Word clarification: niespodzianka, dziwić / zdziwiłem.

could someone give clarification on these words please;
i was reading a polish letter and came across some unfamiliar words.

niespodzianka i have as surprise, like a surprise party or gift. would i be right in saying that the word dziwić / zdziwiłem, is a surprise where you might be taken aback.

i have the word natrafiłem as i found, what is the difference in the word znalazłem.

i have a potem as 'and then' is there a difference in a tam.

thanks

chaza

some more context would be helpful

dziwić - to astonish, suprise somone

dziwić się - be surprised, astonished

trafić is something like 'come across something'

a potem - and then .....

a tam - and there ....

it was a letter i was reading and the sentense goes....
tak na marginesie to też się zdziwiłam że Cię wylosowałam.
which is where i was unfamiliar with the word.

znalazłam tą appeal to reason na brytyjskim ebay'u ale niestety nie posiadam funtów.
and again the unfamiliar word.

thanks
chaza

Btw I was suprised that I drew you.

But you can also say:
To była dla mnie niespodzianka, że Cię wylosowałam.

It's more less the same meaning but "coś jest dla kogoś niespodzianką" shows more enthusiasm than dziwić się (which is more neutral word).


Actually it's contarty. Taken aback applies more niespodzianka phrases. Dziwić się may mean: suprise also in negative context or to wonder.

Zdziwiłam się, że policjant nie widział włamania mimo, że był w pobliżu.

Dziwić się derives from word dziwny. So you can also translate such pharses as It's weird that I drew you (and anyone else) or what a fate coinsidence I drew you.


we know that letter. Note that letter is very colloquial and full of mistakes and awkward world usage. I wouldn't learn Polish from such sources.

thanks zetigrek
i dont focus much on things like the letter, but it does raise some questions i have as you may know with word order, which i am trying to master, i even read polish news papers, but they present larger problems for me right now, but your explanation is a good one for me.

do you have any comments as to the other word for ' found'

thanks

chaza

natrafiłem = I came across (it migh suggest "accidentally")

znalazłem = I found.

Just that.

You can't say:

Natrafiłam na ten kolczyk, który zgubiłam 2 tygodnie temu. It's utter nonsense! It woud be like "I came across that earring I had lost 2 weeks ago"

But you can say:

Natrafiłam na akta Jimmiego, gdy szukałam swojej teczki.
I came across Jimmy's files, when I was looking for my case.

excelent

thanks

chaza

what are the differences and rules regarding 'wrong'
nieprawidłowy and mylić

also
can you give me clirification on 'know'
while i know 'wiem', wiesz ect i am slightly confused with dowiadywać

thanks

chaza

= incorrect
Word 'prawidłowy' is often collocated with the word 'answer'. Prawidłowa odpowiedź to... (The correct answer is...) So nieprawidłowy is an opposite.


= to confuse; to make mistakes/errors (popełniać błędy)
There is a slight difference between 'mylić się' and 'popełniać błędy' but those two phrases can be use alternatively in many situations.

Common phrases:

Pomyliłem się, myślałem, że jesteś inna i że można ci ufać...
Pomyliłem nazwę ulicy...
Pomyliłem Cię z kimś innym.
Mylisz się, to nie tak, jak ci się wydaje.
Mylisz dwa pojęcia: miłość i zauroczenie.
Pomyliłeś się 3 razy w tym teście.

Popełniłem błąd, nie powinienem ci powierzać tego zadania. To było do przewidzenia, że sobie nie poradzisz.
Popełniłeś 3 błędy w tym teście.
Popełniasz błąd idąc tam...
Nie powtarzaj moich błędów.
Ucz się na cudzych błędach.

Mylić się mainly means to confuse something (with another similar thing) and when it is used as "make a mistake" then it sounds slightly more colloquially:

Popełniłeś 3 błędy w tym teście. v. Pomyliłeś się 3 razy w tym teście.


wiedzieć means to already know, to have some knowledge while dowiadywać się means to gain some knowledge, to ask about.

