MINI-GLOSSARY OF POLISH CHRISTMAS TERMS

We have asked our friends and students to tell us what they associate Christmas with. And we have received many answers: family, fireplace, gifts, snow, Christmas tree, gourmet food. There are various associations and experiences, and we have already written about Christmas (check here) and about Christmas Eve traditions (check here). This year we have compiled a small (and subjective) glossary of Christmas terms so that you can show you knowledge in your Polish classes or at your family gatherings.

CHOINKA,
a Christmas tree, which should traditionally be decorated on Christmas Eve morning, i.e. 24th December. However, these days the tradition is hardly ever maintained and we can enjoy the sparkling lights and beautiful decorations as early as 2 weeks before Christmas. Choinka can be kept in the house until 2nd January, which foreigners usually find surprising.

                                         check here for more interesting facts about Polish

OPŁATEK,
Christmas wafer, which is thin, white flatbread made without any yeast, symbolises friendship, love and forgiveness. We start the Christmas Eve supper by sharing it and wishing each other all the best.

SIANKO,
hay, a bundle of which is symbolically put under the tablecloth on the table on Christmas Eve to commemorate the birth of Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem.

TALERZ,
a plate, not an ordinary one but an empty one, symbolically awaiting an unexpected guest. This custom refers to the fact that Mary and Joseph were looking for shelter the night Jesus was born.

ŚLEDŹ,
herring, the fish that simply has to be served during the Christmas Eve supper. It may be savory or sweet, served in wine or spices, with sour cream or simply with oil. It’s always delicious and healthy

.                                                       to make (robić ) Christmas herring

KUTIA,
or kutya, a Christmas Eve culinary masterpiece, popular in Eastern Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. It’s a sweet dessert made with wheat (or pęczak, a type of pearl barely), honey, poppy seed, walnuts, raisins and almonds. It’s goes very well with strong black tea.

KOMPOT Z SUSZU,
dried fruit compote, has smoky flavour and is good for your digestion. It is served at the end of the Christmas Eve supper and is very nutritious, it is also an excellent alternative to fresh seasonal fruit, the lack of which we feel at this time of year. It is made with dried fruit, such as prunes, apples, apricots, pears, figs and raisins. And it tastes even better when we add some cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, ginger and nutmeg to it. Delicious!

                                    to make (robić), to prepare (przygotować )dried fruit compote


PASTERKA,
starting at midnight between 24th and 25th December,  is a special mass commemorating the time when the shepherds waited for Jesus to be born. It is also one of the first ocassions to kolędowanie, i.e. singing Christmas carols. And then? Then we slowly walk back home with snow crunching under our feet... If there is snow, of course...

With or without snow; spent in Poland or abroad; with herring and kutia, or without these traditional Christmas Eve dishes, we wish you all Merry Christmas!

                                          WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT!

ROZWODNIK (divorcee) AND STARA PANNA (old maid), OR TERMS FOR DESCRIBING MARITAL STATUS IN POLISH

As we have promised in our entry on patchwork family (you can find it here), we are going to present some nouns related to people’s marital status. We have already mentioned that people who are married are called mąż (husband) and żona (wife). These nouns sound familiar to virtually all participants of Polish courses. The ones you are going to read about are much more rarely used in Polish classes.

WHAT DO YOU CALL UNMARRIED PEOPLE IN POLISH?
Those, whose spouse died are wdowiec (widower) and wdowa (widow); people, who decided to end a failed relationship are called rozwodnik (divorcee, masculine) and rozwódka (divorcee, feminine). The two latter forms, despite being correct and used in the legal language, still have negative connotations in Polish society and are stigmatizing. Therefore, the terms rozwiedziony (divorced, masculine) and rozwiedziona (divorced, feminine) are becoming increasingly popular. Similar rule applies to those who have never changed their marital status and remain kawaler (unmarried man, bachelor) and panna (unmarried woman, spinster).  People who remained unmarried for too long (in some people’s opinion) used to be called stary kawaler (literally: old bachelor, confirmed bachelor) and stara panna (spinster, old maid) with contempt. However, nowadays,  following the social changes and the growing number of people who are not in a relationship (anymore) with anyone or decide to get married much later than older generations, the words singiel (single, masculine) and singielka (single, feminine) are gaining in popularity.

