ON SWIMMING AND CASES IN POLISH

DREAMING OF SWIMMING... IN A LANGUAGE COURSE?

In warm weather, probably more than one participant of a course in Polish as a foreign language wishes the classroom, the teacher and the colleagues found themselves nad brzegiem (on the banks/at the seaside; after the preposition nad we use the instrumental case) of a river, sea or another water pool. And what do we do in the water if we want to cool down? Naturally, we go in and pływamy (we swim; should you not remember how to conjugate the verb, check here). We can pływać w morzu, w jeziorze, w basenie, w rzece etc. (swim in the sea, lake, swiming pool, river: the locative case needs to be used after the preposition w).

BOAT AND KAYAK TRIPS

And what do we do when we feel like wycieczka kajakiem or statkiem (a boat or kayak trip; literally: trip by boat or kayak)? Jedziemy? Idziemy? No! Whether it’s statkiem, kajakiem, łódką, żaglówką, or even okrętem podwodnym (by ship, kayak, boat, sailing boat or even submarine) we still pływamy (swim) and let’s not forget to use the instrumental case when talking of means of transport. The difference is that we say po morzu, po jeziorze and po rzece (literally: swim on the sea, lake and river) and need to use the locative case here.

Interesting facts on the Polish language and many useful words you can find on our FB page

The Polish pływanie statkiem (literally: swimming by boat) may sound funny to users of other languages, in which you go by boat and the verb to swim (pływać) refers only to a human or an animal floating by themselves on water.
Whether it is funny or not, on a hot summer day it’s a great idea to popływać either w jeziorze or kajakiem po jeziorze (literally: to swim either in a lake or by boat on a lake).

GOL (goal), REMIS (draw), SPALONY (offside), THE MOST POPULAR FOOTBALL TERMS IN POLISH

With Euro 2016 in progress we simply can’t ignore it and not post an entry about football. All the more so because this topic is heatedly discussed in virtually each Polish class in our school these days (more on summer Polish courses here). Let’s get you ready then for your next get-together with Polish friends at a pub. In square brackets you will find the nominative of the footbal terms used in the text.

PIŁKA NOŻNA – BASIC VOCABULARY IN POLISH 
That’s right. Piłka nożna (football)  is almost like a religion in Poland. You can grać w piłkę (play football) on boisko (pitch) or watch a mecz piłki nożnej na stadionie [stadion] (a football match at the stadium) together with other kibice (fans). During this match you should dopingować ulubioną drużynę [drużyna] (i.e. cheer for your favourite team), or kibicować (support) in other words. In this case you can ask a friend Komu kibicujesz? (who are you supporting?). A match lasts 90 minutes and is played by two teams of jedenastu zawodników/ piłkarzy/ graczy [zawodnik, piłkarz, gracz] (eleven footballers/players). One of them is the bramkarz (goalkeeper), who broni bramki [bramka] (defends the goal). The other players are napastnik (striker), whose role is to attack, obrońca (defender), who’s responsible for defending the penalty area of his team and pomocnik (midfielder), who’s playing in the central part of the field. Outside the field there is ławka rezerwowych (the substitutes‘ bench) and it’s the trener or selekcjoner (coach) who decides which of the players and when will substitute one of the playing colleagues.
The proper course of the game is monitored by a sędzia (referee), also known as the arbiter, who is assissted by assistant referees. The referee will call czas dodatkowy (extra time) if necessary.

                                   More vocabulary not only related to football you can find on our FB site

WHAT’S GOING ON ON THE PITCH? RZUTY, GOLE, KARTKI 
During a match players score goals (strzelić gola). A team may wygrać (win) or przegrać (lose): Włochy wygrały z Hiszpanią 2:0 (Italy won against Spain 2:0). When both teams score the same number of goals or don’t score any goals, the match ends in a draw (remis). And when the match is played o awans do ćwierćfinału lub półfinału (to get into quarterfinals or semifinals) and the 90-minute game ends in a goalless draw, dogrywka (overtime) is called. Should this part end in no goals scored, the players start rzuty karne [rzut karny] (penalty shoot-out). That’s what happened when Poland was playing against Switzerland.
If a player is fouled, the referee stops the game and then restarts it by letting the team that suffered take a rzut wolny (free kick). Rzut wolny is also called when the foul is committed within pole karne (penalty mark). It may also be ruled as a result of spalony (offside), i.e. a situation when a player who is on the side of the pitch of the opposite team is closer to the goal line of the rivals than the ball is and does not have at least two players of the opposite team in front of him. There is an international synonym of the word spalony – ofsajd. Another international word we can think of is korner, or, to use a Polish word, rzut rożny (corner kick).  For a foul or other unsportsmanlike conduct the referee may punish the player with a żółta or czerwona kartka (yellow or red card).

Naturally, we know that this entry does not exhaust the topic, but we hope it will prepare you better for the next match you go to see together with your Polish friends and may even encourage you to play a game of football with them on a real pitch. Have fun!

