Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

I'm 'or'..... :)

Losers stay, others buy and return to their place ;) ;)

Some interesting characters on Polish trains. Many spill out their woes and expect you to listen. I always have the excuse of being a foreigner.

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

Ah, that brings back a memory. I got muddled up with another coffee experience. Yeah, I also got that 'bag' and it was diabolical.

Has anyone else noticed that the eating carriage tends to be filled with losers but the rest of the train seems to be ok? (on PKP trains)

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

No :) 'A' just means one of a general category :) Such an idiotic man (one of many but with the focus on him at this moment). The government shows such idiocy in their decision-making processes. They general exhibit this quality. Always remember that 'a' is one and general :) :)

You could say 'so a good thing to do would be....' but it doesn't serve the function of an intensifier then, more one of advice :)

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

We would never say 'such big house', Maaarysia. A house is one, one of a general group. Such a big house, very good :) :) With such, you can include an article where appropriate but not with so, e.g 'such a beautiful day' but 'such beautiful weather'. We don't count weather so no indefinite article is included.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

OK, another dimension. When using the intensifiers, so and such, what is the difference when it comes to using the indefinite articles, 'a' and 'an'?

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

In/on is also not easy. On a ship but in a boat. Anyway, it's 'I'm on the train' or 'on PKP trains', even though you are inside ;) ;0 I would have though on was how Africans travel, on the roof, lol.

The coffee is that bad? I seem to recall that it was quite ok and I like good coffee. Dilmah is one of the best, I love their tea :) Tea is important in soothing the stomach.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

Exactly! I like to show students that they are not always mutually exclusive either. Let's choose a subject, i.e beer :) :)

I drink a lot of beer (przykładowy, lol) but I drink 'lots of beers'. The latter means many different types of beer(s). I go through lots of bottles of beer in a week :) Bottles is the counter :) Glasses could apply too :) I like 'a glass of beer' at the weekend :)

Comma before but? I don't want to go off-topic ;) ;) (usually not, no, but many put one there).

Far much?? What do you mean here?

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

On a more positive note, I like the PKP Intercity trains. They are quite expensive but I'd happily pay their going rates to use their service. I took the Warsaw-Gliwice-Berlin train in 2004 and was very impressed with the comfort on offer. None of those dire red, plastic excuses for seats that you can find on osobowy trains. Travelling in comfort over long distance is important for sure.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

Pieces of furniture or even bits though pieces is better :)

Areas of knowledge, parts of knowledge or fragments even.

News is a tough one. We'd likely say 'news clips' or 'news broadcasts', in that way.

Screeds of information (a lot of), swathes of info (the same) or, also uncountable, there is a dearth/shortage of info :)

A lot of should be used with uncountable things, e.g beer, oxygen or hope. 'Lots of' with countable, e.g lots of birds, lots of cars or lots of tables etc etc. Oh, etc means et cetera, Mods. It is also quite common :) :) Is it acceptable?? ;) Maybe I shouldn't be using a Latin words, sorry, Latin words ;) ;) ;)

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

Sorry, I was in random chat :)

OK, AS first. We don't say 'a good advice'. A good piece of advice, yes :) We can also say 'words of advice'. Maaarysia, peace is pokój like the V-sign of the fingers.

Any other questions?

Grammatically speaking, what's the difference between 'a lot of' and 'lots of'?? Please think grammatically and not how natives mistakenly use those terms.

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

Some years back, they didn't update the timetables. In Katowice, it's like a pass through area and not a station. Dingy is a good word. The trains are like a magical mystery tour. They sometimes change the line, just to keep you guessing.

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

Thanks, AS. I've commented on the other thread.

OK, on topic. I was once stuck going from Gliwice to Katowice by osobowy/local train. I could have gotten there faster by jogging as we were stuck for almost an hour with no updates on the condition of the engine. This is why such Poles are criticised (most often by their own people). They just don't value customer service and allaying fears enough. Frayed nerves galore!

Travel / Polish trains often get frozen and are overcrowded? :-) [35]

Nemo, they are looking for consistency :) The osobowy trains can be a nightmare. You have to say your prayers before boarding :)

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

I have a little money means I have some but not much. I have little money means I am poor and don't have much.

Teflhead is right with the little Vs a little Polish.

