Work / English people working in Poland [15]

There are quite a few Brits like me floating around on this forum. If you're interested I have a blog where I write about life here in Poland: british-in-poland.blogspot.com.

You've already found this forum which is probably the biggest Polish forum on the net, so another great place for research and asking questions.

Life / Receiving UK TV in Krakow [20]

Astra 2 is a group of satellites that are so close together in space that they appear to us on earth as one satellite. They are imaginatively named A, B, C and D. Eurobird 1 is also up there at the same place (28 deg East). The only one with a really tight footprint is Astra 2D, the other ones we can get in Krakow with a 90cm dish.

What we need to know (and I haven't been able to find it yet) is exactly which satellite is going to host which channels. I suspect that BBC and ITV will be on Astra 2D (as they are on Sky) so they can try and stop people outside the UK getting them due to licence restrictions...

UK, Ireland / WHY DO POLISH PEOPLE THAT COME TO ENGLAND CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH? [118]

I didn't say that. Don't know why you're quoting my name.

UK, Ireland / Taking a UK-registered car to Poland [35]

Now I have had some more time have just found the law I was talking about - it's the EU Motor Insurance Law first directive:

"all motor insurance policies bought in Europe would include minimum requirements in all EU countries"

insureyourmotor.com/car-insurance-20/laws-21/21.htm

"...in the EU your car insurance policy will automatically provide, at no extra cost, the minimum cover (third party liability) required by law.."

europe.org/motorinsurance.html

UK, Ireland / Taking a UK-registered car to Poland [35]

jeez, I see you need some convincing. If you like reading then how about the House of Lords's website:

publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199798/ldjudgmt/jd981022/clarke02.htm

Or even better, the European Commission website:

eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31972L0166:EN:NOT

Just looking in my old car policy the small print says:

"Continental Use/Compulsory Insurance Requirements

In compliance with EU Directives this policy provides as a minimum the necessary cover to comply with the laws on compulsory insurance of motor vehicles in:

* any country which is a member of the European Union
* any country which the Comission of the European Communities is satisfied has made arrangeemtns to meet the requirements of Article 7 [2] of EC Directive 72/166/CE relating to civil liabilities arising from the use of a motor vehicle"

I don't see what more proof you want than that....

Life / A married impediment certificate - where to get it from? [10]

welcome to the world of Polish bureacracy....

Language / Kasia and Zosia pronounce [17]

Sure - one is a "sh" with a pout, the other is a "sh" with a smile. I just have trouble remembering which is which so tend not to do either (which is probably why I sound like Kevin Aiston when I speak Polish).

Language / Accusative Case [44]

it's because Kowalski is an adjective as has been said, where as Nowak is treated as a noun, hence Nowaka in example 2.

Examples 3 and 4 you have Anna -> Annę (noun fem acc) and Lewińska is an adjective hence Lewińską (adj fem acc).

powieść is feminine.
But to answer your question anyway, any adjectives used have to agree with the noun.

Language / Accusative Case [44]

Some words are masculine, some are neuter, some are feminine. You just have to learn the gender when you learn the new word. There is no real logic as to why a word is one gender or not. Having said that, most of the time you will get a feel for the gender of a word from its ending.

For example lots of words ending in a hard sound (e.g. materiał, saxofon) are masculine. Most words ending in -a are feminine (e.g. praca, kobieta). Lots of latin looking words like muzeum are neuter, as are ones with -ie (like ubranie or zdjęcie).

Yes Krzysztof's answer was much better than mine - the case is determined by the verb or the preposition used in the sentence.

You need to change the case of the noun and the adjective to fit the sentence, and that is determined by the verb in your exercise.

For example E1:
Verb is oglądać which takes accusative. The object of this verb is your "stara fotografia", hence this object changes to accusative as you have done correctly.

E2: The verb is to have, mieć. Like in English (I have my key) the object changes to accusative. Mój klucz does not remain in the nominative. So your object is masc/inaminate accusative (which looks like the nominative though):

Czy masz mój klucz?

E3: Same as E2, but this time you have masc/anim acc.

Language / Accusative Case [44]


Woah careful - you are getting confused. Noc is feminine as you say. Therefore it will never by used in a masculine or neuter form. Nocy is not the masc form and noce is not the neuter form - there are no such things as a masc/neuter form of a feminine word.

Your dictionary is probably showing you how to form the genitive and plural.
Each dictionary is different - mine just says "Noc - f, nocy (G. plur)" so I know that nocy is the genitive plural.

As mentioned, best to learn the gender with the word as there are a lot of irregularities.

Language / Accusative Case [44]

spot on Krzysztof!

Law / Citizenship problems - my dad's name has Polish letters. Help! [12]


I don't think that's going to be possible. I have the same problem - my Polish surname originally has an n with the dash (ń) but of course as I was born in the UK my documents don't have the dash.

I have an official translation (done here in Poland) and the translator said he couldn't add the dash because he can only write the name exactly as it appears in the original. Apparently I have to write to some office in Warsaw to follow this up, but as yet I can't be bothered with the inevitable hassle.....

Language / The Dative Case [62]

The dative is generally used to show the receiver of something or indirect objects, hence it is used with the verb to give amongst others.

For example "Ben gives the book to the donkey" - Ben is nominative, the book is the object being given (hence accusative) and the donkey is the receiver so will be dative.

Also some verbs where you might not expect it use the dative such as "to help", so literally you are saying "I help to you" rather than "I help you", but I guess that is logical because you give help to someone (and it's the same in German too).

