Language / Instrumental case "To Jest " and "Jest" Need help with correcting my examples in Polish [17]


The brakuję mi form is evidently an incorrect form. On mustn't use the letter ę in this. Notice that I wrote 'brakuje mi' and not 'brakuję mi'. The verb here is in the third person singular and the subject of this sentence is implicit, in my view.

There are some other bizzare constructions in Polish. Compare these two sentences, for example:
- Dwaj mężczyźni szli drogą
- Dwóch mężczyzn szło drogą
Both mean precisely the same thing.

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


If you read some press reports describing the present political system under Orban, a supposed political friend of Our Dearest Leader Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński, you wouldn't be surprised at all. Such articles only occasionally appear in the Polish press and I doubt if they reach the press or social media in the so-called 'rotten' West. Hungary is simply too small a country to pay attention to that.

Poland has not been imitating Hungary in creating such a system so far. But never say 'never' as the saying goes. The democracy under PiS goes on pretty much unchanged so far despite complaints from Brussels. Changes in the judiciary system may be a test for it, but time can only show if the courts in future are abused for political benefits or if it is a genuine reform aimed at eradicating the cliques which make part of the judiciary system really rotten. Anyway, there are commentators in Poland who say that as soon as the PiS people start to have greasy hands, it will be the end of that party in power. On the other hand, the example of Orban's Hungary shows that the system can slowly evolve to the extent that the equality in law (równość wobec prawa) or equality in economic activity may one day become strictly regulated by the ruling party.

Language / What's the difference between dlatego and zatem? [3]

'Zatem' is not a precise synonym of 'dlatego'. 'Zatem' is quite often used in questions replacing the word 'więc' which seems to be much more colloquial than 'zatem'. Here are several contemporary examples from wirtualna polska.pl :

- Czy zatem w dłuższej perspektywie Brexit - paradoksalnie - może wręcz wzmocnić Unię Europejską?

- Według ks. Zielińskiego zamach w Barcelonie to kara za rozwiązłość. Czy zatem uderzenie pioruna w katedrę w Gnieźnie to kara za pedofilię księży? - zapytała na Twitterze Joanna Senyszyn.

- Zatem kierując się swoją znajomością szefa MON sądzi pan, że Antoni Macierewicz naprawdę wierzy w zamach smoleński?

In the first examples, I could easily replace 'zatem' with 'więc' or 'dlatego'. In the second, I would do it with 'więc', but rather reluctantly with 'dlatego'. In the last one I could replace 'zatem' with 'tak więc' or 'a więc' since we do not start a sentence with 'więc' alone. But I would never use 'dlatego' there.

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


Certainly it does not.


That is a statement very close to nonsense. There was a case some time ago when a German-speaking person was attacked on a tram a Kraków by a Polish (mentally-unstable obviosly) Polish nationalist. The person, however, turned out to a ...Polish university professor who was just taking in German to a colleague from some German university. This case was so exceptional in Poland that it was widely reported in all the media, although I did not notice it was ever reported on the PolishForums by the usual suspects who are usually very keen on reporting such things (maybe because of their poor command of Polish which makes then stay away from the Polish press).

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


You may be right. The OP declares in the "Polish people and Politness" thread that he is "from the US" (post #77).

For me his views on Poland are just too 'sweety'. I think he is a guy with some agenda. An idea to come and settle in Poland with family while not having any affiliations and not knowing a word in the local language is absurd, to say the least. In my view saying so is part of his agenda on this forum.

There is a town of 'Frankfort' in Kentucky, USA, so maybe the OP comes from there.

Travel / My Experience in Poland (compared to Germany) [100]


It requires money, too.


He says he is from Frankfurt and that is in Europe or so I think.

News / Brutal rape by Polish man on homeless woman in Rome [50]


This is interesting ...


.. and this is even more interesting than anything else!

Let the true spirit of sarmatism survive on this forum and let the Admin live long and go on with his job.

Genealogy / Kameczura surname - any Polish people related? [30]


In what registry?


The alternation in Kamyczura/Kameczura is a typical one. Before the WW2 where people and clerks were less literate than now, such a replacement could easily occur. For example, this had happened with my mother's (born in the 1930s) maiden name where she got the E, whereas her father had Y in that position of the surname. The spelling is different, but the pronounciation would be very close to one another. An official in Austria-Hungary may have easily written down Kamyczura rather than Kameczura or the other way round. No wonder, I myself have seen a birth certicicate issued in Galicia of Austria-Hungary stating the birthdate of the person as 31 November.

I still keep up my suggestion that 'Kamyczura' originated from the word 'kamyk' on the same language pattern as in szlachcic --> szlachciura.

Travel / From Warsawa Centralna to Old Town hotel [4]

Actually, there are buses from the Old Town to Central Station. Bus 175 (and also 128) has a stop close to St Anne Church and will take you right to one of the Central Station gates in Al.Jerozolimskie in less than 15 minutes.

Language / Phonetics' Question Regarding the Production of the 'r' sound in Polish. [9]


This is called 'speech impediment'. Speech impediments are quite common (but not that common), so everyone in Poland has had at least several occasions to hear Polish people with the impediment re trilled 'r'.

On the other hand, I wonder what kind of speech impediment Jarosław Kaczyński has when pronouncing the -ą ending improperly. In most cases he says -om rather than -ą. Any thoughts?

