Grammar - difference between "jaki" and "co" in Polish language

It can mean that, but in google...

"co za budynek rzadowy miesci sie przy ul. smyczkowej 4 ? " (what kind of government building is at ul smyczkowa 4?)

"czy ktoś wie co za budynek powstanie przy meissenera 18 " (does anyone know what kind building will be built by meissner 19?)

"Czy mógłbym prosić o wyjaśnienie co za budynek znajduje się na zdjęciu poniżej kościoła?" (could I ask for a explanation of what kind of building is in the picture beneath the church?)

Co to za is more common in questions, I think.

@mafketis
Thanks for the response,

So, you are saying that

"Jaki jest ten pies?" and "Jaki to jest pies?"

mean the same and can be either

what type of dog is it (breed) or what is the dog like (big/small).

Am I correct?

"What is this dog like?" Is it big? Small? Agressive? Friendly? Good with kids?


"What breed is it?"

Trust ye not in Google :) especially Google Translate, if that's the source.

I showed those Google examples to Mr Atch and he said 'Na pewno, nie!' Don't use 'co za' even in question form. Any views from other native speakers?


Jakiej rasy jest ten pies, would be the precise translation for 'What breed of dog is that?' Sometimes it's not always possible to translate effectively from Polish (or indeed any foreign language) directly into English and it's better to choose a different form of the sentence to avoid any confusion.

Mr Atch is wrong - Co to za budynek? is a perfectly Polish question - and it means What is this building for? ((more or less) - mafketis was right and he refered to a google search and not google translate (two different beasts)

+1

actually the question translates simply as "What is this building?" (an afterthought)

Exactly. Mr Atch says that it's a general, rather than a specific question and can mean anything. The answer could be:

a) a post office
b) an example of early 19th century architecture
c) a semi-detached house
d) a brick building

The question 'Co to za budynek?' does not fulfil the OP's original question which was how to ask 'what kind of thing is x?' Also, it sounds sloppy and inelegant to my ear, when there is a more precise and correct way of enquiring which is to say 'jakiego typu/rodzaju?'

That's how I'd say it.

"Co za budynek!", especially as an exclamation, is a whole different kettle of fish. "Co to za budynek?" as a question is too close to that, especially when asked by a non-native:

Spot on, Jon. Perhaps it's because we're both teachers that we have a similar view on this. In English, if I want to know what function a building serves, I would ask 'What's that building?' If I want to know anything else, I'll specify, 'What's that building made of?' 'What kind of architecture is that?' etc. And that's how I'd teach somebody to enquire about something, if they were learning English - be specific. It's basically the same rule in Polish (in this case anyway, sometimes Polish can be very general), but for me, 'co za budynek' is definitely 'what a building' and if anyone says differently, then 'co za chuj' ;))

In Polish it's exactly that: "Co to za budynek?" It's a perfectly normal sentence. One could add "jest" ("Co to jest za budynek?"), but I'm guessing that many people in fast, everyday speech would just say "Co to za budynek?". It's shorter, faster. It's like "What's that building?" versus "What is that building?"


Yes, this is more precise. So, "Jakiego typu/rodzaju to budynek?" would fit, for example, only "a semi-detached house" and maybe "a brick building" (although Poles would usually ask in this case "Z czego jest zbudowany ten budynek?").

You can also ask "Co to za typ/rodzaj budynku?"

And in other cases:


"Co to za budynek?"

If someone inquired about a post office building by asking "Co to za typ/rodzaj budynku?" my first thought would probably be "budynek użyteczności publicznej" (public building) lol So, in my opinion it's better to just ask "Co to za budynek?"


"Z jakiego okresu jest ten budynek?" (what period) or "Z którego wieku jest ten budynek?" (which century).

I think that asking about "typ/rodzaj" would make sense if the answer was "kamienica z XIX wieku" ("a tenement house from the 19th century").

And jon357 is right - "Co za budynek!" ("What a building!") is an exclamation, something completely different than "Co to za budynek?". Although I can imagine such use in a very colloquial, sloppy speech. For example, one guy says that his friend saw some spooky, haunted building, but his friend gets embarrassed and upset and claims that he didn't:

- Adam powiedział, że widział wczoraj jakiś nawiedzony budynek na wzgórzu!
- Co za budynek znowu? Gdzie? Wcale nie... Żadnego budynku nie widziałem.

That seems too much like a translation from English to me... many years ago a friend paid me a compliment on my grammar but complained that I used very weird structures which came from translating from English and a little German, which I'd learned earlier, in my head. For a long time I had a tendency to put infinitives at the end of sentences...


If I'm asking about function, I can imagine myself asking 'Do czego służy ten budynek?" (What's that building for?) or maybe even "Co robią w tym budynku?" (What do they do in that building?) not very elegant but... then neither am I....

Well, yes, I must say that it doesn't sound like the most natural option to me... It would be OK though when asking about the type of a building - a semi-detached house, a tenement house, a block of flats, etc.


I would use it if I was inquiring about a building which function isn't obvious to me. For example, the answer could be: "Do przechowywania towarów - to magazyn". So, when visiting a factory, for example: "A w tym budynku co się robi?" (rather than "Co robią w tym budynku?"). And the answer: "Tu są montowane części."