"żółwik" - the same word??

"robak" means worm so if a fisherman says robak people think of something worm-like. If he intended to say bug he would say "owad".


That is exactly what they mean.

podobać się komuś
lubić coś/kogoś

both translates as "like", which is a scandal! :)

Question about that:

I'm not sure the equivalent of "lubic kogos" is "podobac sie komus" because they have a different meaning.

lubic kogos = to like someone

podobac sie komus = someone likes (something)

no?

podoba mi się ta sukienka = I like that dress (if you see a dress in a shop window you cannot 'lubieć it' in Polish - you can 'lubieć' it when you own and occasionally wear the dress)

Lubię lody - I like ice-cream (Lody can't 'podobać się' though the following sentence makes sense in Polish 'Podoba mi się smak tych lodów' - 'I like the taste of this ice-cream')

Lubię Anię - I like Ania (I am fond of Ania) / Ania mi się podoba - I like Ania (I find Ania attractive). Lubię Anię and Ania mi się podoba are two completely different statements in Polish.

You typically say 'podobać się' of things you are not familiar with, like a musical piece you hear for the first time 'O fajny utwór, podoba mi się' - 'Oh, this is a nice bit, I like it'.

But you say 'Lubię Mozarta' and not 'Podoba mi się Mozart' (podobać się in relation to people emphasised attractiveness of the person in question (typically visual))

When you buy a car it is because it 'podoba ci się' an not typically because you 'lubisz' it - you have to be familiar with the car, use it often enough to 'lubieć' it in Polish.

(Lubieć in this case is perhaps better translated as 'I enjoy my car' or 'I am fond of my car' but I'm pretty sure 'I like my car' is an acceptable translation too)

no. It's someone likes something or somebody. You are right that it has different meaning than lubić coś/kogoś but English doesn't distinguish between the two. You have no really good translation for podobać się.

The biggest difference is when someone wants to say "I like it!" in Polish.

A short test of Polish for you :)
Imagine a situation:

You was talked into bungee jumping by a friend. You weren't quite fond of that idea at first but you finally agreed to do your first jump. Not very excited you are jumping and while falling down you think to yourself that it's exciting and you could do that again. In other words you say to yourself:

a) lubię to
b) podoba mi się

one of the above is wrong and would be never used by a native speaker, which one and why? ;)


you mean lubić. ;)

not a native speaker, but i would definitely have said lubię to!!!

I would say "Lubię to" to the bungee jumping and I would say "Podoba mi się twój krawat" if I liked your tie.

The why escapes me:

All guesses and speculation in bold by me:
At a guess Podoba mi się is used when something appeals to you, you admire it etc., it is an aesthetic thing.
Lubię is used when you like something or someone, Biernik and that it is biernik is part of the explanation why you use one and not the other.

I am a native speaker and I would have no problem to say either Lubię bangee jumping or or Bangee jumping mi się podoba. Both sound fine to me

But at the exact moment I am hanging in the air after making my very first jump I would most likely say: podoba mi się

Pan Zuk Gnojowy:
Any examples in the reverse? or more examples of this phenomenon?

lakier do paznokci - nail polish
lakier fo włosów - hairspray
lakier - varnish
lakier samochodowy - car paint

sałata - lettuce
sałata - salad

If that was your first jump you wouldn't say lubię bungee but spodobało mi się, especially if you were not fine with the idea of jumping earlier.


exactly! that's why I sketched this whole situation :)


Unfortunately no :(
In gumishu's post there is the best explanation. You like (lubić) things which you are familiar with. While podobać się is a fresh thought you've just received, that's why I sketched the situation with a first bungee jump.

If someone would say "I like Mozart's music", you could say both but the hint between the lines can be different:
Lubię muzykę Mozarta - you know Mozart's music very well, you have many albums with it, you know what are you talking about, you are sure you like it

Podoba mi się muzyka Mozarta - you may be as above, but you could be as well a fresh listener of Motzart's music, who just heard few pieces or have heard it just recently.

That's the reason why saying that you lubisz things what you have experienced just recently or for the very first time doesn't sound very convincing.

*Above statement doesn't apply when the object of liking is a person


It's not facebook :)

how about 'to fancy someone/something'?

My dictionary translates it as mieć ochotę or imagine something.