Language / Instrumental case "To Jest " and "Jest" Need help with correcting my examples in Polish [17]


Not without reason the genetive is called 'Dopełniacz' in Polish. When you think of 'negating' in terms of 'missing' and you assume that something which is missing should be supplied/fulfilled/delivered, you will easily link negation to an expectation of fulfillment (dopełnienie --> dopełniacz). Anyway, this is how I would try to explain to myself the idea of negation rendered through the form of genetive (dopełniacz), if I were not a native speaker of Polish.

This idea is very clearly expressed in verbs such as "brakować" naturally requiring their compliment in dopełniacz, for example:
Brakuje mi (kogo? czego? - dopełniacz) miliona dolarów, abym czuł się w pełni szczęśliwy.

A more natural way for an English speaker would probably be seeking the compliment in 'biernik' (accusative) to express such an idea.

UK, Ireland / British court lets violent Polish racists walk free [61]


Well, it can be anyone who wants to pass as Polish. Now that the immigration of the Polish people to Western Europe has grown over the past several years, this famous Polish word is very likely to have acquired some sort of international recognition.

Notice what I said in my earlier post: The name Ineta Winiarski is very suspicious indeed and can have been made up by someone unfamiliar with the realities concerning Polish people. Ineta isn't a Polish name and if it is Aneta, a true Polish name, the surname of a Polish person shouting words in broken English should definitely be Winiarska.

UK, Ireland / British court lets violent Polish racists walk free [61]


They could have made a mistake and the name can be Aneta Winiarski. But - if she is Polish speaking broken English only, so a true contemporary Polish person from Poland - the name should definitely be Aneta Winiarska. That change of -ska into -ski set against her reportedly "broken English" makes this report really suspicious.

Language / Instrumental case "To Jest " and "Jest" Need help with correcting my examples in Polish [17]


'To' serves as a sort of subject here and not as a pronoun. Something like the 'it' in English' or 'es' in German: Es war eine gute Reise - To była dobra podróż; 'reise' is also feminine.


'Jest mleko / nie ma mleka' is the correct phrase. And 'mleko' is in nominative here. Likewise: będzie czas (nominative) / nie będzie czasu (genetive).

UK, Ireland / British court lets violent Polish racists walk free [61]


What's the story about? About Polonia or about the British or about the Polish? Were the British attackers and the Polish suffered or the other way round? Did the Jews witness the attack or was it Polonia who witnessed it?

Po polsku / Dlaczego uczysz się Polskiego? [101]


Nie tylko polskiego. Wiele osób jest tego samego zdania.Ja nigdy tego nie próbowałem, ale się z tym zgadzam. Książki dla dzieci prezentują najbardziej podstawowe oraz typowe ('typiczne' - jakby powiedział Łyżko :-)), czy też nawet archetypowe, struktury danego języka.

News / Two Polish Men on trial for brutally murdering German Pop Star in homophobic attack [53]


So you seem to suggest that G (undercover) has crawled from some sort of stone?

Honestly, this forum has become a really disgusting platform lately and in true fact its name should be changed accordingly. The 'PolishRapeForum' could perhaps provide the best name for it as of now.

Po polsku / Amerykańskie chamstwo? [133]

Ale zmiana płci to nie jest żadne 'chamstwo'. Jeżeli ktoś chce zmienić płeć, to w Polsce jest to jak najbardziej dozwolone.

News / Polish rock band 'Decapitated' accused of kidnapping and raping woman [16]


To me they look as innocent as newly-born babies.

Po polsku / Amerykańskie chamstwo? [133]

Ale w Polsce też jest sporo chamstwa.

News / Polish couple brutally attacked by the Danish police. [46]

He may have had, but then you think the Danish cops were fully entitled to beat him exactly for that?

Australia / Newborn girl -ska or -ski ? AUSTRALIA [12]

No! Never! We will never ever attempt to modernize our old Sarmatian language.

Australia / Newborn girl -ska or -ski ? AUSTRALIA [12]

Monika Lewinsky will always sound weird to a Polish speaker. When we hear this, we instantly think 'Oh, she's American'.

We also have one notable example in the reverse: "Tamara Lempicka" rather than a Tamara Lempicky.

Travel / Białowieża National Park in Poland [461]


Yes, I've heard about that, too. This actually means that Lukashenko, a Belorussian dictator, is in this respect a much wiser man than the whole bunch of 'dobra zmiana' clowns.

And since the greater part of the Białowieża Forest is on their side, there is still hope for this primeval forest to survive unless, of course, the 'good change' reaches Belarus one day or another.

Australia / Newborn girl -ska or -ski ? AUSTRALIA [12]

'Kowalski' and 'Kowalska' will be considered two formally unrelated names in Australia, I suspect.

History / For what the Germans owe Poland one trillion U.S. dollars? [299]

It was a gift as the French and the British did not even bother to invite the Czechs to that conference in Munich.

Travel / Bank ATMs at Warsaw Chopin Airport [8]


It's typically a 4-number PIN for the ATMs in Poland.

Work / Diary of a Teacher in Poland [181]


Will you update people with the address of your new school as well, Delph?

News / Tragedy of Polish couple; Polish woman repeatedly raped in Italy, her partner almost killed [101]

Tomasz Sakiewicz notes that not all the offenders in the Rimini crime have been caught yet. (Bundeskanzlerin) Angela M(erkel) who made those men come to Europe is still at large - said on Twitter the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Polska, a right-wing daily.

Nie wszyscy odpowiedzialni za napad w Rimini zostali złapani. Angela M., która sprowadziła sprawców nadal przebywa na wolności.

Life / What do locals believe represents Poland and its future? [17]


Very bleak.


Our Great Dear Leader Chairman Jarosław Kaczyński