Language / The Dative Case [62]

In English we rely on prepositions to tell us who does what to whom, in Polish you don't always need a preposition:

Ben daje książkę Osłowi

Remember (-ę for fem. acc. singular). To be honest I don't know what the rule is for the masculine singular dative ending (-u or -owi). Certainly names of people seem to be -owi. It might be you need to learn the ending with the word. Most other things seem to be -u. Most monosyllabic words tend to take -u (e.g. brat -> bratu)

I am going to guess (but I don't know off hand) that usually osioł takes -u, but when treating Osioł as your name -owi is used.

Maybe a native here can help...

Travel / Going to Kędzierzyn-Koźle in August [10]

I lived in Zdieszowice which is about 18km away from Kędzierzyn-Kożle 18 months ago.
I wouldn't describe it as a city, it's just a town and not a particularly big one. There isn't much particularly worth writing about it in my opinion, it's pretty drab looking, aren't many shops, quite unremarkable really. I am sure there are a few bars as with any town but I wouldn't expect much more than that to be honest.

Opole is much bigger, it's a bit of a university town. I am sure there will be more nightlife there...

Language / The Dative Case [62]


Actually I was quoting that from a book, but now I can't lay my hands on which one it was (I took it from my notes from when I was learning about it)

Life / Shattered dreams. Poland is more expensive to live than the UK. [23]


Possibly because chains such as Tesco aren't so well established (yet) in Poland, and their branches are smaller in Poland. In the UK the little shops like greengrocers and butchers have been largely killed off now by the big supermarkets but it hasn't got to that stage in Poland.

Yeah Tesco isn't as good quality here as it is in the UK, although they have an up-market sister store - Savia - which stocks Tesco products but are pricier

Language / The Dative Case [62]


I see what you are saying but think you are just confusing the issue.
Towards doesn't always imply dative anyway, sometimes it is accusative depending on whether there is motion towards or not (e.g. in German)

Travel / Renting vehicles and maps in Poland [11]


Sure, what about the Audi S series such as the Audi S3?

Travel / Renting vehicles and maps in Poland [11]


With a name like CasualSeks this sounds like a high risk girl :-)

Life / How easy is it to get into trouble with the Police in Poland? [26]

I have had a few dealings with the police in Poland:

Once because I was the witness to a crime - in this case I am sure the investigating officer was bribed by the offender because at the start he told me he was sure he would get a conviction, and then suddenly he was writing letters to the procurator to get the case dropped. Of course I have no proof but even another office said he thought something smelled somewhere.

Once because I was stopped for speeding and once because I was stopped by customs who were total jobsworths and called the police because my documents weren't in order. In both cases the officers were great, I was friendly with them and so they were friendly with me and just let me off.

Once because my number plates were stolen in Gdansk. Nothing came of this (no surprise). But a bizarre site to see police officers in uniform at the front reception desk smoking (doesn't Polish law forbid smoking in offices except designated rooms?).

Finally once for my karta pobytu interview. Local officer who was very friendly and helpfu. Tried to get me to join their local football team!

I would say that some officers are great, and some not so great just like police the world over I am sure...

Travel / Rate of Exchange in Katowice [16]

I normally just bring sterling with me from the UK and use the little 'kantor' cubicles that you find in town centres. Often they are the best rate and if you exchange enough you can haggle with them.

Travel / Rate of Exchange in Katowice [16]

I presume you mean an ATM? If so then the rate you get depends on what your bank back home charges you, which varies.

I am with Lloyds TSB in the UK and their rate is pretty good, but I still can get a better rate by bringing cash and using the little 'kantor' booths.

Language / I know "się" is the only reflexive personal pronoun..but "jak się masz?" [34]

Basically "ty" means "you" (when you are addressing somebody that you know - familiar term) whereas "się" means "yourself". That is the simplified explanation.

But as I have written above się can also be used to mean other things and not just the reflexive (i.e. himself/herself/yourselves/yourself/themselves etc..). There are two other meanings:

1) Changing the meaning of a verb - e.g.:

uczyć - to teach
uczyć się - to learn (literally "to teach myself" which makes sense I guess...)
mieć - to have
mieć się - to feel, to be

2) to make impersonal constructs:

jak się pisze XXX? - how is XXX written?

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

The genitive of ojciec is ojca. In fact ocja is the accusative too so you have got 2 there for the price of 1.

Therefore "what's your father's name?" would be:

jakie jest imię (twojego/swojego) ojca?

Law / Citizenship problems - my dad's name has Polish letters. Help! [12]

I am in the process of trying to get a Polish version of my UK birth certificate too. It is a total pain. I went to my local USC as instructed and spoke to the director. He said he didn't know what to do because British birth certificates don't have the parents' dates of births on them and the father's family surname. He said he that this info is required for the Polish document and so couldn't issue me my one. Said he needed to check and would call me back within a week. Of course I am still waiting....

Law / Do EU members need RESIDENCE CARD IN POLAND [29]

Can't tell you about getting a Pesel as haven't gone about it myself, but you don't need a Pesel to get a credit card. I don't have one and got a credit card from Bank BGŻ without too much hassle. Plus as per the advice of a couple of forum members here, I am in the process of opening an account with mbank.pl who seem to be quite foreigner friendly - their website is even in English! Although the site says you don't need a Pesel but the guy on the phone told me I did. Asked him to check with his manager and then he said that I didn't...

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


Careful, sometimes accusative in the affirmative depending on how you structure the sentence. In your example "czy masz czas?", czas is in the accusative not nominative.

Language / Polish Acronyms & Initialisms [15]

I think that is short for "i tak dalej" meaning "and so on"

another one is "m. in." - między innami - amongst others (think my Polish spellings are right !?!)

Language / Polish Acronyms & Initialisms [15]


Ah yes that looks better ! :-)