Hello everybody, I have a problem with particular Czech construction ("sebe" + comparative) such as in "a každý sebe spravedlivější požadavek" or "I sebe spravedlivější soudce musí soudit" or "každé sebe menší zvířátko má své místo a svůj úkol". I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what does the word "sebe" stands for in these examples. Many thanks, Alex.
replied to: armiletic
Replied to: Hello everybody, I have a problem with particular Czech construction ("sebe"...
Hi, Alex. I don't know what the history of the phrase might be, but "i sebespravedlivější soudce musí soudit" could translate as "every judge, however just, must make judgments". (Notice that we would write "sebespravedlivější" as one word in modern Czech.) "Každé sebemenší zvířátko má své místo a svůj úkol" means roughly the same as "every animal, however small, has its place, and a role to play".
Hope this helps.
