Language / About? - Polish Grammar; worried about the bill - martwi się rachunkiem. Instrumental case [9]


Not exactly. In Polish we we use different constructions when talking about the object of our worries or about the cause of the worries.
E.g.:

1. Martwię się o Tomka, bo jest chory = I'm worried about Tomek because he's ill
but:
2. Martwię się chorobą Tomka = I'm worried about Timek's illness

The these examples Tomek is the object of my worries, while the illness is cause of my worries.

So in your example "Kobieta martwi się o rachunek" means that the woman is worried about something "unpleasant that happened/will happen to the bill" - which doesn't make much sense...

Cinek

Language / Polish words that sound funny? [224]


W Saskim Ogrodzie, koło fontanny..."


Stanisław Grzesiuk:

youtu.be/D5s0Q_XlmhM

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]

We'd rather say "Pies narobił na dywan."

Cinek

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]


I was wondering why do Americans call their toilettes bathrooms until I landed there for the first time and in the airport I entered one that was bigger than the bathroom (real room with a bath) we had in our university dormitory :-)

Cinek

Language / Perfective vs Imperfective - grammar [150]







I think there may be some confusion about 'pomyć' because of the dual nature of the po- prefix in Polish.
If you won't mind, I may try to explain a little bit.

The 'po-' prefix can be used in two different contexts:
1. It may indicate that given action is done on many separate objects (is repetitive) e.g.:
On pozbierał zabawki - he gathered (many separate) toys
posprzątałem w domu - I cleaned up (all the places in) my house
powybijali nam szyby w oknach - they broke (all of) our windows

2. It may indicate that given action was (or will be) being done for some (usually short) time, then stopped (is temporary) e.g.
on postał tu przez chwilę, potem zniknął - he was standing here for some time, then disappeared
pośpiewajmy razem trochę - let's sing together for a while
pomieszkałem tam miesiąc i się wyprowadziłem - I lived there for a month, then moved away

In both meanings the po- prefix indicates perfective aspect of verb, but in 1. it makes the action repetitive, while in 2. it highlights its temporary character.

So the question is now, how to tell one from the other?
There may be a few signs which meaning is intended, but the most distinctive is that in 2. we usually also use some measure of time (chwilę, trochę, miesiąc in the examples above).

The other important thing to know is that meaning 1. better suits some verbs, while 2. better suits other verbs and for some verbs both uses of the prefix are ok.

Now, coming back to 'pomyć' (in the context of washing dishes), I think that while it may not sound well in meaning 1. (repetitive) it's quite ok in meaning 2. (short, temporary, unfinished action). On the other hand, for meaning 1. the word 'pozmywać' is much better.

So we may rephrase the sentence 'Pomyję trochę naczyń, a potem obejrzę film.' a little bit to make it more visible:

Pozmywam naczynia, a potem obejrzę film = I'll wash (all) the dishes, then I'll watch the movie
Pomyję trochę (chwilę) naczynia, a potem obejrzę film = I'll be washing the dishes for a while (no matter if I'll finish it), then I'll watch the movie

I hope it makes things a little more clear now.

Cinek

Genealogy / OLD POLISH CHURCHES (Catholic Church in Krostkowo in 1875) [9]

Google street view car didn't reach that far, but it's visible on sat photos:
google.pl/maps/@53.1099582,17.1987648,232m/data=!3m1!1e3
Cinek

Work / English-speaking IT companies in Poland [4]


Nokia Bydgoszcz.

Study / Any information about Kujawy and Pomorze University in Bydgoszcz [11]


Oh come on! Do you really need to make this international?
Bydgoszcz has been changing rapidly for last years. Come and see. Both cities have many things to offer and the people really don't care about that pseudo conflict (maybe only some politicians do, if they don't have anything else to offer).

Cinek

Genealogy / Confusing on my lineage, Pomorski Hamot - my maternal side is 100% Polish [4]


What about Chopin's father?
There's nothing like pure nation and probably never has been. Everyone has some traces of 'foreign blood' in veins.

Cinek

Law / "185 Days" Requirement for Applying a Driving License in Poland (Detailed Research) [5]


Never trust Google translator. Where is the original Polish text?

cinek

Language / How well do Polish people understand Slovak? [88]


If you want to learn a bit of one and be able to understand both then forget it. I think you will even not be able to notice the similarities (unless some word stems when written).

Law / International business trip, travel time reimbursement? How is it settled in Poland? [15]

In 2) you're also paid Dieta from leaving home, but the amount for the time ( if a day or longer) in Poland is like for 1).

Cinek

Feedback / Is it Polish forum or foreign forum? [159]

I've been reading PF for quite a long time, and didn't notice that negative opinions about Poland are majority here.
I just think you exaggerate.

Feedback / Is it Polish forum or foreign forum? [159]

Are you new government's plenipotentiary for PF in ruins?

Language / Message from Polish speaking friend (in English) translation help [13]



Certainly. It meant that every one has a right to choose the person to be with. And, if her mother is telling that to you, I'd say that she thinks that her daughter would be better off being with you instead.

Cinek

Polonia / Libanese born to a Polish mother - applied for Poland's Citizenship. How To Live There? [5]

You better apply for Polish passport when your citizenship is confirmed. Then you can stay as long as you want to.

