ABOUT MONEY IN POLISH

PIENIĄDZE, KASA, FORSA... OR WORDS FOR „MONEY“ IN POLISH

Today we want to talk about money (o pieniądzach – locative). As you know, money (pieniądze nominative, plural in Polish) doesn‘t bring hapiness but it’s better to mieć pieniądze (accusative; have money) than nie mieć pieniędzy (genitive; not to have money), because z pieniędzmi (instrumental; with money) in your pocket life is easier. Let’s take a closer look at Polish money (przyjrzyjmy się pieniądzom – dative).

In your Polish class (check here if you’re looking for interesting Polish courses) you will definitely learn that the word pieniądze is most often used in plural. Well, who wouldn’t prefer to have them in a larger amount ;-) Naturally, the singular form pieniądz exists, but it’s used much less frequently.

Money has many names in spoken language, and both native Polish users and foreigners learning Polish know very well how creative Polish may be and how many terms it may create to name one object. In slang pieniądze may be referred to as kasa, forsa, szmal or even sałata (literally: lettuce) or kapusta (literally: cabbage).

ZA ZŁOTÓWKĘ (for a zloty) – ON POLISH CURRENCY

Polish currency is, of course, złoty. A one-zloty coin is commonly known as złotówka and if something costs 1zl, we say that it kosztuje złotówkę. Money may be used in form of gotówka (cash), which means monety (coins) commonly known as drobniaki (small change), or banknoty (banknotes), or in form of karty płatnicze, debetowe and kredytowe (payment, debit and credit cards), informally called plastik. We can płacić 

gotówką, i.e. pay in cash,

or płacić kartą, i.e. pay by card
(check our fb page for more interesting facts about the Polish language).

In order to get some cash you may use a bankomat (ATM) to wypłacić (withdraw) or simply wziąć (take) it from your konto bankowe (bank account). Then we can wydawać (spend) the money. And if you are oszczędny (thrifty), you can put the money in your current account or lokata (deposit account) and then you oszczędzasz (save) it. Thanks to that in some time you will be able to look at your wyciąg bankowy (bank statement) and say with a smile: Oh, moje pieniądze (my money – vocative)!

COLOURS IN POLISH IDIOMS

GREEN LIGHT TO LEARNING POLISH :)

Since it’s grey, bleak and gloomy outside and it gets everyone down, we propose focusing on  colours today. Naturally, colours is the topic that puts students into a good mood as it’s easy, pleasant and useful. Colours appear in classes (more on Polish courses here) as parts of idiomatic expressions, which is another favourite subject of everyone, not only foreigners studying Polish.
The ‘hero’ of today’s entry is the colour we all probably miss most these days: zielony (green).

FOR A START, ON THE NEGATIVE SIDE OF ZIELONY IN POLISH

You can zzielenieć ze złości  (literally: get green with anger) or z zazdrości (with envy), which means show extreme anger or envy. And if one of our acquaintances ma zielono w głowie (literally: has green in their head; is empty-headed, is an airhead), then they are careless and, unfortunately, irresponsible. A novice in any kind of business or activity is usually zielony (green) or nie ma zielonego pojęcia (has no clue/absolutely no idea; literally: has no green clue) what is to be done or what to do, so has no knowledge of the topic and is simply inexperienced and often young.
If someone has lost their job, we can say that they have been wysłany na zieloną trawkę (literally: sent to green grass/pasture).

Here are zielone płuca miasta – green lungs of the city. Check out our FB page
for more idioms and interesting facts about the Polish language

FINALLY, ON THE POSITIVE SIDE OF ZIELONY IN POLISH

When new opportunities come up and we have been given a chance to put our plans or projects into practice, that means that someone zapalił/ dał zielone światło (lit/gave us the green light). Drivers may be interested to know that zielona fala (literally: green wave) refers to a situation when we can drive through a few consecutive crossroads without stopping because you there is green light every time, a phenomenon welcome by those stuck in the morning traffic jams. Zielone płuca (green lungs), i.e. forests and parks full of plants, provide healthier environment and make us feel better. And let’s not forget about zielone ludziki  (little green men), aliens whose skin is supposed to be green.