Co słychać? Why not Co słychasz

1st, 2nd and 3rd forms of this verb don't exist it seems, what is the name for this kind of verb in English?

sjp.pl/co/s%B3ycha%E6

"Co słychać?" is the only way to write the Polish for "How's it going?" or the like! It means literally "What is heard?"

"Co słychasz?" would means "What are you hearing?"-:)

Should be
Co słyszysz?

RJ_cdn
Thanks, what is the name for this kind of verb in English?

Yep. I stupidly mixed up "słychać" (to hear) with "słuchać" (to listen) as in the frequent greeting when picking up the phone or when announcing yourself to someone formally "Słucham!" lit. "I'm listening!" etc.

lol

I didn't notice, no worries, thanks

S£YSZEĆ (to hear).Anyway, I am really impressed with with you and catsoldier trying.

in Polish it is called 'czasownik ułomny' and I guess in English a 'defective verb'

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defective_verb

Słucham = I hear, every now and then (eg. to rap music), at times (but also: when you pick up the phone)
Słyszę = I am hearing right now (i.e. no one is interrupting right now and I can get everything clearly)

Thanks Grubas, Gumishu i Znam.

@grubas, both forms "słyszeć" and "słychać" are possible. I presume the dictionary gave the perfective first-:) So much for being impressedLOL

@gumishusiu, "czasownik ułomny" or "czasownik niewłaściwy" mean variously "defective verb"-:)

I am sorry, what do you mean?


I don't use nor need dictionary bro.


I said I am impressed with you guys TRYING to figure it out.

also:
słucham - I'm listening intently
słyszę - I hear involuntarily

"Słyszeć" oraz "słychać" samo znaczają.

The dictionary entry to which I referred appeared at the bottom left hand corner of the first post-:) I'm quite aware, bro, that you as an educated Polish native speaker don't require a dictionary!

You too, I see, have appropriated the African-American slang into your English. I now have a Polish neighbor who steadfastly refuses to speak Polish with me, although his English is poor and he rejects all correction. Every morning it's the same. "Hey, dude! Have a great day!" ad nausem. They all remind me of a bunch of pod people from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"; they sound American, they try to look and act American, but they're just NOT American.

What do you mean by that?Can you give an exmple?I don't realy remember that stuff from the school so can't explain it to you like some Polish teacher or some PF members would but I am sure as hell that bezokolicznik(?) of Słuchać is Słyszeć not Słychać.

Yes, but there also exists a verb "słychać" = to hear. OHHHHH!! I just remembered, idiot that I am, that "słyszeć" may be from the same root in Polish as "to serve", like someone who is a servant, follower or slave to someone.

And what are you talking about now?Dude?I can call you dude,man,buddy,bud,pal,home,homie,fella,sir and mr.Lyzko.Who tries to look American?What does it even mean to look and act American???Give me break pal!

Who wants to be an American?Not me bud.Why would I even want to be one?If I could choose where to be born,I would go with Switzerland.WTF mr.Lyzko?


Pierdolisz Pan,panie Lyzko."To serve" is Służyć


No it doesn't!The only "to hear" in Polish is Słyszeć!


Słychać is not a verb kolego Lyzko.Słuchać is!Anyway, in Polish verb Słuchać can mean to hear,to listen and to obey-słuchać się.

Ought to have remembered my abecadło jezyka polskiego, gdy byłem w kawiarnii: "Dzień dobry, panu! Czym mogę służyć?"
It was said often enough, DUH!!!

yes it is possible but definitely not certain - as far as I know 'sługa' comes from some Germanic root 'slaug' - there are many early surprising borrowings from Germanic (most probably Gothic) into Slavic (then common Slavic) like say 'druh' (a friend, companion, a leader of the scouts) ('druh' is actually a borrowing from Ukrainian) which is cognate with Russian 'drug' (a friend) comes from Gothic 'draugaz' (IIRC - the root is 'draug' anyway) - a brother in arms sort of

an afterthought - I think I have seen however completely different etymology of 'słuchać' (do you remember Lyzko what is Ancient Greek for 'to hear, to listen')

It is best to treat "słychać" as an autonomous expression, an equivalent of the "what's going on" or "what is your news" in English. Despite its striking similarity to both verbs "słyszeć" [to hear] and "słuchać" [to listen], one might say that in a way it has nothing in common with them. Many Polish speakers, however, will be inclined to call "słychać" defective verb with the infinitive as its only existing form, but others might argue that it is not one at all.

And indeed, my two-volume dictionary of Polish doesn't even list this word. It does list, on the other hand, another of the kind which is "widać". But this dictionary doesn't even call it a "verb"; it just gives the meanings and usages of it. In Russian, for example, the equivalent of the Polish expression "Widać, że ..." [It is obvious that ...] would be "Widno, szto..." with the word "widno" not possessing the Russian verb ending -t' as is the case with the Polish form 'wida-ć'.

Oto kilka przykadów zastosowania wyrażenia "słychać" oraz "widać":

- Co słychać u twoich rodziców? [Co nowego u twoich rodziców?]
- U nich nic nowego. Wszystko w porządku.

- Co teraz widać z okna [samolotu]? [Co teraz można zobaczyć z okna samolotu?]
- Widać ocean i zarys lądu. A teraz widać jakieś duże miasto ... tak, wyraźnie już widać Nowy Jork ... za chwilę wylądujemy na amerykańskiej ziemi!

another strange Germanic etymology is 'dziad' - it is cognate with the English word 'dead'

"Służba nie drużba" is also a Polish saying with much the same meaning as in Russian: Work is work, play is play!

Interesting responses there, you guys. Much appreciated-:)