TIPS FOR SUMMER DAYS or WHAT WE DRINK AND WHERE WE DRINK IT FROM IN POLISH

WHEN YOU ARE THIRSTY... (not only in Polish class)

Days are getting longer and even during the most interesting Polish classes (check here for information on summer courses of Polish) we start to feel like getting something to drink. In short, at some point each of us starts to think: Mam ochotę na coś zimnego (ewentualnie ciepłego) do picia (I feel like something cold – or hot – to drink). Many of us, especially native speakers of Polish, say: Idę po jedzenie i picie (I’m going to get something to eat and drink). We then get water (sparkling or still), juice, fizzy drink, coffee, tea, beer, wine or whatever we wish. And then the question arises: what do we drink from? Since the Polish language is precise and has a special word for each ‘vessel‘.

SZKLANKA (glass) or KUBEK (mug)? VARIETY OF NAMES OF DISHES IN POLISH

From szklanka (usually made of thin glass) we can drink juice, water, beer or other cold drinks. If we want something warm or hot, e.g. tea or coffee, we pour it into a kubek (mug) or filiżanka (cup). Experts say that drinking from the latter guarantees much better taste, aroma and ideal temperature. Kubek on the other hand is more stable and more importantly it’s biiiiiig ;-) If the evening is cold those who like sweets may feel tempted to get a cup of hot chocolate. This sweet drink is always served in filiżanka and often together with szlanka of cold water.
Beer connoisseurs claim that it should be drunk from an appropriate szklanka depending on the type of beer. The most popular type, piwo jasne (similar to pale ale) tastes best when drunk from a kufel (beer mug). Beware, some pubs serve large beer in 1-litre mugs!
Wine, champagne, vodka and liqueurs we drink from different kinds of small and large kieliszki (glasses).

If you’re looking for information and interesting facts about the Polish language, visit our FB page.

NAPOJE AND TRUNKI

There are a few words we can use to name what we drink. The word napój (anything we drink, could be cold or hot), picie (in spoken language it means anything we drink), trunek (which is only used for alcoholic drinks). With summer approaching, this vocabulary may come in handy more than once not only when foreigners want to cool down during a break between classes but also their teachers and Polish colleagues may find it useful.
So, who feels like something to drink (should you forget how to conjugate the verb „pić“, check it here)?

GOŚĆ W DOM, BÓG W DOMU (Guest at home, God at home), or how to offer something to drink in Polish?

What question do you hear when you step across the threshold of a Polish home? And what question should you ask when a Pole (and not only a Pole) comes to visit you? Most participants of courses of Polish will answer without hesitation: co słychać? (how is it going?) Indeed, it is one of the first questions we learn in Polish class but it is soon followed by the one we are going to focus on today.

COŚ DO PICIA? (Anything to drink?) or CZEGO SIĘ NAPIJESZ (What would you like to drink?)?  - TWO IMPORTANT POLISH QUESTIONS

                        And you? What would you like to drink? More Polish vocabulary on our FB page

Asking one of the two questions would seem natural. However, you need to know how important they are in the Polish culture. First of all, not asking one of them is considered most rude. Secondly, once it has been asked, you need to get ready for a mini-dialogue such as this one:

 - Coś do picia?
 - Nie, dziękuję. 
 - Jesteś pewien/ pewna? 
 - Hm... No, dobrze. Może kawę?  

- Anything to drink?
- No, thank you.
- Are you sure?
- Well... OK. Coffee then?

That is:  question – negative answer – question repeated – positive answer. Obviously, not every conversation of this kind looks exactly like that. You might hear a positive answer right away. However, it does happen that  a foreigner, after receiving a negative response, ends the conversation, leaving his Polish interlocutor in amazement and without a drink.

As you can see, it is a good idea not only to get acquainted with basic Polish structures but also to find out how and when to use them.

MARIA KOWALSKA OR MARIA KOWALSKI, or HOW TO DEAL WITH POLISH FAMILY NAMES

FUSS OVER POLISH FAMILY NAMES

This post has been inspired by questions concerning Polish family names which are often asked in classes of Polish as a foreign language (check here for information on interesting courses). What seems obvious for the Poles as far as their own family names are concerned may be problematic for foreigners, especially in the beginning. Some confusion, among non-slavic students in particular,  is caused by the fact that Polish first and last names need to be inflected. However, when you get to know the Polish declension and conjugation well (should you need to refresh your knowledge of conjugation of Polish verbs, check here) that fact ceases to surprise.

TWO KINDS OF POLISH FAMILY NAMES

There are two most common groups of Polish family names: those that act like nouns and those that end with -ska, -ski, -cka, -cki. As for the first group, there are no major issues: a man is called Adam Nowak and a woman Ewa Nowak. A questios arises in case of the other group, however: if a man’s name is Jan Kowalski, why is his wife’s name Maria Kowalska, not Maria Kowalski? Why does she have a different family name? No, Maria doesn’t have a different family name, she simply uses its feminine form. Names ending with -ska, -ski, -cka, -cki take the adjective form, and the adjective in Polish ends with -a in the feminine form. As you can see, the answer is simple and logical.

