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. |
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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).
