Travel / Gdansk and Krakow travel -- need tips [21]

Many years ago there was a Norwegian philology faculty at the Gdańsk University, if it still exists, then hiring a 3rd-4th year student (who should speak reasonably well) is an option, especially one who knows the city well. If they charge too much (Norwegian is rare in Pland so the translator prices can be high) then an English speaking person could be your choice. It really depends on what's the purpose of your story. Would youprefer to speak to specific persons in specific places, to hear their opinions, or is anyone speaking English good for you (because you're more focused on describing what you see, not on what people have to say).

Also a local person could be helpful if you don't have much time and don't want to get stuck in some place waiting for someone speaking English :)

Lykke til!

Life / Polish Childrens Songs [22]

I found a forum with other songs/rhymes:
Forum tik-tak.pl (for parents)
tik-tak.pl/forum_dla_rodzicow/viewtopic.php?t=213

look especially at the second post (by Sosna) in that thread.
Some are simply short poems for children, but many of them are rhymes that accompany different games/plays (you usually have a description of different movements in the brackets).


that's one of many versions of this rhyme, you have a magpie here (instead of a hen) and there's no ripping off the head, but the middle part is very close to what I knew.

Life / Polish Childrens Songs [22]

Those are tricky words, I don't know English well enough to translate them :(
fik comes from fiknąć - to fall.
fiku-miku (that's the correct spelling, now that I've checked in a dictionary) doesn't means anything, it's used, when talking to children, to describe some kind of movement (according to a dictionary: «interjection to describe an activity made quickly and smoothly»)

the other thing is an extended nursery rhyme about a hen pecking at food and then feeding its chicken in different vessels (a plate, a saucer, a cup, a bowl - that's not exact, but I don't remember this rhyme exactly) and finally the last chicken doesn't get anything, but the hen rips its head off and flies away, rather horryfing, but I never thought of that this way when I was a kid, I think it's all about the manual movements that catch the child's attention.

Life / Polish Childrens Songs [22]

I think I know the Polish spelling of those words:


maybe "fiku miku"


Tu dziobała kokoszka (I know it in other order "Tu kokoszka dziobała")


fru poleciała (that how it ends)

Maybe this will help you with your search, but I can't say where to find those things on a CD.

Language / Using e or ę at the end of words [12]

Someone with a good grammar book should be able help you :)

I guess there must be rules, I just don't know them (or more precisely: I know them and use them intuitively, but I don't realize what they are). If you don't find any information after a while, we could try and write the rules for you, it just takes time to analize some verbs and draw conclusions, so I wouldn't start this before you check some existing sources.

Language / (part 2) Polish Language Pronunciation - Sample Words and Phrases [311]


No, I'm not :(
I'd also stress the last one, but I thought the tendency to stress the penultimate syllable was so strong in the modern Polish (for example most people don't respect the third-to-last rule in Latin words ending in -yka/-ika) that it would be how it's pronounced, unfortunatelly I can't find any info to confirm or deny this assumption of mine.

Language / (part 2) Polish Language Pronunciation - Sample Words and Phrases [311]


that's it


correct

rock has normal declension (Genitive rocka, Dative rockowi etc.)
rock'n'roll = rokenrol (stress on "en") (Genitve rock’n’rolla, also other cases accrodingly to Polish declension)
rock and roll = rokendrol (stress on "end"), also normal declension (Genitive rock and rolla and so on)
there's also the adjective rockandrollowy [pronounced as rokendrolowy, stress un the second last, as usual]

Life / Free internet zone in Krakow [8]

have you tried this? 16 places listed in Krakow

Language / Using e or ę at the end of words [12]

Just adding to Jova's explanation,
The ę (1st person singular) and e (3rd person singular) endings aren't, unfortunatelly, the only ones that exist in the present tense.
"ę" is not used in every verb in 1st person, some verbs (like in your sentence "nie wiem") have the -em ending,