OK, given that we don't say advices, informations, news's, furnitures or knowledges etc, can the resident Poles here add some counters to change them into having a plural meaning?!

For example, a beloved favourite of my students is 'an advice'. This is wrong!! How do we make advice singular without using the indefinite article 'an'?

More is on the way but that should serve as a teaser for now :)

Love / Do Polish women fight about everything? [39]

I think Zidane showed us all the solution ;)

UK, Ireland / 4 teenage boys held in UK - murder of chef stabbed to death as he celebrated his 30th bday [24]

Hopefully they find a Polish lad that can fight back. Let's see how tough they are then.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

How is it artificial? A is one of sth and then we have plural forms. It makes things easier a lot of the time.

If you start a grammar thread, at least use the full spelling and not mobile phone text.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

Proof is just proof most of the time. We can incorporate 'a' when we add a counter or quantifier, e.g you don't have a shred of proof :) The thread has gone a bit haywire since I left it.

I've seen Poles write a + plural which is just horrible, e.g a chairs :( It could be a set of chairs.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

I'll try to focus my attention on it but I have a class in 5 mins. You are welcome, AS. I finish at 9pm so if my wife isn't using the laptop, I'll try and help out.

M, it's still 'a' in that case. It's like 'następnym razem', another time (meaning one other time in the future, czyli 'a'). We say 'a hard time'.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

AS, that's right but you should use 'who attends' instead of 'attending'. Attending suggests a purpose and temporary activity.

The local church, the one I know. Exactly!

Avoid singular for generalisations? Not necessarily. You could say that 'a miner is a brave person'. It refers to any miner and generalises that it's true, that it is the case.

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

I have a hard time choosing is correct. We think about the one time that you are experiencing difficulty.

In your second example, women would be used in the second sentence.

A woman, any woman (general but referring to the collective whole)

AS, that's right. With 'the', it's all about knowing the subject in question, the thing to which we are referring.

What's the difference between:

I go to church

I'm going to the church on Sunday?

Language / Use of A/An/The ...... Articles [186]

Not necessarily, Shawn. The tiger (jako gatunek), as a species, is orange and black so you are referring to all tigers in so writing.

What you said is correct too but doesn't convey the full essence of it.

UK, Ireland / 4 teenage boys held in UK - murder of chef stabbed to death as he celebrated his 30th bday [24]

It is out of control in some parts of the UK. It's embarrassing to see the police lose their handle on it. Such idiots attack anyone and everyone so you should always be on your guard if you are in any way vulnerable.

UK, Ireland / Polish burglars 'tied up pensioner and stripped her of jewellery before leaving her to die [28]

Mail, Jewish and stereotypes really mix badly when it comes to stirring things up.

Life / Uptight Poles [262]

You'd be surprised, sascha. It depends where you find them. Road rage is an increasingly evident phenomenon here and it is caused by many uptight and impatient people looking to get somewhere faster. Germans tend not to be like that.

Some can drift through life, yes, but they tend to get caught out sooner rather than later.

Life / Uptight Poles [262]

Well, culture plays its part. I also believe that avoiding harm to others is important. However, that has to be balanced with tolerance and conferred rights. There are always solutions and compromises need to be made.

Scots because we are stereotyped as stingy ;)

Life / Uptight Poles [262]

There has to be tolerance. Smokers were just exercising their rights. Society partly contributed to their addiction. It's like governments contributing to mass immigration. There has to be reasonable tolerance. However, people are people and will defend their corner to the hilt.

Life / Uptight Poles [262]

Ogien, society permitted it for so long. I think only Scots and Jews are fans of passive smoking due to the free fumes side of things ;) ;)

I see your point but you can't blame sb for merely exercising their rights. You can always ask them to blow the smoke away from you.

Love / I was late and this Polish girl flipped out [36]

It was a very strange reaction for sure. Poles are not punctual people for the most part. Some will even turn up late, not apologise or give any notification and assume that all is well. Some even carry on as if nothing happened and expect you to devote more time to them.

I can only imagine that she was, as is often the case with online exchanges, running a fantasy through her head but she bottled it when push came to shove and she met you in real life. Her reaction was childish, assuming she understood your text.

Love / Polish dating tips [40]

I don't date those who think they are above me, period! Besides, I am married!