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Posts by cinek  

Joined: 16 Nov 2007 / Male ♂
Last Post: 4 Apr 2023
Threads: Total: 2 / In This Archive: 1
Posts: Total: 347 / In This Archive: 45
From: Poland, Bydgoszcz
Speaks Polish?: Yes
Interests: whole Universe

Displayed posts: 46 / page 2 of 2
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cinek   
18 May 2009
Language / sobie sobie sobie sobie sobie [29]

does that sobie thing refer to the subject?

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
cinek   
11 May 2009
Language / Parę - two or a few? [26]

Some time ago I heard a conversation (in English) between two people where one was an American and the other was a Pole, and the word 'couple' was used. They misunderstood each other because the American meant 'two' when saying 'couple' and the Pole understood it as 'a few'. I don't know if there's a way to easily distinguish those two meanings in English, but in Polish it appears that they have different declension.

So for those who are interested:

para - a couple, two (people):

M. para (ludzi)
D. pary (ludzi)
C. parze (ludzi)
B. parę (ludzi)
N. parą (ludzi)
Mc. parze (ludzi)
W. paro (ludzi)

parę - a couple, a few (people)

M. parę (ludzi)
D. paru (ludzi)
C. paru (ludziom)
B. parę (ludzi)
N. paroma (ludźmi)
Mc. paru (ludziach)
W. parę (ludzi)

Cinek
cinek   
18 Mar 2009
Language / pedestrian crossing and traffic lights - motion/na + Locative case? [7]

however 'pole' (field) can be either w polu or na polu (in the field) but 'do pola' is rather regional and standard Polish is 'na pole'.

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
cinek   
2 Mar 2009
Language / verbal nouns in -nie [7]

Both are incorrect

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
cinek   
2 Mar 2009
Language / Polish speech synthesiser software [19]

I have previously used Ivona.com but just want to make sure that the pronunciation of these words using this site is similar to how they are actually pronounced

Yes, Ivona pronounces it very well.

Cinek
cinek   
13 Feb 2009
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
cinek   
5 Feb 2009
Language / Plural forms 2-4 and =>5 [30]

but why do the dictionaries give me only palce, and not palców?

'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
cinek   
5 Feb 2009
Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]

Lata is a different word, which is only used as plular form of rok.

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
cinek   
1 Feb 2009
Language / Rok vs. Lat [30]

In certain poetry or elevated use, I've seen 'latY' with a 'y'

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
cinek   
30 Jan 2009
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
cinek   
17 Nov 2008
Food / Sausage Maker needed for recipe [12]

Only juniper :-) The best myśliwska kiełbasa (hunter's sausage) is only smoked using juniper.
cinek   
10 Jul 2008
Language / Genitive case ("nie ma nic" vs "nie ma niczego") [71]

or: "Czy Marek jest w domu?" - Nie, niego (gen.) nie ma. vs. Tak, on (nom.) jest w domu.

Shoudl be:
Nie, nie ma go.

"Czy Państwo Kowalscy są w domu? - Nie, nich nie ma. etc. vs. Tak, oni są w domu.

Should be:
Nie, nie ma ich.
cinek   
20 Jun 2008
Language / The Dative Case [62]

Who on earth uses the ancient word "Ku" in Poland? Maybe some old people in a village and that's... maybe

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'.