(ja) wiem, rozumiem (but in 3rd person it's more regular "(on/ona/ono) wie, rozumie"), many people with bad education say "(ja) wię, and especially rozumię", but don't follow them, it's incorrect :)

some verbs end in -am
czytam, słucham (and in the 3rd person they lose the final m: on/ona czyta, słucha)

on the other hand, some verbs that have the "ę" in 1st person (patrzę, słyszę) do not have the "e" in 3rd person: (on/ona) patrzy, słyszy

Language / Numbers in the Polish Language [39]


wrong,
it's: Król ma dwadzieścia dwa samochody


correct
with higher numbers ending in 2,3,4 (except for 12, 13, 14) you simply use the endings that apply for the numbers 2,3,4 (so Genitive only with masculin human nouns, for example 102 mężczyzn, 1203 zawodników, 44 rozbójników, otherwise - with feminine, neuter and masculin, but non human, nouns you use Nominative)

Language / Cases, Genders, Nominative, Instrumental...WHY? [40]


Believe me, the declension isn't the worst thing that can happen to one little chicken, it grows and become someone's food. Now that I call altered :)

Language / czy../trzy.. - Full assimilation in Polish [22]


If you live in Poznań you can achieve a full assimilation with the local folks, most of them say "czy" (for trzy), "czeba" (for "trzeba") etc.

To sound more local you also have to make voiced consonants at the end of the word before another word beginning with a voiced consonant (for example: jak nie in Poznań is usually pronounce as "jag nie").

And learn the specific intonation in the questions.

Language / Accusative Case [44]



Those are correct.


right on spot


No, it simply is a noun :)
you have a verb (uczyć - to teach) from which you can create an adjective (technically it's participle, not adjective) "uczony" (taught), you can still use this form as a normal adjective, but it also became a noun (= a wise man, scientist). Still, being a noun it keeps the declension pattern of an adjective.


I meant some of the forms follow the pattern of male nouns ending in -a (so female declension pattern, for exapmle Narzędnik - Instrumental), but most forms follow adjective declension pattern.

Mian. sędzia
Dop. -dziego (-dzi),
Cel. -dziemu (-dzi),
Bier. -dziego (-dzię),
Narz. -dzią,
Miejsc. -dzi (-dzim)
Woł. -dzio;

Plural (regular declension)
Mian. -dziowie,
Dop./Bier. -dziów
Cel. -dziom
Narz. -dziami
Miejsc. -dziach

Love / Pornographic Polish magazines [65]


He clearly buys those magazines for reading purposes, if he was looking for pornography, he could choose anything in English as well :)
Now, the real question is why he doesn't read something more "ambitious" :)

Language / Use of prefixes in f.s tense/rules for forming them? [23]

Ukończyłem (or Skończyłem) [without moje] studia na uniwersytecie [or, adjective "uniwersyteckie" instead of "na uniwersytecie"]. = I completed my college studies.

Skończyłem [without się] ! = I'm done/Finished! (i.e. with an activity, such as with a computer station when surrendering my place to another person.)

Language / Genitive case ("nie ma nic" vs "nie ma niczego") [71]


jasność światła poranka?

Language / Accusative Case [44]

stary artysta - starego artystę (Masc. Anim.)
This pattern is common for masculin nouns with -a ending (usually -ista/-ysta, komunista, populista, dentysta etc., other like "poeta", they are mostly borrowed from Latin, but there are some Slavic too, like "mężczyzna"), they simply follow the feminine declension pattern.

młody uczony - młodego uczonego (Masc. Anim.)
This pattern applies to nouns that are in fact adjectives (for example spalony - offside, from the verb spalić), their declension follows the adjective pattern (also for female forms, for example: polskiej uczonej (Genitive, Dative, Locative), polską uczoną (Accusative, Instrumental)).

Sędzia (male, a judge) has a mixed declension.

Language / Learning verbs - which tenses to learn first? [5]

Well, the present tense is probably the way to go.
If you add proper words/expressions stating the moment in time, people should understand you somehow.
Just immagine:
Next year I go to Poland. Last year I visit France. Yesterday my fiancee cries. - With a minimum of good will people should get the correct info (referring to the past or to the future), both in English and Polish.

