Trying to write or speak Polish (pr for that matter any foreign langauge) on the basis of a dictionary definitions entails numerous pitfalls, especially when a given word has several means.
One young Pole tried to impress an aunt in the USA by writing a letter in English which he began with the words "Road Madam" (Droga Pani).
can anyone point me in the right direction to learn "polish reporting language", please? Often I hear frazes such as: "on mial sie powiesic", On mial powiedziec", On mial jechac 100km/godz na drodze z nakazem 50" etc,
The word "miał" has some meanings in Polish language.
One of those meanings comes from the word "mieć" - "to have got", but it shows the past form of that verb, additionaly in the third person singular:
On miał kota rok temu - He had a cat a year ago. But when there is a verb after "miał", it indicates:
* that someone was supposed to do something but it wasn't done, or we still don't know if it was: [John had said "I'm going to hang myself, when she gets married", and she got, but he didn't hang himself] John miał się powiesić - John was supposed to hang himself. Adam miał powiedzieć Johnowi, żeby tego nie robił - Adam was supposed to tell John not to do it.
** that someone is suspected of doing something, but we're not sure about it: [A car hit a tree, witnesses claim the car speed was 100km/h, radio news reports] Kierowca miał jechać z prędkością 100km/h, a następnie uderzyć w drzewo - The driver was probably driving 100km/h, and then hit a tree.
BUT that sentence can also mean - The driver was supposed to drive 100km/h, and then hit a tree. (Like he was ordered to do it, simply "should do it")
EASY: The ** example sentence can be simply replaced with: According to the witnesses, the driver was driving 100km/h... MOREOVER: Miał in the * and ** meanings also represents the past tense. We can use the present (and probably at the same time future) one: Ja mam dzisiaj ugotować obiad - I'm supposed to cook dinner today. Oni mają zająć się dzieckiem w sobotę - They are supposed to take care of the baby on Saturday.
And in the very first meaning: Ty masz naprawdę piękną koszulę - You've got a really beautiful shirt. Oni mają dużo pieniędzy - They have a lot of money. That's what I think, or what I know, as a normal 18-years-old Polish language user.
Im trying to teach my sisters dog to be bilingual I say "sit down" and it sits I say "usiąść" and it just stares at me. Stupid dog, it'll learn, I can, so theres no excuse. :)
If I put a suit on, I'm smart. If I do a poo in a neighbour's garden, I'm not smart. I've never seen a dog in a suit, but you can clearly see from what I have typed here, that dogs are usually at least one up on cats.
Yes, i had to say that :P Edward, try to teach him "siad" instead of "usiąść". It sounds better (no ą, ś, ć next to each others) and is more frequently used in Polish language as a "sit down" command. But be aware, and don't say "siad" to a person, it would sound you treat him like a dog.
