The English 'To Get' & Dostać vs Otrzymać

Hello again!

So we have this really ambiguous word (at least on the surface) in English, "To Get." As you all know it means a whole heck of a lot of things, from obtaining something all the way to understanding something.

In terms of the getting as in possession, like, John got the ball from Maria, how is it translated in Polish? Is it dostać or otrzymać, or is it something different? Also, what is the difference between otrzymać and dostać?

Thanks ahead of time for all the help guys :)

-Joe

Great question!
I'm eager to hear the answer myself
We've got some great gramarians on this site :)

"Janek dostał piłkę od Marysi" or "Janek otrzymał piłkę od Marysi" are two two sentences to be considered as translations. Both are synonymes, but the latter sounds much more formal in this context. If you translated this as "Jan otrzymał piłkę od Marii", there will be less contrast in formality since the names in the first set of sentences imply that the people involved are children, while in the other case the names are likely to be those of adolescents or adults.

I hope this little explanation will help you to understand possible differences in usage between "dostać" and "otrzymać". The subject seems to be broader, however, so I think other posters will contribute with their observations.

The only difference I can think of is that you can always use the verb "dostac" in place of "otrzymac" but there are cases where you can't do it other way round. I.e. dostalem goraczki (i got fever) is correct, but you cant say otrzymalem goraczke..

Hm.. Now when I think of it, you can "otrzymac" and "dostac" something from somebody else but you cant "otrzymac" a physical feature (pain, acne, feve, stroke, etc)

otzymać = get, obtain by oneself (cf. German "erhalten", "kriegen")

dostać = receive, be given by someone (cf. German "bekommen")

A very good point.


I don't think the analogy is valid. In the contexts where they can both be used (dostałem/otrzymałem list) they're perfectly interchangeable semantically. The register differs though, so it's dostałem zaproszenie na przyjęcie w ambasadzie in everyday speech but otrzymałem Pańskie zaproszenie in a formal letter.

Oh, I see. (..I thinkLOL)

:-)))

So, is Dostać informal, whereas Otrzymać is formal, or at least more formal?

More formal, yes, but you cannot always interchange them. Dostac may suggest that you have put some work into geting it; but otrzymac something, you can only without any effort.

Also you can say "dostac sie gdzies" - "to get somewhere" - otrzymac cannot be used here, it would sound like giberish.

dostać and dostać się are two completely different verbs with very different semantic fields

"Otrzymać" includes word "trzymać". It means mostly "to keep sth. [in a hand]" or "to keep sb. [using a hand]". You can "tzymać" sth. in a basement, or sb. in a jail, but it still concerns material things.

To get (otrzymać) sth. you have to grab it, BUT to get (dostać) sth. you don't have to grab it. That's why you can "otrzymać" medal (thing), but you can not "otrzymać" a madness (feature).

"Dostać" is close to "doznać" - "to experience" - and say us more about condition. "He has got a fever" we can translate as: "On dostał gorączki" or "On doznał gorączki", literally: "He has experienced a fever". Of course, he couldn't get a fever to his hand.


I would say: "dostałem" is a wide term while "otrzymałem" concerns (more or less) material things.


Just more precise in this particular situation. Yet even in a formal letter you can find a phrase "dostał silnej gorączki".

NO!

Jaką ocenę z języka polskiego otrzymałeś na świadectwie maturalnym?
Czy wyniki experymentów otrzymane ostatnio przez naukowców z CERNu rzeczywiście potwierdzają słuszność Modelu Standardowego jako opisu świata?
Czy to prawda, że dzieci, które otrzymuja więcej pochwał, osiągają w dorosłym życiu więcej sukcesów?

Have you ever tried to grab a note, result or a praise?

Cinek

dostać - get
otrzymać - receive

It's not a perfect correlation, but it works. You can receive a grade, you can receive praise or results. On the other hand, you cannot receive a fever.

Also, get is less formal while receive is more formal.

I myself, my parents and (as I remember) my teachers would never use "otrzymałeś otrzymują" in such a sentence. Just "dostałeś, dostają" Why? See my post above.

I used to see that form only in bureaucratic and official notes. Why? See strzyga's post above.


But form whom? It looks that from their friend! Worse - may be on the paper from hand to hand!! Otherwise it should be "uzyskane".

Either way, we can't grab a note but we can grab a diploma or a sheet with notes, we can't grab a praise but it is a kind of prize we can grab. It have close connections to material things. May be this is why people tend to use the word "otrzymać" in such a sentence.

These are inspiring observations (pointing to the link between "trzymac" i "otrzymać" in particular) which made me think about the difference. I would basically agree with those observations, with the exception for the idea that expressions wit "otrzymać" should be necessarily linked to material things which you would have "to grab".

I think the verb "otrzymać" could be used somewhat figuratively, so you wouldn't have to "grab something in hand" in order to employ it. An expression like "otrzymać wiadomość" is perfectly natural, and 'wiadomość' would not always be in the form of a material thing as you may well get it from someone by phone, for example. In the same way, phrases like "otrzymać pochwałę/wyniki/notę" seem perfectly all right.

The difference seems to be coming from what I would call the "inner" meaning of those verbs, something that Peter Cracow started to point to. The verb "otrzymać" should be used for something that comes to you from the outside world, the source of which is outside of yourself. On the other hand, the verb "dostać" is much more universal, it may serve both "directions" of the usage. It may associate itself with the things coming from the inside as well as things coming from the outside of the subject. But, this verb is the only choice for things that form themselves within you; thus, you can't say "otrzymać gorączkę" as it doesn't arrive into you from the outside world (the cause of it may, however), but you can only "dostać gorączki" as 'gorączka' originates strictly within your body. In the same way, we say: dostać małpiego rozumu [zachowywać się idiotycznie bez racjonalnej przyczyny] / szajby [same as previously] / białej gorączki [wściec się straszliwie].