Language / Hurra Po Polsku [10]


no, I just copy&pasted the text from the second link (
sorry to disappoint you :)


it looks like the whole content of this web page is translated into English (I haven't checked the German version), so if something is missing in English it probably means you won't find that info in Polish either

Food / Polish food is making me fat [49]


It's hardly a sauce, so I doubt you can buy it in jars.
It's simply mashed, fresh strawberries (with some sugar) and added to the pasta, at least that's how they make it where I live.

Work / A job interview in Poland to take 3 hours!? [11]

(from other thread)


is it worth to get a new job for one month?

Language / Hurra Po Polsku [10]

hurra.edu.pl/angielski/materialy.html
hurra.edu.pl/angielski/zamowienie.html

(from that site)
If you would like to order a Hurra!!! series course book, please send an email outlining your request to
prolog@prolog.edu.pl
or contact us by phone at +48 12 638 45 65, 638 45 50

Language / Translations of Gadu-Gadu [158]


maybe you have a firewall blocking their server?

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]


Of course, my bad. I don't speak like this :)
I simply copied the Genitive forms instead of the Nominative, left the post without having it controlled for too long (I'm reading many different threads right now) and now I can't even edit it anymore :(

Correction to my previous post

kogo/co? (Biernik - Accusative) dwa okna/stoły/psy,

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]

finishing touch:
Neuter gender (for example "okno" = a window)
+ Masculine gender (non-human, because the declension given for "mężczyzna" aplies for masuline human nouns only), for example "stół" (a table, masculine, non-animate) and "pies" (a dog, masculine, animate, but non-human)

Only the common forms (at least for me, I hope I'm correct, but you may wait for some other opinions :)

kto/co? (Mianownik - Nominative) dwa okna/stoły/psy
kogo/czego? (Dopełniacz - Genitive) dwóch okien/stołów/psów,
komu/czemu? (Celownik - Dative) dwóm oknom/stołom/psom,
kogo/co? (Biernik - Accusative) dwóch okien/stołów/psów,
z kim/z czym? (Narzędnik - Instrumental) [z] dwoma oknami/stołami/psami,
o kim/o czym? (Miejscownik - Locative) [o] dwóch oknach/stołach/psach.

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]


Well, we are having a debate here right now (among native speakers of Polish), but even Polish specialists on linguistics are confused about the word "dwa/dwie/dwóch/dwoje" with all its forms, so don't worry.

I'd suggest using the safest (probably the most common) forms:
(feminine gender)
kto/co? (Mianownik - Nominative) dwie kobiety
kogo/czego? (Dopełniacz - Genitive) dwóch [dwu] kobiet,
komu/czemu? (Celownik - Dative) dwóm kobietom,
kogo/co? (Biernik - Accusative) dwie kobiety,
z kim/z czym? (Narzędnik - Instrumental) [z] dwiema kobietami,
o kim/o czym? (Miejscownik - Locative) [o] dwóch kobietach.

(masculine gender)
kto/co? (Mianownik - Nominative) dwóch mężczyzn + verb in sinuglar form (neuter gender) [or: dwaj mężczyźni + regular form of the verb]

kogo/czego? (Dopełniacz - Genitive) dwóch mężczyzn,
komu/czemu? (Celownik - Dative) dwóm mężczyznom,
kogo/co? (Biernik - Accusative) dwóch mężczyzn,
z kim/z czym? (Narzędnik - Instrumental) [z] dwoma mężczyznami,
o kim/o czym? (Miejscownik - Locative) [o] dwóch mężczyznach.

(neuter gender - later, I'm sleepy)

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]

On the site from the another link you pasted:
There are two contradictory posts made by the members of the same Poradnia Językowa (of Uniwersytet Śląski).
One fil.us.edu.pl/ijp/osoby/wyrwask.php -dr Katarzyna Wyrwas, chief of this Poradnia) is in your favour:
Takie stanowisko prezentuje Nowy słownik poprawnej polszczyzny PWN pod red. A. Markowskiego, podając dla narzędnika liczby mnogiej dwa rodzaje połączeń - dwiema rękami albo dwoma rękoma. W przypadku połączeń liczebnika dwa z rzeczownikami żeńskimi w liczbie mnogiej możliwe są obie formy, np. dwiema kobietami lub dwoma kobietami. Mężczyźni nie mają wyboru - w narzędniku lm. jest tylko dwoma mężczyznami :-).

