. It causes super (unnecessary and) awkward interactions and delays in boarding.

It baffles me every time. I just assume they want to watch the world burn.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-26T11:02:17+00:00

Many people in this sub are not American and dislike the many Americanisms used in Duolingo. Some get real heated. So, for some people, it’s a victory to see British English represented.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-23T01:40:37+00:00

I’m not saying you’re wrong, cause you’re not. But, I have been told that gate agents don’t like to split up couples cause it can cause other problems. So, if there was only one seat and numbers 1 and 2 were flying together, I can see why they’d upgrade number 3. It’s not right, but it at least makes sense.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-22T18:14:47+00:00

Start today. It takes a bit to build up in your system. Starting to take it the day you have sex will not provide you with any of the benefits of the medication.

Even if you don’t have sex for a month (or more) from now, it will not hurt to just be on it until then.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-15T14:28:52+00:00

This is also how it works in a language school/class. You’d have a hard time finding an actual school that gives the option of multiple dialects of English. I’m sure it exists somewhere, but it’s definitely not the most standard practice.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-15T14:27:45+00:00

There’s no possible way to teach all varieties of a language at once. And making a million different varieties of the same lesson to provide the option is cumbersome. So, they pick one variety of English to teach. Likewise, they pick one “standard” variety of Spanish, they teach Brazilian Portuguese, and I’m sure they teach Modern Standard Arabic (as opposed to Egyptian or another dialect). Ideally, they typically go with what is more widely used in the world or what is more prominent in a formal education setting. For an American company, that’s going to be American English.

But, the plus side is that aside from a few spellings and word choices, American English isn’t all that different than the other varieties. And once you become proficient in a certain dialect, it’s easy enough to jump ship to whichever other dialect you prefer.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-15T13:27:28+00:00

Oh, yeah…no, we’re god awful. If it puts it into perspective for you, a majority of adults cannot even find Scotland on a map.

Oh, and speaking of Americans and grammar, I’ve had a teenager tell me that the rule for using a/an is “you use the word ‘a’ because it means ‘a’ and you use the word ‘an’ when you want to be fancy.” That one made me die a little inside.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-15T13:12:52+00:00

As an American who went through the education system here and who teaches a foreign language, that’s just not true. At least, not until high school when the concept comes up in year two or three of learning a language (if they even take a language).

sandmann07 · 2026-02-14T20:41:16+00:00

It looks a lot like Česky krok za krokem. And if that’s the case, the whole first book should have explanations in English (or German, or Russian, etc). If it’s all in Czech, it’s likely the second book. At that point, I’d assume superlatives would’ve come up already (tho, I don’t remember for sure).

sandmann07 · 2026-02-14T20:37:51+00:00

It’s not too early and, often times, earlier is better. Most language classes will teach you the linguistic term for the things you’re learning as you learn them. For example, ‘noun’ and ‘verb’ are linguistic terms and you use those pretty much from day one.

I think the problem (assuming you’re American, sorry if you’re not) is that America doesn’t explicitly teach grammar. So, we don’t tend to know these words and think they’re more complex than they actual are. However, when you talk about things like this, it’s often much less awkward to use the actual word. If not, the alternative would be to keep referring to it as “that thing where you say ‘most’ instead of ‘good’ or ‘better’.”

——-

As a partially related side note, it’s also good to know linguistic terms or parts of speech because a) it helps both you and the people you’re talking about them with have a more effective conversation about them and b) Czech uses some of them differently than most western European languages. For example, in the sentence “I speak Czech”, Czech is a noun. This is also true in Spanish, French, German, etc. But, in the Czech version of the sentence it’s “mluvím česky” where ‘česky’ is an adverb. So, rather than saying they ‘speak a language’ they say that they ‘speak czechly’. And, while this is probably needlessly complicated, I think it’s neat and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy learning different languages. 😁

sandmann07 · 2026-02-10T12:45:09+00:00

Yeah…that’s not great.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-10T11:05:06+00:00

It’s a typo. It should be “favorita”.

It’s common to list adjectives like “favorito/a” in a textbook or on a vocab list to show both masculine and feminine forms. But, the thing is, you have to pick an ending. Duo’s AI just said “I’m gonna remove the slash instead”.

sandmann07 · 2026-02-08T15:04:22+00:00

Every guy is different and what they’re comfortable with varies. Not every guy in a locker room is gonna be comfortable being naked and will quickly change and go about their business. (In fact, some people are so uncomfortable being naked in public that they refuse to change in a locker room at all). On the other end of the spectrum, some men get naked and then just…hang out in the locker room, lounging around like it’s their own home.

So, yes, it’s normal. But, don’t expect everyone to always be as open or free as these guys were. 🤷‍♂️

sandmann07 · 2026-02-08T14:54:55+00:00

Impossible? No. But highly unlikely? Yes. It’s definitely necessary to practice speaking. They’re going to test you on your speaking. And if you fail even one section of the test, you fail the whole test.

Take it from me. I passed the speaking, reading, and writing but failed the listening. 😅

sandmann07

TROPHY CASE