                                           more Polish vocabulary on our FB page

KONKUBIN OR PARTNER? OTHER WORDS TO DESCRIBE MARITAL STATUS
What about those who are in steady but live-in,  not legalized relationships? And again, the legal and administration language affect everyday life. The official terms are konkubent or konkubin (cohabitant, masculine) and konkubina (cohabitant, feminine). However, these words have been used so often in the criminal news stories (e.g. Konkubent Marian Z. zabił swoją konkubinę Grażynę K. w trakcie libacji alkoholowej - , i.e. Marian M. cohabiting with Grażyna K. killed her while carousing) that they now are used in a pejorative sense by Polish people. The young generations use these terms humorously nowadays, and when they want to be serious, they go for partner/partnerka when talking about their other half.

As you can see, the terminology related to marital status is a very good indicator of changes in the society that clearly affect the language itself.

ON GETTING MARRIED AND PATCHWORK FAMILY. PRACTICAL POLISH WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

VERBS THAT COLLOCATE WITH THE NOUN ŚLUB 
Autumn may not be the most popular time of the year to plan a ślub (wedding), but this topic arouses interest in Polish classes regardless of the season. Let us remind you that in Polish you can brać ślub, i.e. get married (brać/wziąć ślub: check here to find out how to conjugate this verb). When we are talking about this occasion from the perspective of a woman, we say that she wychodzi/wyszła za mąż (wychodzić/wyjść za mąż, which can be understood as „she is getting/got a husband“), and when it’s from the perspective of a man, we say that he żeni się or ożenił się (żenić/ożenić się, which means that he is getting/got a wife)

Oto Mateusz i Klara. Oni wzięli ślub. Mateusz ożenił się z Klarą. Klara wyszła za Mateusza.
Literally: These are Mateusz and Klra. They got married. Mateusz took Klara as his wife. Klara took Mateusz as her husband.

                                                 more Polish vocabulary on our FB page 

Another verb you can use in this situation is pobrać się, so:

Mateusz i Klara pobrali się w ostatnią sobotę. (Mateusz and Klara got married last Saturday)

PATCHWORK FAMILY. SOME FAMILY MEMBERS IN POLISH
When two people legalize their relationship outside of Poland and it is not marriage, we say that they zawarli związek partnerski albo weszli w związek partnerski (zawrzeć/ wejść w związek partnerski, i.e. enter/entered into a registered partnership).
As the result of a marriage in Poland people become mąż and żona (husband and wife). Frequently it is their next marriage and then this kind of couple together with the children from their previous relationships become a patchwork family (rodzina patchworkowa). The adults are then not only matka and ojciec (mother and father) for their own children but also become ojczym and macocha (stepfather and stepmother) for their spouse’s children. The word macocha has evolved over the years in the Polish language, since not so long ago it had ominous overtones. For the first time a child encountered this word while reading the Cinderella story. As we all remember, it wasn’t a positive connotation… Additionally, the negative overtone was emphasised by an expression traktować coś/ kogoś po macoszemu, i.e. treat something/someone unfairly, badly, harshly. Fortunately, along with the social changes in Poland the negative meaning of the word is gradually disappearing.

Soon you will be able to read more about Polish vocabulary referring to marital status.

NAMES OF MEALS IN POLISH

Nothing reflects the changes that have occurred in the Polish reality in the past 25 years better than the names of meals and the way we use them these days.

