Language / How can I understand when the instrumental or the accusative case should be used? [5]

1) kładę is tricky
2)Duch unosi się - it's always over the Vistula, doesn't change
3) You are not going to him, you walk in front him/ he walks behind you
4) it means I go before work, it can also mean I walk in front of workplace.

I keep thinking about kładę, wieszam, stawiam etc.. and as far as I know you can use both biernik or narzędnik with almost same meaning.

Language / How can I understand when the instrumental or the accusative case should be used? [5]

Idę między drzewa Biernik. I'm at the field and I'm going to the forest
Jestem między drzewami Narzędnik I'm in the forest
Idę między drzewami (Narzędnik ) I'm in the forest and I'm walking between trees

Idę między ludzi- I'm alone at home and I go where people are.
Idę między ludźmi- I'm in a crowded place so I walk between people.

I'd say it's not about motion, but change of place, if something was between something at the beginning, or not.

Language / Pronunciation of letters " w " and " z " in Polish [5]

Yes what you said, also often "z" sounds like "w" and w sounds like "f", same way it happens in Polish in general.

Try ivona.pl with phrases like
w Warszawie, we wtorek, w piatek
z Kasią, z grzybami

Language / Pronunciation of letters " w " and " z " in Polish [5]

It's like w domu is "wdomu" z Kasią is "zKasią"

Language / Instrumental and byc - Polish grammar issue [46]

We use instrumental in the "I'm a/an ...(noun)" Jestem mężczyzną, Jestem nauczycielem, Jestem Anglikiem, Jestem nastolatkiem, Jestem ateistą. ( man, teacher, English, atheist)

Disclaimer: I'm a Polish native speaker who had last Polish grammar lessons 15 years ago, I might mess sth up regarding some rules, and Englis words for grammar. or forget some exceptions , but my examples are 99,9% correct.

Language / kilka vs troche ? [12]

"Mam" or ("Mieć" in dictionary ) requires Accusative. ( For Polish native speakers Accusative is the case that answers " Who / What do I have" )

I mixed it with Nominative because it "looks the same " for Nominative- Piwo, Accusative Piwo Genitive Piwa,

It's Accusative no matter what you have or who has it, I have piwo, you have piwo I have wódkę You have wódkę, They have wódkę (wódkę= Accusative of wódka)

full declension of Few Beers--Beers--Beer
N-Kilka Piw-----------Piwa----Piwo-Trochę Piwa
G-Kilku Piw-----------Piw------Piwa
D-Kilku Piwom-------Piwom--Piwu
A-Kilka Piw-----------Piwa-----Piwo
I--Kilkoma Piwami--Piwami--Piwem
L-Kilku Piwach------Piwom---Piwie
V-Kilka Piw-----------Piwa-----Piwo

Now what you ask is


Mam piwo Adama. (Piwo in Accusative, Adam in Genitive),

Accusative often looks same as Nominative, (There are rules for it , and you will get there)

Don't overthink it. Rosetta throws you complicated things.

Language / Questions regarding the usage of Kto, Co, Kogo [4]

For Polish person - you think the question it answers - you know what the case it is
For foreigner learning Polish - you want to ask a question - you think what case the answer will be- you ask question.

Language / kilka vs troche ? [12]

in Polish you have 1 piwo 2 piwa, 3 piwa, 4 piwa, 5 piw, 6 piw, kilka piw, 21 piw, 22 piwa, 100 piw, 102 piwa, 105 piw .... (kilkanaście piw, kilkadziesiąt piw, kilkaset piw) (kilkanaście "few-teen" 11-19, kilkadziedziąt "few-ty" 20-90. kilkaset " few hundreds"


Yes, this is what you get when you make up examples without thinking. (Sorry :( )

Language / kilka vs troche ? [12]

oh, cases we love them, ( but it seems nice, it's Genitiv)
piwo- singular - mam piwo(N), mam troche piwa(G)
piwa - plural - mam 2 piwa (N), mam kilka piw (G) ( kilka works like numbers over 5)

Language / tej samej versus tego samego [9]



from that site that was cited few treads ago

I tried to recall other examples, and there are ones ending with c (noc-night) cz (klacz- female horse) ń ( jesień - autumn) źń (przyjaźń- friendship) ć (nić-thread) dź (szadź- hard rime)

As is said above , proceed with caution.

Language / kilka vs troche ? [12]

kilka is less than 11 more than 1 (for things you can count) troche is small amount of and mostly for things you can't count. Also kilka is always witch plural, while troche could be with either plural or singular.

Language / tej samej versus tego samego [9]

in Nominative its wielkość , and as miłość (love), radość(joy, happiness) wysokość(height) szerokość(width) długość(length), jasność (brightness) ciemność (darkness) its feminine

Id say most nouns that end in "ść" and describe abstract ideas are feminine. ( many translate to -ness in English) (But it's Polish, proceed with caution)

Language / Is ę and ń always pronounced the same? [11]

Maybe, for me there is no difference between "h"chata and huta but a lot of difference between nadzieje and nadzieję.

Language / tej samej versus tego samego [9]

" telefony komórkowe "
1) it's plural
2) noun + adjective

tej samej wielkości:
the same size
this group of words is all Genitive and tej samej in in feminine form because wielkość is feminine

różnych kolorów
different colours
in Genitive , in plural , colour is not personal.

USA, Canada / I embrace the term "Polak" or "Pollack" in the US [33]

OK Why this dictionary
oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/polish
has different pronunciation than this one
merriam-webster.com/dictionary/polish?show=0&t=1408459182

And since it seems I was saying polisz all my life it seems we should maybe teach teachers how to pronounce it? and to pay attention?

