Language / sobie sobie sobie sobie sobie [29]


Exactly. Siebie and sobie (and sobą too) are different cases of the same word. They are used when the subjects do action on themselves.
Here's the declension:

M. (none, because object is never in nominative in Polish)
D. siebie (or się)
C. sobie
B. siebie (or się)
N. (z, ze) sobą
Mc. (o, na, w...) sobie
W. (none, as for nominative)

examples:

D.
Wysłał list do siebie.
He sent a letter to himself.

C.
Obciął sobie palec.
He cut his finger off.

B.

Rozpoznał siebie w lustrze.
He recognised himself in the mirror.

N.

Rozmawiał sam ze sobą.
He talked to himself.

Mc.

Opowiedział o sobie.
The told about himself.

EDIT:

In D and B siebie is used when emphasized. Otherwise się is more natural.
But if a preposition is put before D then it must be siebie (not się) - as in the example above.

Cinek

Language / Need a Polish company name (related to metal) [7]


metal

Language / pedestrian crossing and traffic lights - motion/na + Locative case? [7]


There is a clear difference here. 'W polu' has more general meaning and 'na polu' is more specific. It can be explained better with an example:

Rolnik pracuje w polu (no matter what 'pole' that is)
Rolnik jest na polu (on some specific 'pole')

But in other contexts it may be different e.g.:
w polu elektrycznym = in electric field
w polu karnym = in penalty area (in soccer)
w polu widzenia = in field of vision

but:

na polu walki = in battlefield
na polu minowym = in minefiled

Cinek

Language / verbal nouns in -nie [7]


I don't agree. Even though it's hard to find a context when such sentence could be used, it is still correct from gramatical point of view.

However I'd say it as Ewcinka wrote:

On się zajmuje martwieniem się.

Cinek

Language / Polish speech synthesiser software [19]


Yes, Ivona pronounces it very well.

Cinek

Language / The difference between i and a ? [15]

No. The only rule I know for that says that i is used to enumerate sililarities and a is used to enumerate differences.

Easy example:

Jabłko jest czerwone i pomidor jest czerwony.
Apple is red and tomato is red too.

Jabłko jest czerwone a śliwka jest niebieska.
Apple is red but plum is blue.

more difficult example:

Wczoraj posprzątaliśmy mieszkanie i poszliśmy na spacer.
Yesterday we cleaned up the flat and went for a walk.(similarity: both we did yesterday)

Wczoraj posprzątaliśmy mieszkanie a potem poszliśmy na spacer.
Yesterday we cleaned up the flat and then we went for a walk (difference: first cleanup then a walk - not both in the same time)

most difficult examle:

dialogue:
team: idziemy na piwko
we're going to have some beer

someone: i ja! (or ja też!)
me too!

similarity: I also want to get drunk with you today

another dialogue:

team: idziemy na piwko
we're going to have some beer

soemone: a ja?!
what about me?!

difference: you're going to go without me = you forgot about me! = you go , I don't

I hope this helps you a bit.

Cinek

Language / Plural forms 2-4 and =>5 [30]


'palców' is just Genetiv for 'palce'.

The general rule for numbers in Polish say:

1 : use singular nominative
2 - 4 : use plural nominative
5 - ... (with some exceptions) use plural genetive

and the exceptions (main) to the third rule are:
22-24, 32-34, 42-44 etc. where the 2-nd rule may apply (depending on the gender).

Cinek

Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]


Hmm, so going that way you say that there's no plural for 'czlowiek' too, or there's no past or future form for 'jestem' ???

'Lata' IS plural form of 'rok', but it is just IRREGULARITY, which means that some gramatical forms of words may be more different than just different ending.

The word 'lata' may mean 'summers' or 'years', depending on the context, and that doesn't mean that 'years' and 'summers' are the same thing in Polish (but it'd be nice if summer was all year long :-) )

btw. don't learn too much from TV, they really do big mistakes.

Nie ogladaj telewizji, bo bedziesz miala w glowie glizdy, to cite famous Kabaret TEY ;-)

Cinek

Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]


Right, I forgot that one, but I know it as instrumantalis (narzędnik), not genetivus (dopełniacz) e.g.

Przed dwoma laty - 2 years ago

in fact, this form is much more often used than 'latami'. But in colloquial language most people would say just: 'dwa lata temu'

Cinek

Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]

'Lata' is just plural of 'rok'.

Here are all the cases:

Singular:

M. rok
D. roku
C. rokowi
B. rok
N. rokiem
Mc. roku
W. roku!

Plural:

M. lata
D. lat
C. latom
B. lata
N. latami
Mc. latach
W. lata!

You just need to know the 1, 2-4, 5.. rule to use the proper case, and that's it.

And regarding the years-summers thing, it's common not only in Polish that names of seasons or other events used as measures of time (especially in older writings).

e.g.
moons-months (in (old) Polish Księżyc (moon) sometimes is called miesiąc (month)), Sundays-weeks (niedziele-tygodnie)
Springs-years (wiosny-lata (oh, this one really looks strange :-|) )

Some example, just a short love story ;-) (really old-fashioned)

Było jej sidemnaście wiosen. (she was 17)
Spotkali się w świetle miesiąca. (they met in moonlight)
W cztery niedziele byli już po słowie. (in 4 weeks the were already engaged)

If anyone still interested, in the past the plural of 'rok' used to be regular: roki

M. roki
D. roków
C. rokom
B. roki
N. rokami
Mc. rokach
W. roki!

but this form is not used any more in contemporary Polish (however, still perfectly understandable and correct from grammatical point of view).

Cinek

Food / Questions on Polish food: Oscypek and Zurek. Also zeberka. [18]

Have you ever had zured served in a loaf of bread?
Delicious :-)

Food / Sausage Maker needed for recipe [12]

Only juniper :-) The best myśliwska kiełbasa (hunter's sausage) is only smoked using juniper.

Language / Polish Onomateopia [26]

Szeleścić :-)

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


Shoudl be:
Nie, nie ma go.


Should be:
Nie, nie ma ich.

Language / The Dative Case [62]


Yes. Today, you can find "ku" only in old literature (XIX century or older) and e.g. in Bible. Nobody would ever say it when talking to you today.

But Michal's right that it has the same roots as Russian 'k'.