O KTÓREJ JECIE OBIAD? TRADITIONAL RHYTHM OF HAVING MEALS IN POLAND
This question comes up surprisingly often in Polish classes. The answer is not that obvious since it largely depends on our lifestyle and where we live. Traditionally Poles start their day with śniadanie (breakfast), around 10.30am they have their drugie śniadanie (second breakfast), which is usually a sandwich. Then comes obiad (lunch/dinner) eaten between 2 and 3pm (main meal of the day, usually consisting of two courses), children sometimes have podwieczorek (equivalent of tea) around 5pm, and that is a sweet snack before the last meal of the day, i.e. kolacja (dinner/supper) which is eaten around 7pm. Kolacja usually consists of one course and is definitely lighter than obiad and, depending on the season of the year, may be served cold or hot. The most important śniadanie (breakfast) of the year is, of course, the Easter breakfast (more information here), and the most formal kolacja (dinner/supper) is Wigilia, i.e. Christmas Eve dinner/supper (more on that here).
The model śniadanie - drugie śniadanie - obiad - (podwieczorek) – kolacja is a traditional one and is still followed by children, young people, unemployed adults and those living in small towns.

                                                      more Polish vocabulary on our FB profile

ANGLICISMS IN NAMES OF MEALS
People living in large cities, studying or working from 9am to 5pm have obiad after work, and in the middle of the day they have ... lunch. The rhythm of meals and their times are similar to those in other countries. Śniadanie in the morning, lunch at midday and obiad early in the evening. With such a daily routine the noun kolacja is reserved for special occasions (kolacja służbowa - business dinner, kolacja romantyczna - romantic dinner) or refers to a meal eaten around 9pm (which is much less common in Poland than in southern countries). On days off, weekends, Polish middle class in larger cities has brunch, which is a late śniadanie or early lunch, usually eaten in restaurants or bistros (more on eating places here).

                      jem śniadanie, obiad, kolację. Check here the conjugation of the verb JEŚĆ (to eat)

Interestingly, even the Poles living in large cities give up on the Western European tradition in order to meet relatives for dinner on Sunday at 2pm (during which rosół, i.e. traditional chicken soup, is served) or to eat out together. Do you know now why restaurants in Poland are crowded on Sunday afternoons?

BAR, KAWIARNIA, RESTAURACJA or where you can have something to eat in Poland?

It is hard to believe that these three words: restauracja, bar and kawiarnia, raise so many questions in Polish classes. Naturally, everyone knows those are the names of eating establishments so the questions don’t usually refer to their meaning but the cultural context. They often happen to have somewhat different functions in Poland and abroad.

KAWIARNIA AND RESTAURACJA IN POLISH
Today we’re going to talk about the eating establishments you pass in the streets of Polish cities every day. We have already discussed the less common ones (oberża, karczma, zajazd) here. What are restauracja and kawiarnia then? The former is the least controversial and, the same as in other countries, restauracja (restarant) is a place where the food is served by a waiter or waitress. We go there if we want to eat (zjeść) a large meal (usually consisting of a starter, entree and main course) followed by coffee or tea, which Poles often drink while eating some dessert.
Coffee, tea and dessert can also be ordered in kawiarnie (cafes) which more and more often do not employ waiters and drinks and desserts are ordered and paid for at the counter. If such an establishment serves also sandwiches, quiches, salads or any other food typically served for luch, it is called a bistro. In large Polish cities there are plenty of establishments that are a combination of kawiarnia and bistro.

IS MILK DRUNK IN POLISH BARS?
What is the real meaning of the noun bar in the Polish language? Bar in Polish is a place where you can drink some alcohol but (unlike bars in Spain, for instance) where you don’t eat anything. The other meaning of the word, which is the source of  misunderstandings, is an estanblishment that was especially popular in the interwar Poland and PRL (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, i.e. Polish People’s Republic) and where these days as well you can have some simple and inexpensive Polish dishes. There’s no waiter service in a bar like that and the interior resembles a canteen rather than a restaurant. The full name of such an establishment, and we can call it Polish specialite de la maison, is a bar mleczny (literally: milk bar). Where does the name come from? Well, in the past many dishes served in such places were made with milk, cottage cheese and eggs. Nowadays bary mleczne are still quite popular and they can be called a sociological phenomenon since their customers come from various social groups. A visit to a bar mleczny has become a must-do for foreigners visiting Poland.

