Słuchać + G usage in song titles.

Hello,

As the verb "słuchać" must be combined with a noun in the Genitive case, how can one say, "I am listening to ..." properly when many song titles don't always allow this easily?

I mean, it is obviously proper grammar to say "Czego słuchasz", and I even did a Google search using that phrase against "Co słuchasz", and the former turned up with many more hits.

So, how can I continue the proper usage of this construction? I suppose that it is possible to say "Słucham Mazurka Dąbrowskiego", but how can one say "Słucham (Niech mówią, że to nie jest miłość)"?

I would like to know how this can be properly used in other verb constructions which require the use of the Genitive case, np. "szukać".

Kind regards

co słuchasz is colloquial and incorrect.


Czego słuchasz? "Orała cień" Various Manx (song title in nominative)
or
Czego słuchasz? "Żółtych kalendarzy" Szczepanika (song title in genitive)

I think that the rule is that if it's easy to create Gen case then you do it but when it's not (Czego słuchasz? Orła cieni would sound akwardly, even silly) then stay with Nom case.

To avoid grammatical troubles you can always use this expresssion: Słucham piosenki o tytule (I listen to a song which title is...)


The same applies here. Szukam piosenki o tytule...


You're welcome :)

PS


It's not a mistake but it doesn't sound natural when someone uses personal pronoun in such sentence. The verb form shows the person so usage of personal pronouns is required only in some contexts (to emphasize, for some stylistic purposes, when person form in conversation becomes unclear, etc). It would sound better to write just:

Uczę się języka polskiego, ale mówię tylko trochę po polsku.

:)

I figured that "czego słuchasz" was the proper form, so I think that I'll have to tell my Polish friend that! He grew up here in Australia in a Polish family, but has never visited Poland, yet.

And thank you, jyjkhfa, for explaining this to me from a Polak's point of view.

And also, thank you for helping me sound a bit more native in my sentence formation! haha

It is very logical. Because czego is the genitive form of co.

Just like kogo is the gentive (and accusative) form of kto.

And after słuchać, szukać, uczyć się etc. we use genitive, as you already know.

Czego szukasz? (from co) - What are you looking/searching for?
Kogo szukasz? (from kto) - Who are you looking/searching for?

Słucham Niech mówią, że to nie jest miłość.