4.2 – Stupně Celsia – Degrees Celsius

        Kolik je stupňů?

        How many degrees is it?

This is a phrase you might hear in relation to the weather (of course!)…in this lesson we’ll be learning how to state the temperature.

First, Czechs, like pretty much the rest of the world, use Celsius. You can of course convert –  C = 5/9 (F-32)

However, this tends to be a pain and not something we can do on the fly. Here are some common temperatures. The Czech that is given beside it is just to help you orient with those phrases and as with most things regarding temperature, it’s all relative and open to opinion.

Celsius	Fahrenheit
38°C	~100°F	Je vedro!
32°C	~90°F	Je horko!
28°C	~82°F	Je teplo.
22°C	~72°F	Je příjemně (pleasant).
15°C	~60°F	Je trochu chladno.
10°C	~50°F	Je chladno.
5°C	~41°F	Je zima!
0°C	32°F	Mrzne!
-5°C[1]	23°F	Mrzne!!
-10°C	14°F	Mrzne!!!

The more important point of this lesson is to actually state the temperature. To do this, use the word stupeň ‘degree’. Of course, you’ll have to change the forms depending on the number….

Use the following chart:

jeden	stupeň	1 with singular form
dva, tři, čtyři	stupně	2-4 with nominative plural
pět	stupňů	5 with genitive plural

You can optionally combine it with the form Celsia, which means ‘of Celsius’ (the genitive case).  So…

dvacet stupňů (Celsia)

twenty degrees (of) Celsius

čtyři stupně (Celsia)

four degrees Celsius

Stating the temperature – Only for the brave:

je jeden	stupeň Celsia	‘It is one degree Celsius’
jsou dva, tři, čtyři	stupně Celsia	‘It’s 2-4 degrees Celsius’
je pět	stupňů Celsia	‘It’s 5 degree Celsius’

Use the verb jsou in stating the temperature if the number is 2-4, otherwise use the form je

Images used in this document come from these sources.

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