      The legendary „Prasowy“ milk bar in Warsaw. More on the Polish language and customs on our FB page

TRAVELLING TO THE NORTH OF POLAND

WHICH REGION OF POLAND TO CHOOSE FOR A WEEKEND TRIP?
After the first majówka (we mentioned it in our post here), when it starts to get warmer and warmer and days are getting longer, staying at home for the weekend is a waste of time. Therefore, many foreigners ask their teachers in Polish classes where to go away for the weekend and what to see in Poland. Obviously, the first answer that springs to mind is „Everything!“, since Poland is a country that boasts beautiful cities,  forests, lakes, mountains and the sea...

LETS SPEAK POLISH IN TRÓJMIASTO (TRICITY)
It’s a good idea to visit Tricity in warm weather. The old city of Gdańsk is a must for every tourist, with its over a thousand years of history, which is closely connected with the fate of Poland. It is reflected in the architecture of the city. You definitely need to visit the Old Town, see St Mary’s Church (Bazylika Mariacka), Artus‘ Court, which reminds us about the wealth and might of Gdańsk. Another must-see is Żuraw (medieval port crane), and you should take a picture of the statue of Neptune. And in the summer you can do the shopping at St Dominic’s Fair (Jarmark Dominikański), sit in one of the cafe or restaurant gardens and order something to eat and drink in Polish (you can learn how to do that in the courses of Polish at Po Polsku).

WALKING AROUND GDYNIA
In Gdańsk take the SKM (Szybką Kolej Miejską, suburban train, which is the best means of transport in Tricity) and go to Gdynia. You’ll be delightd by the fountain in the very centre of the city. And after you’ve taken a photo there, definitely go to Akwarium, where you can see the inhabitants of waters from all over the world. Later, you should go for a walk along the beach and Bulwar Nadmorski (Seaside Boulevard), where you will enjoy a wonderful view of the sea and can feed the swans.

        Marina in Gdynia. If you want to get to know other beautiful places in Poland, check out our FB profile

SUNSET IN SOPOT
Finally, take the SKM again and go to Sopot to see the sunset, admire the beautiful yachts moored alonside the Sopot Marina. And those who like sea travel can take the evening cruise.
And after that you can share your impressions with your colleagues or the classmates from the course of Polish, speaking in Polish, of course.

WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 3, FORMAL STRUCTURES AND SIGN-OFFS.

FORMAL STRUCTURES IN EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE
We have already discussed the ways of opening formal and informal emails (check out our posts of 4th and 20th February). Now it’s time to talk about the opening lines that can be used in formal letters.
If we’re writing an email in response to an invitation or a letter that contained some information, we can use the following phrases, some of which you must have already learned in your Polish classes:

Chciał(a)bym podziękować za ...  (I would like to thank you for...)
Pragnę serdecznie podziękować za...  (literally: I would like to sincerely thank you for...)
Uprzejmie dziękuję za ... (literally: Thank you kindly for...)
Chciał(a)bym/ Pragnę Pana/ Panią/ Państwa poinformować, że ...  (I would like to inform you that)

If we refer to a subject we discussed in a meeting or during a phone conversation some time before, we can write:

W nawiązaniu do naszej rozmowy telefonicznej... (With reference to our telephone conversation...)
Nawiązując do naszej ostatniej rozmowy... (With reference to our last conversation...)
W odniesieniu do tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania... (With reference to the subject of our last meeting...)
Odnośnie do tematu naszego spotkania... (Following the subject of our meeting...)
W odpowiedzi na Pana/ Pani wiadomość... (In response to your message...)