Work / Cost of living in Gdańsk, average salary for experienced software engineer in Poland [64]


On the other hand, days are long and nights short for the other 5 months, what is nice :-)

Cinek

Work / Is it possible for me to work as an EMT while studying in Poland? [3]

Hi,

You could try in Pogotowie Ratunkowe. They may need someone with fluent English in bigger cities. You could start as a volunteer then maybe became professional.

Cinek

Language / Why Genitive instead of Accusative in Polish language? [8]


Oh please, stop confusing people.

Ogórek is definitely masculine.
The proper sentence should be:

"Ona ma jeden zielony ogórek" and this is how people would say that 20 years ago.

However, in today's Polish there is tendency to make some inanimate male nouns animate, and this is just one example of that.

So in the sentence: "Ona ma jednego zielonego ogórka" there's still Accusative, but ogórek is used as it was masc animate (not inanimate, as dictionaries still say).

Cinek

News / Is Poland a safe place to live? CBOS survey. [7]

Hi,

I always thought Poland was dangerous because I remember Poland in much worse times. It was until the day I talked to a French expat family (NATO soldiers in Bydgoszcz) who were living here for a few years. They made me realize that we don't have many of the problems that cities in France and other western countries are facing today, especially caused by migration. We don't have riots (almost ;-), gun shootings, rasist incidents etc. So yes, after living here for almost 40 years I can say that Poland is a safe place today, what used to be not always true.

Cinek

Po polsku / "Co sądzita" - zwrot w języku polskim (Oscar dla "Idy") [15]




Tak na prawdę to jest pozostałość po liczbie podwójnej i w języku staropolskim oznaczało "wy (dwaj) róbcie" i "wy (dwaj) sądzicie" i było jak najbardziej "literackie". Z biegiem czasu liczba podwójna zanikła a końcówki '-ta' (i inne) "skolowializowały sie" i są postrzegane dzis jako nie poprawne, bądź gwarowe.

To takie moje 3 grosze ;-)

Cinek

Work / Suggestions for starting a business in Poland ( I have 50/60,000 USD ) [59]


I'm sorry to say this, but the above plus your lack of any experience in what life in Poland looks like in winter makes your idea completely not doable. Some time ago we (I and my wife) were looking for a place to start a kindergarten and also started on internet offers. And I can say you from my experience, that what you see on the web page photos very often differs very much from what you'll see when you're on place. If you want to make a place where people can sleep, wash, eat you must obey very strict rules that are required by Polish law that concern things like number of emergency exits, number and quality of bathrooms, width of doors, fire-proof materials, ventilations etc. Additionally, you must make sure that the place will be warm enough in winter, so you must be able to asses the quality of heating system, windows (yes, the quality of windows is very important when the temp outside is -20C) yourself.

You have no idea (and so had I) about how detailed Polish law is, when it comes to building anything that will be a public place, so you will have to hire a Polish construction law experts (probably at least 3 - one for general construction one fire-man and one sanitary system expert - of course they usually speak only Polish) for help, what makes your costs much higher. If you never heard about Sanepid and Nadzór Budowlany then forget about doing it yourself. You'll need a Polish partner who has at least some experience in building anything in Poland to start thinking about that.

Cinek

Work / Life of Foreigners in Warsaw - salary (supply chain specialist; logistics), monthly expenses [24]

It's a standard practice in Poland when employing new people. After the 3 months if they won't like your work they can just say you goodbye with no consequence. But if you'll be working well they will sign the "infinite time contract" that will give you (and them too) more protection, i.e. 'okres wypowiedzenia' and 'odprawa'.

Cinek

Life / Move to Poland or UK? (Advice needed) [51]

Check this:
pl.atos.net/pl-pl/home/kariera/kierunki-kariery/managed-operations.html
It's in Polish mixed with English so you should be able to understand. Atos is recruting many foreigners in call centers and similar in Bydgoszcz, so you may find something for you. Additionally, Bydgoszcz is still relatively 'pure' and multiculturalism is almost non-existent here.

Cinek

Real Estate / Wroclaw....good parts? Any "affluent, quaint European, suburb" areas here? [14]


Like this?:
google.fr/maps/@51.0541054,17.0146819,3a,75y,289.77h,77.23t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sbiQ4XYXsEh27inp632tWiQ!2e0?hl=pl
I don't know if it's comparable. If you're looking for wooden houses and open lawns then not in Poland. Most single family houses have small fenced gardens. We have also a lot districts full of blocks of flats that used to be surrounded by open grass, but it's usually being replaced with parking lots today.

Cinek

Work / Storage Admin 3 years experience in field IT - salary in Poland [36]


I think yes. And it's relatively cheap.

Cinek


Be prepared for at least 2 weeks temp below -20 each winter. But on the other hand, -20 C with snow in February is much better than +5C in darkness, fog and rain in November.

Cinek

History / Ethnic, lingual and cultural relations between Poles and Lithuanians before WW1? [4]



If she spoke Polish then probably yes. Still today there are many Poles in Lithuania and they speak Polish.
On the other hand, if your grand spoke Lithuanian she may even have hated Polish.

Cinek

Off-Topic / Which western European country would assimilate more Poles and other Slavs in next 50 years? [12]

Final end of slavic civilization?
He he. Tell that to Putin

Language / Imperfective verb question [9]


What do you mean? 'Być' is one of the few verbs that have no perfective form.
Give us some examples of the sentences you have a problem with, or at least English sentences you're trying to translate.

Cinek

Life / City, County etc. structure of Poland? [3]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Poland