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.

INSTRUMENTAL, ONE OF THE MOST REGULAR CASES IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

POLISH LANGUAGE AND DECLENSION – INSEPARABLE?

In our recent posts (if you don’t remember them, look here and here) we have said that the declension is not as terrible and scary as it may seem. We have shown that many words do not inflect. However, whether we want it or not,  declension plays a vital role in the Polish language and not only foreigners should get familiar with it if they want to speak correctly.

Today we would like to show you the instrumetal case in a nutshell J

It’s the most regular of the cases, very commonly used, so it appears quite early in courses of Polish as a foreign language.

POLISH INSTRUMENTAL CASE WITHOUT PREPOSITIONS

We use it when we want to say what our job is. We say: jestem nauczycielką, a on jest policjantem. Instrumental is also useful when we mention the functions (professional, in the society, etc.) people perform: ten pan jest nowym sąsiadem (this man is a new neighbour), ta pani jest moją matką (this lady is my mother), ten chłopiec jest moim dzieckiem (this boy is my child), a ci panowie są kierownikami działów (these men are department heads). As the name suggests, the instrumental case describes a tool, an instrument, which we use to perform a task, do a job, therefore we say: wyślę ci to mailem (I’ll sent it to you by email), naprawiłem młotkiem (I’ve repaired it with a hammer), strażacy ugasili pożar wodą (the firefighters put out the fire with water).

Thanks to the instrumental case we don’t need to bother about prepositions when we tell someone what means of transport we use, because we say jedziemy autobusem, taksówką, tramwajem, metrem...

If you want to practise declension, not only the instrumental case, check out our FB profile

 PREPOSITION IS NOT ALIEN TO THE INSTRUMENTAL CASE

It does not mean, however, that the fifth case is not used with prepositions. Most of the time it combines with pod, z, nad, przed, za and między. When we’re doing something together with another person it’s the instrumental case that we need to use: idę z koleżanką, bawię się z dzieckiem, spotykam się z kolegami. Analogously, we use instrumental to emphasize that that something occurs together with something else: jem ciasto z owocami, lody z bitą śmietanę i piję kawę z mlekiem (I’m eating fruit pie, ice cream with whipped cream and drinking coffee with milk).

If we use pod, nad, przed, za and między to determine location of objects, we’ll need to use the instrumental case, too: jestem nad morzem, rzeką, jeziorem, leżę pod drzewami, parasolem (I’m at the seaside, river, lake, I’m lying under the trees, umbrella), and in my house lampa wisi nad stołem (the lamp is above the table), pies leży pod stołem (the dog is lying under the table), za stołem stoi krzesło (the chair is behind the table), między krzesłem a fotelem siedzi mój kot (my cat is sitting between the chair and the airmchair). J

DECLENSION

As you have probably noticed, the instrumental case has very regular endings: feminine nouns end in –ą, the masculine and neuter ones end in –em, and the plural forms end in –ami. You’ll probably ask whether there are any exceptions and won’t be surprised to hear that there are. But you’ll definitely be surprised by the small number of irregular instrumental forms, and you’ll memorise them easily: idę z przyjaciółmi, z dziećmi, i ludźmi, a w kieszeni mam portfel z pieniędzmi (I’m going with friends, children, people, and I have a wallet with money in my pocket).

We hope that after reading this post you’ll warm to the instrumental case .

PROVERBS, OR A LESSON IN OPTIMISM FROM POLAND

POLISH PROVERBS
Proverbs are generally believed to be the wisdom of nations. Therefore, when they appear in lessons of Polish as a foreign language students learn much more than just their meanings. Not only do proverbs allow us to learn the language, its conjugations and declensions, but also the customs, culture and even... about the vagaries of the weather :)

POLISH PROVERBS ABOUT THE WEATHER 
Polish proverbs are no exception. We already mentioned one of them in our post of 26th February (W marcu jak w garncu literally: March is like a pot; similar to the English proverb: March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb). Another common proverb is Kwiecień plecień, co przeplata: trochę zimy, trochę lata (April the weaver, because interweaves a little bit of winter with a little bit of summer). It perfectly describes the changeable April weater, with beautiful summer sun on one day and snow on the following day.
There is one more popular saying referring to the climate: Idzie luty, szykuj buty (February is coming, get your shoes ready). It reminds us that the second month of the year is cold and severe (if you want to learn about the etymology of the names of the months in Polish, check out our post of 9th Sempember), so you should prepare the proper clothes and shoes so as not to catch a cold or fall ill.

                                      Proverbs allow (not only foreigners) to get to know Polish customs

WISDOM OF POLISH PROVERBS
Naturally, there are lots of proverbs that do not refer to the weather at all. Many foreigners must have heard their Polish colleagues say when in trouble: Co cię nie zabije, to cię wzmocni (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger). These words give you hope that even the most serious problems may teach you a valuable lesson and broaden your experience. The proverb Nie ma tego złego, co by na dobre nie wyszło (Every cloud has a silver lining) has a similar meaning.
It is worth mentioning that there are many optimistic proverbs in Polish. Take Dla chcącego nie ma nic trudnego (Where there is a will there’s a way), for instance, which tells us that everyone who is motivated, ambitious and eager to work will definitely reach their goals.
Kuj żelazo póki gorące (Strike while the iron is hot) encourages us to act and take advantage of the situation. So, if you would like to learn more secrets of the Polish language, then strike while the iron is hot and enroll in a language course (more on courses here) or check out our FB profile.

