Tons of Angels

Welcome to a new edition of SoundCzech, Radio Prague’s Czech language course in which you can learn Czech phrases with the help of song lyrics. The word for today is anděl – an angel. We will be listening to a song performed by Czech singer Aneta Langerová called Spousta andělů – Tons of Angels.

Photo: Kristýna Maková, Czech Radio - Radio Prague

In the song, Aneta Langerová sings, “kolem je spousta andělů, ty je nevidíš, ty je neslyšíš, jsou všude kolem i když třeba spíš,” which means “there are tons of angels around, you don’t see them, you don’t hear them, they’re all around you even as you sleep.”

Many of these Czech phrases are similar to those used English. For instance, to look angelic is vypadat jako anděl and mít andělskou trpělivost is to have the patience of a saint. If someone is being an absolute dear you can say “ty jsi učiněný anděl.”

In Czech, an angel is sometimes referred to as an andílek– a little angel or a cherub. When someone goes swimming and start to drown, it is said that they swallowed little angels – polykal andělíčky. Slyšel jsem andělíčky zpívat is to see stars after getting a bump on the head – literally translated it means to hear the cherubs sing.

Photo: Ambro, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A guardian angel, who with any luck stops you from having to hear cherubs singing, is called an anděl strážný. An angel that has fallen from grace is a padlý anděl, and an angel of peace is an anděl míru. The angel that appears out of the blue signifying death is an anděl smrti– angel of death.

An andělíček or an andílek are also common pet names. To say that he is mother’s little angel you can say “on je maminčin andílek.” If you want to call someone sweetheart or honey you say “andílku.”

That’s all we have time for this week. This is Clare Profous, saying thank you for learning Czech with me, and na shledanou.