Please note that the forms pan/pani are spelt with a capital letter, and the expression odnośnie is used with the preposition do. The version without the preposition is frequently used as well (e.g. odnośnie tematu naszego ostatniego spotkania), but it is considered colloquial.
Official emails often include attachments, so expressions such as the ones below are an important part of correspondence:

W załączniku znajdzie Pan/ Pani .... (Please find attached/enclosed...)
W załączeniu przesyłam... (I have attached...)
Załączam naszą ofertę...  (I am anclosing our offer...)

                                            Check out our FB profile  for more information

CLOSING LINES
When closing an email it’s a good idea to ensure the recipient that we will welcome any questions they might have:

W razie jakichkolwiek pytań, proszę o kontakt (Should you have any questions, please contact me)
W razie dodatkowych pytań jestem do Pana/ Pani/ Państwa dyspozycji (literally: If you have any questions, I’m at your disposal)

Or indicate that we are are looking forward to the meeting:

Z chęcią spotkam się z Państwem, aby omówić...  (I will be happy to meet you to discuss...)

SIGN-OFFS
Students of Polish often ask how to sign off a formal letter. The most common expression we use to close a formal email is:

Z poważaniem  (Sincerely, literally: with respect)

but you can also come across:

Z wyrazami szacunku  (Yours faithfully)

This form is somewhat outdated, but still in use and seems to be full of old-fashioned charm (the same as its „relative“, the expression Łączę wyrazy szacunku – literally: I enclose my respects). If  you have been exchanging emails for a while and got to know the recipient better, you can use the less obliging Serdecznie pozdrawiam (literally: I greet you sincerely).

Now we can only say goodbye to you and wish you a fruitful correspondence in Polish:)

HOLIDAYS IN WŁOCHY (ITALY): IN RZYM (ROME) AND MEDIOLAN (MILAN). ON EXONYMS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE.

UNUSUAL NAMES OF COUNTRIES IN POLISH

On hearing that sentence many students doing a  Polish course get really confused. Where has the speaker been? Włochy... what country is that? And where is Rzym located? True... Exonyms, i.e. names given to foreign geographical names in another language, Polish in our case, may puzzle many students of Polish. Suddenly, the inhabitant of Berlin finds out that he is from Niemcy (z Niemiec), and the citizen of Hungary is from ... Węgry (z Węgier). We’ll get back to the names of the three countries later on (Włochy – Niemcy – Węgry). For now, let’s take a look at the names of some of the foreign cities.

POLISH NAMES OF WELL KNOWN EUROPEAN CITIES

 It is relatively easy to guess what names we have in mind when we say Paryż (Paris), Londyn (London),  Lizbona (Lisbon), Wilno (Vilnius), Haga (the Hague), or Bruksela (Brussels). These have simply been transcribed using Polish sounds. Polish name of the capital of Belgium might sound a bit confusing when compared to the English way it’s pronounced, but if we think of the French Bruxelles, the Polish form is not that surprising anymore.
When talking about your holiday plans or a business trip it’s good to know that Ghent is Gandawa, Rome – Rzym, Milano – Mediolan, Wien – Wiedeń, Beijing – Pekin, Munchen – Monachium, Firenze – Florencja, Koln – Kolonia, and Cape Town is... Kapsztad.

                                                         more on our Facebook profile

WHERE DOES THE NAME NIEMCY COME FROM?

In Polish classes teachers are often asked about the etymology of the names Niemcy, Włochy and Węgry.
It is believed that the form Niemcy is derived from the word memy, which described a person who speaks unintelligibly, not clearly. In short, the name appeared as a result of communication problems our ancestors had with the tribes inhabiting the area of today’s Germany.
The word Włochy derives from the Proto-Slavic name describing Romans, which we took over from the Germans, who initially called all Roman tribes Walh. And that name comes from the name of a Celtic tribe – Volcae. Among the Slavs, the term Wołch became common. Using this word the Slavs referred to all Romans, while in the Polish language it only referred to the inhabitants of the Apennine Peninsula.
In the Polish language as well as in other languages the name Hungary refers to the tribe of Huns, who used to inhabit the area of today’s Hungary before the ancestors of the present inhabitants . The Polish form Węgry is a transformed name of tribes that sounded like Onogur/Ongur. The Slavs are believed to have pronounced that as w-ągri.