WRITING EMAILS IN POLISH. PART 2: INFORMAL AND SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

INFORMAL GREETINGS IN POLISH EMAILS

Informal correspondence in Polish seems to be much less stressful for the students of Polish as a foreign language than generating formail emails (more on formal correspondence in our entry of 4th February). When writing to a friend you can use any greeting you like. In an opening phrase there may appear forms that are common for verbal communication: Cześć – Hej – Sie ma (very colloquial!) – Witaj (we have mentioned this controversial greeting in part 1 of our series on email correspondence)  or a simple Dzień dobry. If we’re writing to someone close to us we may, or even should, use forms like Kochany, Kochana, Kochani (literally: darling, beloved one(s)). The adjectives Drogi, Droga, Drodzy, Drogie are just as common. However, in the context of correspondence, those adjectives CAN’T BE translated as the English Dear or the French Cher(e). We can write Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Drodzy Koledzy, but not Drogi Panie Dyrektorze (check out our entry of 4th Feb to find out what form we use in this case).

VOCATIVE CASE IN CORRESPONDENCE: TO USE OR NOT TO USE?

When talking about the greetings, the discussion always returns to the vocative case, which has been slowly disappearing from the Polish language. An example of that is the situation when we put recipient’s name in the opening phrase. Accordingly, we should write Cześć Aniu, Marku, Tomku, Kasiu, but these days the nominative case is used more and more often and we make forms, such as Cześć Ania, Marek, Tomek, Kasia. Informal correspondence is governed by less restrictive rules than the formal one, but the use of the vocative case is advised not only  for the sake of accuracy, but also to express our emotional attitude towards the recipient. The form Cześć Aniu sounds more intimate and warmer than Cześć Ania. Interestingly, if we decide on the greeting with the adjective Droga/Drogi or Kochany/Kochana, the only  possible form is the vocative one (Droga Aniu, Drogi Marku, Kochana Kasiu), the use of any other form is a glaring error.

SEMI-FORMAL GREETINGS

The Polish language is sometimes so formalised that it becomes hard to use even for the native Polish speakers. For this reason, in cases where we cannot be on first name terms with someone, either because of cultural or professional circumstances, the semi-formal forms come in handy. The students of Polish frequently ask what forms like Pani Aniu, Panie Marku mean, and what degree of intimacy they refer to. Most foreigners find such a collocation shocking and unacceptable in their native languages (e.g. in the German language). Meanwhile, such forms of address, common in the Polish culture, help to avoid numerous obstacles and longueurs of the formal language. Remember, however, that you need to know a person at least a little and be peers in the hierarchy of a company or organization. When we start an email with a semi-formal greeting, we can write Pani Aniu, Panie Marku, but DO NOT collocate those forms with Szanowny/Szanowna (literally: honorable). The only acceptable option is Szanowny Panie, Szanowna Pani.

Next part of our series on writing emails in Polish will follow soon, in the meantime check out our FB profile. The information you can find there will help you to learn more than how to write emails in Polish.

MINISTROWIE or MINISTRY? STRUGGLING WITH THE PLURAL FORM OF MASCULINE PERSONAL NOUNS

TWO PLURAL FORMS IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE 

What is the plural form of the noun minister?  This question is asked by many foreigners attening courses of Polish as a foreign language.
In principle, the plural form in Polish is regular, but... There is a but. There are two forms of plural in the Polish grammar, for non-masculine personal and masculine personal nouns. The former are regular in most cases: koleżanka, but dwie koleżanki, kot but dwa koty, piwo, but dwa piwa, fotel, but dwa fotele etc. The latter cause more problems. Should we say profesorowie or profesory, dziadowie or dziady? Polish people use both forms, which makes things even more complicated. Let’s look into that to answer the questions which of the forms is the correct one.

NEUTRAL AND DEPRECIATIVE FORMS OF NOUNS

Interestingly, in theory, every masculine personal noun in the nominative and vocative case of the plural form may take both above-mentioned forms. However, the ones that take the same form as the non-masculine personal nouns, are of depreciative kind. They are potentially possible, but rarely in use. Several of them, however, are in quite frequent use, e.g. profesory, policjanty, ministry. They express a great deal of negative emotions. Therefore, if we want to emphasise our respect for the ministers, we should say dobrzy ministrowie. We should use the personal masculine form of the adjective in the plural form accordlingly. However, if we want to make sure your listeners or interlocutors understand that you believe the people in question do not deserve to be in the position, you’ll use the form ministry, and the adjective will take the non-masculine personal form.
It’s woth noting that only some nouns take a different ending to distinguish the negative meaning form the neutral one (the above-mentioned ministrowie, but also dziadowie meaning ancestors, and dziady meaning beggars, the poor). In most cases it is the adjective or the verb (you can find the right forms of verbs on websites with conjugations) that „does the trick“, and that’s why we can say both: to byli znani burżuje and to były znane burżuje.
Let’s not forget that these forms are common for the spoken language, and should be avoided in the correct Polish language.

