Duzy / wielki - synonyms?

Do you use wielki and duzy interchangeably as synonyms, or do you use them differently in different contexts?

duzy is like 'big, large'
wielki is 'bigger than big' :-) so it's more like 'great, huge' and is slightly less formal. You use it rather to express your own opinion about things (you can also say 'olbrzymi, potężny') and to emphasize not only size but also the importance, impression or feelings.

Wielki is used for large things mainly such as a wielki statek-a great ship. I think the point is that the word wielki is not a Polish word as it was taken from the Russians language. The Russian word is wjelikij and has to be used in its short form for big which is bolshoj but in Russian there is no short form of this word so wjelikij has to be used instead.

Thanx a lot - I'm now more confused :O ;-) Maybe if I ask some more questions, you'll be able to help me figure this out?

How much 'bigger than big' is wielki, na przyklad?

Duzy samochod, tak?
Duzy dom?
Wielki blok? (block of flats?)
Wielka decyzja? Or would that be wazna?
Some more examples might help?


I appreciate that, but wielki is used in Polish, and since it is used in Polish, it is also part of the Polish language. Some other Polish words have come from other languages, not so?

welcome to the Polish language

Thank you, but this doesn't help me much. Some help maybe?

that is correct. Much like Alexander Wielki or Wielka Brytania (but not Alexander Duzy or Duza Brytania, these are incorrect)


It has nothing to do with any objective size. It's more to do with your perception.
In case of a car, a short dialog that may be of help:

- Ale duzy samochod!
- Duzy? Ten samochod jest wielki!

which one: wielka or wazna?


Now this helps! Thanx Z :)

You could say "wielka" decyzja and it would be correct. But you could also say "wazna", "przelomowa". All these could really be synonyms in this case. Context will sometimes dictate whether "wielki" is the right choice, but I'd say that considering the example here, "wielki" is a more generic word and thus will be safe to use.

Another thing to consider is the style one assumes. "przelomowa" (groundbreaking) would apply mostly to really big as.s evens. Still, I'll use it sometimes in reference to completely routine events, just to add color to the speech. That's basically similar to what one would do in English to lighten the mood somewhat.

"Wielki" may also mean "great" (as in great news), although "wspanialy" would be more appropriate in this context.

Thank you

Duzy is the Polish word and wielki is the stolen Russian word! It is not simply perseption at all as they are used differently. We talk of duzo czegos i.e. duzo mleka, duzo czasu whereas wielki is used as a straight adjective only.

Now I'm really confused. You must help some more then Michal. First I need to know what 'czegos' is.

Then you must please explain 'straight adjective'. Is duzo not an adverb, as in 'Mleko jest duzo', and duzy/a/e an adjective, as in duzy samochod, duzo mleko, or duza kawa (in nominative)?

Bull$hit.
The word is pre-IndoEuropen in origin.

Polish: wielki
Albanian: vlerë
Latin: valore
Hittite: wali
German: Viel


I wouldn't put much weight on Michal's knowledge of linguistics in general, and on his Polish language skills in particular. Polish doesn't appear to be his first language.

;) ....

'Mleka jest dużo' - you need Genitive (dopełniacz) if using the adverb (dużo) + a noun (mleko)

And I confirm the opinion about Michal's post - ingore them. He can (sometimes, not always) do a 100% correct translation from/to Polish, but his "general" opinions are usually a laugh (not only on linguistics)

Thanx.

Thanks for that.


I would have thought that mamy duzo mleka but mamy bardzo duzy dom sounds better as examples.

Krzysztof just kept the stupid little example that I used. Przepraszam - I'm not Polish speaking, and only learning. If people can use my simple (stupid?) examples to help me understand better, why should they be run into the ground?

No, this sounds very strange indeed. To jest bardzo wieki statek, ten budynek jest wielki but ja jestem bardzo duzy bo jestem gruby, tu jest moj duzy talerz or tu jest moj wielki talerz but moj samochod jest bardzo duzy-not wielki. In polish you do not call a car wielki only a ship or a lorry perhaps. Wielki is used for people only if someone was a king a krol and you are talking about history Krol Michal Wielki or something similar. It is simply not correct to give the impression that duzy and wielki are interchangeable, which is the impression being given here.


Obviously not your first language either-wielki samochod?

Michal is one of the most educated people on this forum. The man's little short of a genius in the area of linguistics!

This was not the impression I've got!


;)

I have never pretended to be an expert in linguistics and such knowledge has no place on this forum anyway.


Again, duzy and wielki are similar words but you can not always use them interchangeably, not in my house at least! I certainly would never refer to my own car as wielki but then others might disagree, my car is always simply duzy.


You tell me, you are in Poland and can not speak a word of the language not me. Your need is greater than mine!

So how do u tell your girlfriend she has a big ass??? hahahahaha

In your head and not out loud, even if you like it that way.

Masz duża (or is it dużę?) dupę.
?????????????????????????????

No, I don't know.


Not even one word? Do you know this? Have you asked her?

feminine?

If you want her to be mad at you for a couple of days say "masz dużą dupę", for a week or more "masz wielką dupę".

Both my guesses were wrong, but I think she'd still have got the message and been angry for some time.

Or perhaps the translation he wanted was:
Masz duż(some ending or other) osły.

Maybe I've got that wrong as well.

Masz duże osły (plural)
Masz dużego osła (singular)
or
Masz dużą oślicę.

This is mostly for my information. Personally she the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Body, Mind & Soul.

However she thinks she is fat.

How would you compliment her on her nice ass?

This is quite normal with some women and in most cases far from truth :)