It’s drizzling!
Today’s SoundCzech features a song called Mrholí by the bearded 1960s Czechoslovak pop star Waldemar Matuska; I first heard the cute but likable tune on the soundtrack of the nostalgic 1999 film Pelíšky (Cosy Dens). Mrholí means it’s drizzling, or it’s misty. In the song the drizzle reflects the protagonist’s lovelorn sadness.
What’s interesting here is the construction. Rather than the English construction it is drizzling, Czech mrholí– from the verb mrholit– does not need the ‘it is’ and is therefore a bit simpler. The same goes for other verbs describing weather phenomena. Sněžit means to snow, so it’s snowing is simply sněží. Likewise pršet is to rain – it’s raining, prší. To shine is svítit, so the sun is shining, slunce svítí. Simple, ne?
Mrholí is the present tense form. The past tense takes the neutral ending, so it was drizzling yesterday, včera mrholilo. Likewise, it snowed, snežilo, it rained, pršelo, and the sun shone, slunce svítilo. All three weather phenomena have occasionally occurred on the same day here in Prague recently. Anyway, I hope you’ve found this edition of SoundCzech useful and that wherever you are the weather is fine and nemrholí!Nashledanou.