POLISH AND THE SLAVIC LANGUAGES

The plural form of nouns is quite hard for the Slavs, who try to make the plural forms based on the rules of their native languages. For them, the words like Polaki or Francuzy sound neutral, while for the Poles they sound offensive, since the correct forms are Polacy and Francuzi. Therefore, you’d better make sure by asking the teacher or look the form up in a dictionary. If you want to know more about the Polish language, check it out here.

BASIC VERBS OF MOTION IN THE POLISH LANGUAGE

PROBLEMS WITH THE VERBS OF MOTION

„Chodzę na zakupy“ or „Idę na zakupy“? „Jeżdżę na wakacje“ or „Jadę na wakacje“? All the forms are correct. Why then do so many foreigners find it difficult to use these verbs? And why is it so hard for the Polish (and many teachers of Polish as a foreign language)  to explain the specific nature of this grammatical issue? The only ones that don’t have difficulty using the verbs iść - chodzić - jeździć - jechać are the Slavic students. They have the same kind of verbs in their languages. However, we need to bear in mind that e.g. the Slovaks use the verbs „chodzić“ and „iść“ in the sense of „jechać“, „jeździć“, „podróżować“ (to travel) and therefore we can hear them say „ist‘ vlakom“, „ist‘ na bicykli“. Despite the minor differences it can be said that in general the Slavic students do not have difficulty using the verbs of motion as do the other foreign students. Because how to explain that there are two verbs that mean „to go“ in the Polish language?

COMMON MISTAKE BY TEACHERS OF POLISH

Unfortunately, many teachers, following the coursebooks of Polish as a foreign language, introduce all the four verbs in one lesson. As a result, the students confuse not only their meaning but also make mistakes conjugating them and make sentences like „jecham rowerem“, „idą do Kreta“, „dzisiaj chodzę do sklepu“. How to straigthen that out? It’s really easy. First, we need to realise that one of the verbs refers to using means if transport (jechać), while the other one implies walking, going on foot (iść). After we have practised using and conjugating them, we can introduce the verbs chodzić – jeździć in one of the following lessons. They’re useful especially when talking about one’s hobbies („Lubię chodzić do kina“ – I like going to the cinema, „Lubię jeździć na rowerze“ – I like riding a bike).

A QUESTION FREQUENTLY ASKED IN POLISH CLASS

OK, but what’s the difference between iść and chodzić, jechać and jeździć? Without using complex grammatical terms? Well, the verbs iść and jechać refer to ONE-TIME actions and are used with time expressions such as jutro (tomorrow), dzisiaj (today), w ten piątek (this Friday) or with specific dates. The verbs chodzić and jeździć describe REPEATED, habitual actions and therefore we use them with expressions like często (often), zawsze (always), od czasu do czasu (from time to time), raz na rok (once a year), nigdy nie (sic! never) etc.
Afterwards we should practise the use of the verbs by doing exercises, paying particular attention to the conjugation of the verbs jeździć and jechać. The similarities!

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HOW TO PREPARE A GOOD LESSON OF POLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE? PART 2.

A GOOD POLISH LESSON. WHAT SHOULD IT BE LIKE?

100% (or almost 100%) IN POLISH!
Speak Polish! Kind of obvious, but... If you speak English or any other language for most of the lesson, it’s YOU who practises their language skills, not your students. There’s a common misconception about teaching Polish: when teaching a group of beginners it isn’t possible to use Polish only, especially during the first few lessons. Well, it IS possible! Obviously, you need to simplify the language register a lot, use your body language and visual aids, and first of all, you need to adapt the material to the specific moment of the course or lesson. Clearly, you are not going to start the first class (beginner course) with the past tense, but with introductions and alphabet, and the phrase „Co słychać?“ (How’s it going?) you’re likely to introduce at the beginning rather than the end of the lesson.

THE STRUCTURE OF A LESSON
Remember about the structure of your lesson. No matter how long the Polish lesson is, your student should go through the following stages: warm-up – review of the last lesson – introduction of new material – drilling new material – student’s performance – summary. Remember about the margin of error for your students, do not correct every single mistake that lower level students make. The less advanced the student, the larger the margin of error is acceptable.
When introducing grammar, remember: first an example, which you analyse, and then the rule (never the other way round). For homework your students can practise grammar in a fun way: application Polish for Foreigners (available also on iOS, iPAD and Windows).
Better to do less but properly, than more but just whiz through it. If you provide students with too much material during a lesson, they won’t memorize it all anyway.

YOUR STUDENTS
Listen to your students, pay attention to their verbal and non-verbal signals, find out what they’re interested in, ask them questions (without invading their privacy) and remember that being a Polish teacher you often meet people of different cultural background, confession or having values different from yours. Respect that!

                                     

One of the pictures you can find on our facebook page PoPolskuPFP. What grammatical problem does it help to explain?