FAMILY NAMES OF MARRIED COUPLES AND FAMILIES

Declension is also to blame for the changes in family names of married couples and families. If you want to invite Mr. Nowak and his wife to an important meeting you should address the invitation Szanowni Państwo Ewa i Adam Nowakowie, which you definitely already know since we have written about that recently.  If you are inviting the whole family of Adam and Ewa Nowak, you should use the form Rodzina Nowaków.
When we refer to Maria Kowalska and her husband, we say państwo Kowalscy, and if we include the children, we get rodzina Kowalskich.
As you can see, what seemed to be complicated in the beginning turns out to be easy, clear and logical. Just memorise a few simple rules and you‘ll know what to call who.

Do you know the answer to this question? More riddles on our FB page.

ŁĄKA, SAD, OGRÓD, or on not so common names of places in Polish

POLISH VOCABULARY YOU WILL NOT LEARN IN A CITY
Early May, spring and weekend getaways give you ample opportunity to practise your Polish with the locals and spark your interest in uncommon Polish vocabulary. Having left the city and spent some time in the countryside you will be surprised to hear that the word pole refers not only to a beautiful recreation area in Warsaw (Pola Mokotowskie) or the main avenue in Paris (Pola Elizejskie), but first of all to a place where farmers grow crops (field).
Right next to a pole (field) there might be a pastwisko (pasture), i.e. a place where farm animals such as cows, sheep or horses graze, and nearby you can often see a łąka (meadow), which is an area covered with grass and flowers. You remember seeing those places, don’t you?

                                                    ŁĄKA – more vocabulary on our FB profile  

                                                POLE  - uprawiać; kupować, pracować na.. - more verbs you will find here

IS SAD SAD AND WHERE DO VEGETABLES GROW?
Now, let’s come closer to the house, where we can also see some flowers. Here they grow in an orderly manner and serve as decoration. This is ogród (garden), of course. And is a place where fruit trees (apple, pear and cherry trees) grow an ogród too? This is was participants of our Polish courses often think. No, this place has a different name, it’s called sad and has nothing to do with the English adjective “sad”. Quite the contrary, Polish sad (orchard) is the essence of joy and life.

If you stay at an agri-tourism farm during your weekend getaway, you will definitely notice that the hostess has a warzywnik (vegetable garden) by the house, which is where she grows vegetables so that the guests can have fresh and healthy food every day.

Have fun on your May getaways!

PAŃSTWO KOWALSCY (Mr and Mrs Kowalski) in PAŃSTWO POLSKIE (Polish state)

DWA PAŃSTWA (two meanings of „państwo“)

Today we are going to start with a riddle:

Państwo na K i osiem liter?
Kowalscy!

Wait! Everyone learning Polish not only as a foreign language (information on courses you can find here) knows that państwo is the same as kraj, which means a politically organised group that lives in a territory defined by borders. Hence, there is państwo polskie (literally: Polish state/Poland), państwo niemieckie and państwo francuskie. Does that mean then that a state that starts with K and consists of 8 letters is... Kambodża (Cambodia)? Is the answer to the riddle wrong? Well, no! The answer is correct. The word państwo means not only a form of political organisation but is also the plural of pan and pani. Pan Kowalski (Mr. Kowalski) and pani Kowalska (Mrs. Kowalska) are państwo Kowalscy (Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski); pani Nowak and pan Nowak are państwo Nowakowie.

POLISH GRAMMAR TO THE RESCUE

How do we differentiate between these two meanings then? And here’s where grammar comes to your rescue. We say that państwo polskie prowadzi ciekawą politykę zagraniczną (Poland/Polish state pursues an interesting foreign policy); historia państwa polskiego jest bardzo ciekawa (the history of Poland is very interesting); razem z państwem polskim współpracują państwa sąsiednie (neighbour countries are cooperating with Poland); słyszałem wiele dobrego o państwie polskim (I’ve heard many good things about Poland). As you can see, the word państwo here is used in the singular (to państwo is neuter).
When we’re talking about pan and pani Kowalski, they are ci państwo and we need to use the plural verb form (if you don’t remember verbs conjugations, check here) and the plural of the last name. Consequently, we say: państwo Kowalscy przyszli na spotkanie (Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski came to the meeting); to są dzieci państwa Kowalskich (these are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski); dałem zaproszenie państwu Kowalskim (I have given the invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski); lubię państwa Kowalskich (I like Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski); słyszeliśmy o państwu Kowalskich wiele dobrego (we have heard a lot of good things about Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski).
As you can see, grammar can be really useful in everyday situations :)

More interesting facts on the Polish language you can find on our FB page.

Let’s not forget about one more thing: the word państwo can also be used to refer to a larger group consisting of men and women. When we would like to welcome participants of a conference or meeting we can say: „Szanowni państwo! Cieszę się, że państwo przybyli na spotkanie.“ (Ladies and gentlemen, I am glad you have come to the meeting). If you want to ask whether you could join the discussion you say: „Czy państwo pozwolą, że zabiorę głos?” (literally: Will you, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to say something?). And at the end you say: „Dziękuję państwu za uwagę.” (Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention).

So which państwo starts with K and has 8 letters?