THE LOCATIVE CASE OF NAMES OF COUNTRIES

When talking of the three above-mentioned countries we should bear in mind that they all have a plural form in the Polish language, and that they take an unusual ending in the locative case. Mówimy o (we talk about), opowiadamy o (we tell about), mieszkamy (live), pracujemy (work), and studiujemy (study) w Niemczech, we Włoszech but na Węgrzech.

Here you can learn more on the Polish declensions

WHERE DID THE POLISH NAMES OF DAYS OF THE WEEK COME FROM?

WHAT DOES „WTÓRY“ MEAN AND WHAT DOES THE WEEK HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

 Unlike in many other languages, Polish names of the days of the week do not take their names after Greek or Roman gods, they do not really relate to religion, either, with two exceptions that will be discussed later on. Instead, their names are closely linked to the order in which they appear one after another in what we call a week. Perhaps that’s the reason why the students of Polish do not find it very difficult to memorise the names of weekdays.

CZWARTEK and PIĄTEK (Thursday and Friday) seem relatively easy to remember, as they are the fourth (czwarty) and the fifth (piąty) days of the week.

Actually, it’s also the case with the second day of the week, WTOREK (Tuesday), which takes its name after the ancient Proto-Slavic adjective „wtóry“, which means... second.

                                                                more on our fan page

It is just as easy to explain the meaning of the word ŚRODA (Wednesday), which comes from „środek“ (middle), so the middle day of the week. This is supposedly a  calque (loan translation) from German, in which Mittwoch means the central part of the week.

Another loanword is the word SOBOTA (Saturday), which is derived from the Hebrew word shabbath, that is the holy day of rest. The word remained in the Polish language despite the changes introduced by the church, one of which was making the seventh day of the week the most imporant one. In fact, it is the word NIEDZIELA (Sunday) that students ask most questions about in Polish classes. Where did that word come from?

WE DO NOT WORK ON SUNDAY (NIEDZIELA)

NIEDZIELA is derived from an ancient Proto-Slavic verb ne delati, which simply means... do not work, do not do anything, do not act. Since the Synod of Laodicea (in 364 AD), this very day (not Saturday) has been the day of rest, i.e. a holy day. Therefore, the first day of the week that follows niedziela is called PONIEDZIAŁEK (i.e. dzień po niedzieli – the day after niedziela).

DAYS OF THE WEEK AND GRAMMAR

When using the names of the days of the week the student needs to remember that they usually collocate with the following prepositions:
• „w“ (on) – and then we must use the accusative case, which is especially important in case of feminine forms, so we say w środę, w sobotę, w niedzielę;
• „do“ (to) and „od“ (from) – we have to use the genitive case here;
And do remember that the use of the word „tydzień“ (week) itself is not at all easy, as we say 2,3,4 tygodnie but 5,6,7 etc. tygodni (you can practise Polish declensions in here)

SZUKAM CIĘ or SZUKAM CIEBIE?

PERSONAL PRONOUNS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

Both Polish native speakers and learners of Polish as a foreign language make mistakes when using the personal pronouns. The foreigners who have already learnt to use the pronouns correctly get confused when they hear the Polish saying things like: „szukam ciebie“ (I’ve been looking for you), „potrzebuję ciebie“ (I need you), „pożyczyłem jemu“ (I’ve lent him) and so on. The Polish we’re talking about are not only your colleagues or people you meet in the street, unfortunately, also those who appear in the media. Having heard the native speakers say that, the students return to the classroom convinced that they must have misunderstood something the teacher had said. But no, there’s no misunderstanding here. The truth is that the Polish make those mistakes repeatedly. And the rule is fairly easy to follow.

