Tricky Words in this week's OVI

Another example of the need to know two English translations (at least) for each Slovak word or expression (and vice versa) is provided by the Slovak "doteraz" and "doposiaľ". As well as the usual translation "until now" ("till now" is more informal, as is "up to now"), you need to remember "to date" and "to the present time", but also "so far". This is important because you can have the situation "doteraz nie (alebo áno) a naďalej nie (či áno)", when you have to say "so far" or "to date", for example: We have worked over one and a half million injury-free hours (a naďalej budeme takto pracovať). But there is another possibility: "doteraz nie, ale odteraz už áno", which is expressed by "until now".

Andy's Wordshop

Continuing with "until now". If the situation which was normal in the past has just changed or is about to change, you have to say "until now" or "till now", for example: "I never knew that till now" (doteraz som to nevedel, ale teraz už viem), and other examples like "never saw/realized/felt that". So because the form of meetings acknowledging injury-free working has just changed, you say: "Until now just ten employees were invited, but from now on a lot more will be involved." But remember: when the past situation is expected to carry on without change, you say "so far" or "to date", for example: "We haven't had any problems so far" means: We hope this situation doesn't change, and we don't expect to have any problems in the future.