Example differences between Polish and English

In English you say:

If you open your eyes you will see something is wrong. ( Jeśli otworzysz swoje oczy, zobaczysz, że coś jest nie tak. )

If I had a car I would be happy. ( Jeśli miałbym samochód, byłbym szczęśliwy. )

When you need me call me. ( Kiedy będziesz mnie potrzebować, zadzwoń. )

In Polish we say:

If you will open your eyes you will see something is wrong. ( Jeśli otworzysz swoje oczy, zobaczysz, że coś jest nie tak. )

If I would have a car I would be happy. ( Jeśli miałbym samochód, byłbym szczęśliwy. )

When you will need me call me. ( Kiedy będziesz mnie potrzebować, zadzwoń. )

Yes, I think this is correct.

yes but that looses something in the translation

it is taking literal over the actual message.

When you will need me call me is better translated by If you need me give me a call
If I would have a car I would be happy is very strange English it should read-Idf I had a car I would be happy.

Where do you Poles get these starange setenses in English from?

may I be so bold as to correct your English? :)

"where do you Poles come up with these (english) sentences?"

Good job mamma mia, one needs to have their English under control to have the right to correct others :)

thanks, but I'm just being helpful....I hope

call me as in talk/shout.

give me a call as in phone me.


Although this sentence is awkward it is nevertheless correct, apart from the spelling errors.

When you need me, call me-what is wrong with that?
If you open your eyes you will see that something is wrong
It is simply poor English. I am sure that you must be just copying these sentenses from a book.

When you need me just give me a call-better English. There is always room for improvement.
Call me or give me a call exist and that is all right but the example you gave is strange and is not English.
If I would have a car I would be happy is very strange indeed!
Ja juz powiedzialem wszystko-wystarczy-do widzenia

Nothing at all.

To call.............to shout

To give me a call..............to phone

To call on...............to visit

The problem is the use of call. First of all, older people would use it in a slightly different way to younger people. Secondly, it is not clear when you say call me, if you mean shout or phone.

Example: 1. I'm going to the other room. Call me when dinner is ready.

Example: 2. I'll be at home this evening. Give me a call, if you want to go out for a beer.

I'm not telling you that you are wrong. I'm showing problems that occur when using English. In the second example call me could also be used.

you can still use 'call-me' to mean phone

ill see you later, call me.

you dont need to say 'give me a call' as you also point out

i think the key, is placement in the sentance and the context it is in (like many polish words also)

the "ja" in this instance is superfluous

No it is not. The 'ja' is quite correct!

you're wrong....polish speakers would say "juz powiedialem wszystko"

Excuse me, I spoke with mother in Polish fifty years ago.

Anyway, enough of this topic as it is now boring and over talked of. Wystarczy!

One last remark please:

In the sentence "Ja juz powiedzialem wszystko-wystarczy-do widzenia"

we will use the "ja" only if we want to underline the fact that it was ME who said wszystko and not someone else. Otherwise we will not put it.

exactly - thank you

Well yes, I wanted to underline the fact that it was I who mad the remark. At the end of the day will you be able to sleep tonight if it is otherwise? I live in a five bedroomed house, which I own with two cars in front. Is deciding if it sounds better to say Ja kocham cie or kocham cie going to make you vice president of the U.S.A.?

you're a big baby!!

yeah sounds like real polish english :)

I might be a big baby but I have got more than you!!

Anybody care?? Maybe I have even more than you. Then for example bubbawoo might have even more than me. Rest assured you are not the biggest person in the world. Probably not even your town, or maybe even street.

I have probably less than all of you !!! But i'm very happy all the same.. :)

What has this got to do with the Polish term 'kocham cie'? You are completely changing the subject. This was all about the differences between Polish and English.

yup... so do i... good, eh?

hi there i'm curious in that sentence juz powiedzialem wszystko for someone learning polish i have to break each sentence by the individual words and try to make sence of it from there most of the time, so if you could help me come to a better understanding and correct me plz... i thought it came out like this already i said everything.

Sometimes you cannot translate word for word. So the correct way is: I already said everything

Hi, all!!!

Collocations in one language rarely dovetail or match idiomatic equivalents in another, even in somewhat closely related languages such as English and German. Sure, they're a heck of a lot more similar than English/Polish, not to mention non-Indo-European tongues. Nonethless, some of the examples I've seen here so far just go to illustrate what we're saying, e.g. "to give someone a call" = (z)dwońic do, not: dać (dawać) telefon etc.

In German, you can't "throw someone a party" or "give someone a phone call" without sounding quite daft indeed!

Moral of the story: No language can literally translate its own idioms into another.

He merely showed how Polish sentences would look in English if a Pole tried to follow Polish tense structure.

Correct versions are above those examples. Try to read people's post more carefully before jumping at them


Does that mean that the cars are co-owners of the house?

The differences are huge, let me illustrate it...

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  English
  
• 
  Polish