POLISH GRAMMAR: COMMON DOUBTS

In some cases the personal pronouns take a few forms. Let’s take the genitive case, for instance. The pronoun „ty“ (you singular) used in the genitive case takes the forms ciebie/cię; „on“ (he) – niego/go/jego; „ona“ (she) – niej/jej. It’s almost the same story with the accusative case but for the forms of „ona, which are ją/nią in this case. In the dative case the pronoun „ja“ takes the forms mi/mnie, and „on“ – mu/niemu/jemu. All the abovementioned forms are correct, all you need to know is when to use them, i.e. in which structures they appear. Let’s take a look at some examples which are often given in Polish classes:

Czekam na niego już pół godziny  (I’ve been waiting for him for half an hour)
Lubię go  (I like him)
Znam go bardzo dobrze.  (I know him very well)
Marek? Marek? Moment… Jego nie znam. (Mare? Marek? Wait a minute... I don’t know him – literally: HIM I do not know)

Bez ciebie to nie ma sensu. (Without you there’s no point)
To dla ciebie. (This is for you)
Szukam cię. (I’ve been looking for you)
Potrzebuję cię. (I need you)
Ciebie?! Ciebie nie chcę znać! (You?! I don’t want to know YOU)

Długo mi dziękował. (He thanked me for a long time)
Mnie? O, nie! Mnie nikt nie dziękował. (Me? Oh, no! No one has thanked ME)
Dzięki mnie to zrobił. (He was able to do that thanks to me)

USING THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS: THE RULE

Do you get the rule? Yes! You’re right!
The short pronoun forms, such as mi-cię-go-ją etc. are used IMMEDIATELY after the verb. The long form, e.g. mnie-ciebie-niego-nią we use AFTER THE PREPOSITION („patrzę na ciebie“ – I’m looking at you; „czekam na ciebie“ – I’ve been waiting for you; „boję się o niego“ – I’m worried about him; „odpowiem za nich“ – I’ll answer for them). We also use them when we want to emphasize something: „Jego nie znam“ (I don’t know HIM), „Ją, w przeciwieństwie do Basi, bardzo polubiłam“ (HER, unlike Basia, I got to like a lot – the emphasis is on HER), „Mnie nikt o zgodę nie pytał!“ (No one has asked ME for permission!). In case of emphasis the pronoun is often put at the very beginning of the sentence.
Let’s not forget a few simple rules. It’s nicer to hear „Kocham cię“ (I love you) than „Kocham ciebie“, „Słuchałem cię z przyjemnością“ (I’ve been listening to you with pleasure) than „Słuchałem ciebie z przyjemnością“, „pożyczę mu ten samochód“ (I’ll lend him the car) than „pożyczę jemu ten samochód“, isn‘t it?

DZIĘKI CI – WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

>OK<, the students often say, >We have a sentence: „Jego nigdy nie polubię“ (I’ll never take a fancy to him), but what about „To jest jego żona“, where the pronoun is not used at the beginning of the sentence?< That’s true, but the pronoun used in the second sentence is the possessive pronoun, which is a completely different type.
Great. Then what about „Dzięki ci“? Isn’t that supposed to be „dzięki tobie“? Well, yes and no. „Dzięki tobie mogłem to zrobić“ (I was able to do that thanks to you, here „dzięki“ is a preposition in the dative case).
„Dzięki ci“ is a colloqial way of saying „dziękuję ci“, and the expression is a nonchalant and not really correct equivalent of the latter, which is commonly used, though.

But, as one of my students has wittily pointed out, there are circumstances in which we can use both versions. We can say“ „Czekam na niego“ (I’ve been waiting for HIM), but also „Czekam na go“. Only that the latter means something totally different, doesn’t it? :) [wordplay: na go (the wrong use of „go“ instead of „niego“) and nago (spelt as one word means „naked“, so we get the sentence meaning „I’m waiting, naked“ :)]

If you feel like practising the personal pronouns and not only, see: application Polish for Foreigners, also for Android, iOS and iPad