Prague, language thoughts

Some attempts at creating useful phrases:

Muzete mi pomoci? Could you help me?

Prosím, kde můjv mozek? Excuse me, where is my brain?

Nabízíme Vám můjv hloupost. I offer you my stupidity.

(We won't get into "vlajici sukne", especially for Gerald's sake.)

Dobry jakýkoliv,
I've been trying to learn some very basic turistický Czestina/česky, but the going isn't easy.
For example, you'd think that saying the word for "ticket" wouldn't be all that hard, and would be a useful word for dealing with transport, museums, et. cetera. Ah -- but what kind of ticket?

When I fly into Praha, it'll be with a "letanka" or air ticket. But to use the tramway, autobus, or metro I'll need to purchase a pass or "jízdenka" (ticket, passage, travel permit). But that won't get me into a museum or theater. No, for those I'll need something like a "vstupenka" (entrance ticket) or lístek (ticket, coupon), not to be confused with the jídelní lístek (menu) in the restaurace (restaurant).

More slovniki vzrušující zábava :

ticket - jízdenka (ticket, travel permit, passage; jizdenka na vlak railway ticket)
ticket - letenka (plane ticket, air ticket, flight ticket)
ticket - lístek (scrip, ticket, coupon, card, leaflet)
ticket - vstupenka (entrance card, entrance ticket, admission card; vstupne – door-money, entrance fee, entrance, gate)
ticket - lístkový (ticket, card; listky – tickets, seats)
ticket - cedulka (tag, sticker, sign, ticket, slip)
ticket - oznámení (na cedulce) (ticket, bill, notice, announcmeent)
ticket - cedule (notice, poster, slip, ticket)
ticket - cenovka (tag, price tag, ticket)
ticket - opatřit si lístek (ticket)
ticket - přivěsit lístek (ticket, tag-card)
ticket - stvrzenka (ústřižek) (voucher, receipt, certificate, chit (clipping, coupon))
ticket - vydávat lístky (ticket, seat-issue)
ticket - kandidátka (volební, USA) (political ticket, slate)
ticket - označit (lístkem) (brand, sign, indication)
ticket - program strany (USA) (ticket, political platform)
ticket - los (papírový) (paper ballot)

So there's a huge mass of vocabulary. But wait -- there's more -- because Czech nouns and words in general are highly inflected, the endings keep changing, so one has to try to learn to recoznize many different forms of the word. As a poor dumb cizinka, my mind is adequately boggled.

A trivia question about names -- I understand that "-ova" is the feminine name particle that in some senses means roughly "daughter of" but which also is the name-ending a Czech woman traditionally takes upon her wedding. Hence Carol Anne would be "Byrnesova" if she were a Czech chick. I understand, if I read correctly, that in the vocative case a name ending in "a" changes its ending to "o". So, if this is more or less right, would I greet Marianna, "Ahoj, Marianno!" It sounds strange to my ear but maybe it is something I just need to get used to.
Pat


Here's something I found on the Internet at the "Local Lingo" site that gives just a tiny bit of some flavor of Czech grammar:

Cases
Czech has 7 grammatical cases:
1. nominative
2. genitive
3. dative
4. accusative
5. vocative
6. locative
7. instrumental

The case expresses the "attitude" of the speaker towards the subject he or she is talking about. Cases are often expressed by using a preposition - e.g. the genitive is often used with the preposition "z/ze" (from), the dative can be used with "k/ke" (to/towards), "do" (to/into), etc. No preposition is used with the nominative and vocative....

Examples (using the word "hrad" - "castle"):

Nominative: "hrad" Hrad je starý. - The castle is old.
Genitive: "hradu" Z hradu vycházejí lidé. - People are coming out of the castle.
Dative: "hradu" Cesta vede ke hradu. - The road leads to the castle.
Accusative: "hrad" Vidím hrad. - I see a castle.
Vocative: "hrade" The vocative is used only for calling/addressing someone or something.
Locative: "hradu" Mluvím o hradu. - I am talking about a castle.
Instrumental: "hradem" Za hradem je les. - There is a forest behind the castle.