Pójdę się dowiedzieć jak mam wykonać ten przelew.
Muszę się dowiedzieć jak ona się nazywa.
Dowiedziałeś się już jak masz to zrobić?

In questions you can also use verb wiedzieć in the same meaning as dowiadywać się:
Wiesz już jak to masz zrobić?

ill have to digest this a little bit longer i think. why so many for 'mistake'

chaza

oh I didn't want to confuse you. I couldn't find any good English equivalent for mylić się than to make a mistake (maybe it's just my poor English), but the problem is that in Polish there is also such phrase "popełnić błąd" (which word by word means "to make a mistake"). I just wanted to draw a difference between those two phrases to be very accurate. But it's just additionally, though you didn't ask for that. :)

You'd probably checked in a dictionary pharse "mylić się" and the first meaning of it was "to be wrong" or something like that. That's why you accociated "mylić się" with word "wrong". Note that in examples below you can find only two sentences which would translate "mylić się" as "to be wrong":


Pomyliłem się, myślałem, że jesteś inna i że można ci ufać... = I was wrong, I thought you are different and I can trust you

Mylisz się, to nie tak, jak ci się wydaje. = You're wrong, it's not what you think.

The rest would be:
Pomyliłem nazwę ulicy... = I confused the name of the street
Pomyliłem Cię z kimś innym = I took you for someone else
Mylisz dwa pojęcia: miłość i zauroczenie. = You confuse two ideas: love and enchantment
Pomyliłeś się 3 razy w tym teście = You made 3 mistakes in this test

niespodzianka = surprise
zdumienie = amazement

thank you zeti
what you sent was good, i just need to digest it that is all.

thanks

chaza

ui am getting a bit bogged down with the words, duźo,duźy,wiele,wielki,spory.
while i can usually handle them o.k, i am confused as to their rules and why so many for the same thing, some clirification would be appriciated.

thanks

chaza

These are expressions of quantity, similar to large, larger, big, bigger.

dużo is used with nouns that cannot be counted like water,noise. Wiele is used with nouns that can be counted like cars, books.

Zeti will hopefully see this and put us both right:)

yes your probably right vincent. iwas talking to my polish cousin today and she spoke a word that i know i know, but can i remember, no. the word is poprosze, what is its meaning. i will kick myself when i find out.

thanks

chaza

poproszę o (coś) = can I have (something)
or in sentence like this:
- Would you like (something)?
- Yes, please = tak, poproszę

Look at it as, a very polite way way of saying " please could I have.." more polite than proszę.

i found an enrty in a book that says poproszę means to beg, plead, ask, which comes from the root 'prosić' which i have to say has thrown me somewhat. when my cousin said the word, i was sure it was 'please', but that never fit the context which you now confirm. and i am kicking myself.

thanks folks

chaza

I have had a revelation with my grammar, I kept forgetting that words like
'czytałem' mean I read, I am reading, I was reading.
'czytam ' means I read.
upto now when I right these things I had a tendancy to right ' ja był czytanie'. so am I correct in saying that with all the past tense words ending in ...łem I am, I was.

and with the będę czytać means, I wil read, I am going to read, I will be reading.

what happened I attempted to translate something, and I know from my previous posts the problems I am having, but its coming to me slowly, anyway, I gave the document to a polish person to read and it came back that she could understand 40% and she said I was using too many small words. these I think she is refereeing to był, było, była.

so my understanding so far is był ect means it was, he was, they were.

there was a boy
smiling was good for me
there were a lot of people
we were sat alone
she was my only friend
so any further push on this issue would be grateful, and please understand I am getting there.

thanks

chaza

Merged: word clarification

i was talking to my cousin and she replied ' nie poszuję' not sure of the spelling. what did she say, i think she said she never heard or understood me.

thanks

chaza