USA, Canada / I embrace the term "Polak" or "Pollack" in the US [33]

Are you sure? I wanted to ask what's the difference and it seems I wad taught wrong , I said polish like Polish. I mean it's palisz or Polisz

Work / Moving to Lodz - will my 2500 PLN salary be enough? [52]

ZUS is more than retirement insurance. It's also health insurance, sick leave and unemployment benefits. Check what they tell you is 1) after paying tax and ZUS and 2) Zus is paid. I don't know if you can employ a foreigner without it, but it's common for Polish people to work this way. If you get a garbage deal you need a health insurance.

Travel / Baggage size limit on Trains in Poland? [16]

The worst thing happening would be having to pay for excessive luggage in the train.

In Regio the rule is:


that is You can have up to three pieces of easy to carry luggage such as suitcase , backpack, traveling bag, ....

source przewozyregionalne.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/129/08072014-rpr-calosc.pdf

in intercity there is usually enough space for suitcase above your head. And I travelled with another passengers suitcase pressing my legs because it was too heavy for her to put it up, and she did't have any trouble or have to pay anything (that was this spring). If there is no space for your suitcase above because all passengers happen to have big suitcases, just ask konduktor what to do, and ask if you have to pay.

also I just read e-IC rules about buing tickets online


Which is if you have an internet ticket you travel with kids under 4, luggage that doesn't fit above or below your seat, bicycle or a dog you can buy a ticket for them without paying fee for buying ticket at train.

Language / Polish keyboard incompatibility issues [11]

Ussually people use alt+letter for polish letters. but there is another " typewriter" setting. (I think it's called Polski 214- that's what it says on my settings, when I accidently change to it)

It has z and y switched, polish letters in the place of [];' and all the punctuaction marks in different places. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTZ#Poland

Language / Is ę and ń always pronounced the same? [11]

n and ń are different sounds

Wikipedia says it's like ny in Canyon or Spanish n~

Travel / First vacation in Poland [15]

Most of Mickiewicz related places are in Lithuania and France.

Language / Is ę and ń always pronounced the same? [11]

don't be to hard on people. I say Mania (girl) and mania (manic) exactly the same, and I'm Native speaker, so don't dwell on nuances too much. What is important is to remember where to loose that"i" like in nie - ńe

Language / Is ę and ń always pronounced the same? [11]

first: ń and ę are different sounds
second: ę can sound differently depending on where in word it is
ń is mostly at the end so sounds the same but there is also ni
and that can be like in nie or in nic
thy listening here ivona.com/pl/

Language / Going to learn the Polish Genitive Case [28]

The trouble with rosetta from what I read at this site, is that it is not designed especially for Slavic languages, so it introduces difficult stuff in random moments, and it doesn't explain much.

Tables can help you look up words and find endings. I checked that polish.slavic.pitt.edu/polish/ has a dictionary with noun and verb forms shown.

Language / Going to learn the Polish Genitive Case [28]

Indy people make those lists because they believe it's easiest to learn.
There are -y and -i for feminine words. -a and -u for masculine and -a or -ęcia for neutral words. Look at declension tables and see endings for yourself . There are many exceptions in Polish sometimes words are masculine but have feminine declension like mężczyzna or the endings are according to the rules but word changes like pies- psa.

Those different qestions that all mostly mean who and what - different cases have different questions. Polish people learn declensions with them.

Coming buck to names - nobody knows how to declense foreign names (Other than teachers , profession
al proof-readers and University students).

Polish female names always end with "a" but Genitive can be either with -i or -y
Kasia- Kasi, Maria-Marii, Maja-Mai Anka-Anki Agnieszka-Agnieszki
Marta-Marty, Anna-Anny, Genowefa-Genowefy

male forms end with consonants and you add -a
Paweł-Pawła
Piotr-Piotra
Michał-Michała
Grześ-Grzesia

There are some male nicknames ending with o or -u , then you replace them with "A"
Staś-Stasia
Stasio-Stasia
Jaś-Jasia
Jasio-Jasia
Miś-Misia
Misiu-Misia

Also you asked what is affected

To jest książka tego nowego ucznia
This is a book of this(the) new student
to jest książka tej znanej pisarki Marii Konopnickiej
This is a book of this (the) famous writer Maria Konopnicka
all the bolded words are in genitive.

Also in Polish the Genitive question is kogo? czego? while direct translation for whose? is czyj? czyja? czyje? ( depending on the gender of the owned thing)

That is because genitive is not only for possessions.
Common use is for negations , and the question polish kids learn for genitive is "who is not there" "kogo nie ma"

Language / pierze vs myje ? [7]

wash is mostly for textiles. It could be used in metaphorical sense as listed above, or sometimes about things that were put in washing machine.

Language / pierze vs myje ? [7]

Yes prać is infinitive and pierze is among other things form for he/she/it washes.

prać- to wash

ja piorę I wash
ty pierzesz you wash
on ona ono pierze he/she/it washes
my pierzemy we wash
wy pierzecie you wash
oni piorą they wash

Polish is fun like that

and wet is mokry/mokra/mokre in nominativ depending on the word's gender

Language / pierze vs myje ? [7]

wash clothes- prać ubranie (to launder?)

wash hands - myć ręce
wash floor - myć podłogę

Travel / Baggage size limit on Trains in Poland? [16]

It goes more to the buying ticket, but when travelling with other person , if you get "bez przedziałów" carriage (without compartments) try to get one seat next to window and other next to that seat, they tend to sell two window seats and you end up seating one'e back before another's face.

Language / Polish grammar - do you have the same words for toes and fingers? [6]

with games like computer games and card games and board games it's "grać"