Katarzyna Wyrwas

However, her staff
fil.us.edu.pl/ijp/osoby/siuciakm.php dr Mirosława Siuciak is of the other opinion:
Jeżeli chodzi o odmianę liczebnika dwa, to jest ona specyficzna, ponieważ w kilku przypadkach występują formy oboczne, tzn. mamy dwie możliwości, np.: dopełniacz: dwu albo dwóch, celownik: dwom albo dwóm, narzędnik: dwoma, a w rodzaju żeńskim obowiązkowo dwiema, np. dwiema kobietami, dwiema nogami; ale dwoma panami, dwoma samochodami, miejscownik: dwu albo dwóch. Liczebniki od 5 wzwyż mają łatwiejszą odmianę, ponieważ w większości przypadków występuje końcówka -u, np. pięciu panów, pięciu panom, o pięciu panach; tylko w narzędniku istnieją dwie możliwości: z pięcioma panami lub z pięciu panami.

Mirosława Siuciak

I also checked porjez.uni.wroc.pl/pj/p/archiwum/odmiana/20
Poradnia Językowa of Uniwersytet Wrocławski

data:2006-11-22 :: dzial:odmiana
Witam!
Czy poprawna jest forma 'z dwoma kobietami', czy tylko 'z dwiema kobietami'. Bardzo proszę o jakiś komentarz :)
Pozdrawiam
Adam Hoszman
Poprawne jest wyrażenie "z dwiema kobietami". Forma "dwoma" pojawia się w połączeniach z wyrazami w rodzaju nieżeńskim.

T.P. (- dr Tomasz Piekot)

and now poradnia.polonistyka.uj.edu.pl/?modul=8 Poradnia Językowa Wydziału Polonistyki of Uniwersytet Jagielloński

Czy można powiedzieć: DWOMA OSOBAMI? Uważam, że dla rzeczowników rodzaju żeńskiego poprawna jest forma liczebnika DWIEMA. Dziękuję za odpowiedź. Anna L.

Szanowna Pani,
narzędnik dla rodzaju żeńskiego liczebnika DWA ma dwie formy: dwoma i dwiema. I obie są poprawne.
£ączę pozdrowienia -
prof. dr hab. Mirosław Skarżyński
Która z poniższych odmian jest prawidłowa: Policja dysponuje dwiema wersjami rysopisów. czy Policja dysponuje dwoma wersjami rysopisów?
Obie weerje (sic!) są właściwe. - prof. dr hab. Mirosław Skarżyński

It seems we got into a serious debate between Polish specialists, so I abstain from the vote on dwoma/dwiema (although "dwoma kobietami" sounds so bad for my ear, never heard it in school, I don't recall it from books, I usually hear it from under-educated sports commentators on Polish TV, the same guys that say "półtorej roku" etc.)

However, since you insist.
Find me, please, a justification for the forms you suggested earlier (those in bold):

- kogo? dwu kobiet, komu? dwu kobietom, z kim? z dwu kobietami, o kim? o dwu kobietach
or
- kogo? dwóch kobiet, komu? dwóm bądź dwom kobietom, z kim? z dwiema lub dwoma kobietami, o kim? o dwóch kobietach.

Rodzaj męski (i nijaki):
- kogo? dwu mężczyzn, komu? dwu mężczyznom, z kim? z dwu mężczyznami, o kim? o dwu mężczyznach
or
- kogo? dwóch mężczyzn, komu? dwóm bądź dwom mężczyznom, z kim? z dwoma mężczyznami, o kim? o dwóch mężczyznach.

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]

obcyjezykpolski.interia.pl/?md=archive&id=89
Are you using this link? This guy is good at spelling, it doesn't mean he's correct with his grammar.

Language / Which case for adjectives? [47]

Hiro, I think you made too many mistakes, better check your post again.

Language / My reading and writing is awful - POLISH IS HARD TO LEARN [13]


That's so untrue. Of course Polish speliing/pronounciation differences aren't even half as crazy as in English, but it's not either as simple as you make it sound.