Many thanks a.k., that was a great competition/puzzle.

wrong

salad is sałatka and never sałata, sałata and sałatka are two completely different things (unless someone uses the diminutive of 'sałata' which is indeed 'sałatka' but 'sałata' is rarely used in diminutive form)

no, gumishu
it might sound slightly archaic and high-brow, but sałata is salad too.
See chapter 16 here:
pl.wikisource.org/wiki/Indeks:365_obiadów_za_5_złotych_(Lucyna_Ćwierczakiewiczowa)
- sałata z marchwi is my favourite :)

gumishu, salad could be sałata or sałatka. I agree with you that most native speakers will call a salad sałatka, but not all, and not always.

From one of my favourite recipe sites here are some examples of lettuce-free sałata:

Sałata z selera z bakaliami i kurczakiem marynowanym w herbacie:

kuchniaplus.pl/kuchnia_przepis_0-0-5647_salata-z-selera-z-bakaliami-i-kurczakiem-marynowanym-w-herbacie.html

Sałata z dynią i ricottą

kuchniaplus.pl/kuchnia_przepis_0-0-3470_salata-z-dynia-i-ricotta.html

Ciepła sałata z botwiny i kurzych wątróbek z pistacjami

How about "Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się." Merely curious here as to whether the word order makes any differences whatsoever to a Polish native speaker. To me as a foreigner, both sound pretty much the same!

Word order is flexible but does enhance certain meaning. I am sure Lyzko you know that already

However, Strzyga quoted Cwierczakiewiczowa, who was our native polish Julia Childs of 19th century.... Her vocabulary and style are nothing but archaic but what a reading!!!! :-)

One favorite quote of her that runs in my family:

When unexpected guests arrive for a visit: take 12 partridges and... :-)

Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się i Podoba mi się muzyka Mazarta have exactly the same meaning but Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się is grammatically incorrect or at least weird sounding. Polish sentence is usually arranged this way: subject - verb -object.

So a native people would always say: Podoba mi się muzyka Mozarta, Lubię Mozarta, Kocham mamę and never Mozarta lubię. Mamę kocham

Dzięki za tłumaczenie, Zasulce! NIE tego będę zapomniał.
:-)

NIE tego będę zapomniał.

Lyzko: it's better to say, in this case: Zapamiętam to! or: Będę o tym pamiętał or: Nie zapomnę tego! (although the last one is a bit off in this context)

just saying...

Good to know, Czas! Always appreciate the extra tips:-)

not really

Podoba mi się muzyka Mozarta - the formal grammatical subject of this sentence is muzyka Mozarta and mi is the object (unlike the English counterpart) so the actual word order here is VERB OBJECT VERB-PART(się) SUBJECT

-Lubisz ciocię?
-Lubię.
-A mamę?
-Mamę kocham.

Polish sentence structure is quite variable and flexible which allows for a lot of nuancical expressions.

In this case no difference in meaning at all. As a German speaker you should feel how the word order works: you may accent some parts of the sentence or use the simple syntax (which generally is safest option to sound natural in most context). Of course some syntax despite being correct may sound not "in place", depending on the run of the talk. It's very hard to feel what is the best syntax in given context, it's more a thing which people learn intuitively by the years of hearing live language.

Your syntax fits best to such sentences:
Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się, ale... (but... fill the ending :)
Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się. Natomiast Beethoven już nie.

Another possible syntax is: Mi się podoba muzyka Mozarta, and it fits such context:

- Ja lubię mazurki Chopina, arie Schuberta i ogólnie muzykę współczesną, a ty? (sorry for my obvious lack of musical knowledge ;)
- Mi się podoba muzyka Mozarta

Look what parts of sentence are emphasized and think why.

Generally I advice the learners of Polish language to not think about syntax thing, just to speak what suits them the best at very moment.


Are you sure? For me both are correct but a narive speaker would use them in different situations, albeit they have the same meaning.


Never?

- Nie kochasz swoich rodziców, prawda?
- Mamę kocham.
- A tatę?

a.k and gumishu. My reply was only to a question if a simple sentence Muzyka Mozarta podoba mi się is correct. I didn't want to go in details about any variations ,forms and exceptions because I didn't want to confuse anyone who is a beginner learning Polish.

And of course, I totally agree with both your posts.

And what is the difference between "snake" and "serpent"? With pictures, if you are so kind.

A "snake" is simply a living reptile of varying dimension, dwelling only on land. A "serpent" is a mythological creature, much the stuff of Loch Ness Monster lore. In certain languages, e.g. French, "serpent" is a true faus amis with English "serpent", but means in fact our "snake":-)