Polish, like any language, has its peculiarities. Some make learning fun, others \u2013 let\u2019s say \u2013 interesting. Here\u2019s a small selection of linguistic features that often surprise learners. <\/p>\n\n
For native German speakers, it\u2019s perfectly normal to say: Those learning Polish then quite logically try to say: A Pole who hears that thinks: Why is this person stressing so much that they are reading? And why \u201cyour\u201d hands \u2013 whose else? <\/p>\n\n In Polish, you simply say: Personal pronouns like ja, ty, on and so on are usually omitted in Polish \u2013 unless you want to emphasize something specifically. The verb ending already shows who is meant. <\/p>\n\n Mieszkam w Berlinie<\/strong> \u2013 I live in Berlin. The same goes for other forms: The instrumental case is something that doesn\u2019t exist in German. Many learners say, \u201cYou can get along just fine without it!\u201d Personally, I love it \u2013 why? It saves you from using lots of prepositions like mit, durch, f\u00fcr<\/em>, etc. In Polish, the noun is simply inflected \u2013 no extra word needed! <\/p>\n\n Example:<\/strong> But many still say: So when do you use this case?<\/strong> However, the instrumental case also appears in other situations, for example: Why the instrumental is used here? No idea. We Poles collectively apologize for that. <\/p>\n\n A sensitive topic \u2013 also linguistically. In Polish grammar, the masculine gender is a real VIP. <\/p>\n\n In the singular, Polish distinguishes between animate and inanimate masculine nouns \u2013 they are declined differently. For male persons, there\u2019s a separate plural system \u2013 with its own endings, question words, numerals, demonstratives, and verb forms.<\/p>\n\n Examples: With things or animals, it\u2019s different: And what about angels? So are two angels: The same applies, for example, to orki \/ orkowie<\/strong> \u2013 depending on whether you see orcs as more human-like or as animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Polish is full of quirks that can make learners either smile or despair. Why don\u2019t you need to say \u201cI\u201d when speaking? Why doesn\u2019t the bus go \u201cwith\u201d? And do angels actually count as men? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-the-language"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/po-polsku.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Ich lese ein Buch.<\/strong>
Wasch dir die H\u00e4nde!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Ja czytam ksi\u0105\u017ck\u0119.<\/strong>
Umyj tobie r\u0119ce!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
Czytam ksi\u0105\u017ck\u0119.<\/strong>
Umyj r\u0119ce!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
The -m<\/strong> at the end clearly indicates \u201cI.\u201d No other person uses this ending.
So: no need for ja \u2013 unless you want to emphasize, \u201cI live in Berlin (and not someone else)!\u201d <\/p>\n\n
(ty)<\/em> mieszkasz, (my)<\/em> mieszkamy, (wy)<\/em> mieszkacie \u2013 here too, the verb alone is usually enough.<\/p>\n\n
2. Narz\u0119dnik \u2013 the instrumental case<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
Jad\u0119 autobusem.<\/strong>
Just add -em<\/strong> at the end \u2013 and it already means: \u201cI\u2019m going by bus.\u201d No z (= \u201cwith\u201d) needed. <\/p>\n\n
Jad\u0119 z autobusem.<\/strong>
To Polish ears, that sounds as if the bus itself were riding along. In fact, the inflection alone is enough. <\/p>\n\n
Whenever you indicate with what or by what means something happens:
Jad\u0119 autobusem.<\/strong> \u2013 With what? With the bus.
Latin learners might remember: this corresponds to the ablativus instrumentalis<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
Interesuj\u0119 si\u0119 sportem.<\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019m interested in sports. No \u201cf\u00fcr\u201d needed \u2013 the word sport<\/em> is simply inflected. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
Jestem Polk\u0105. Jestem aktorem. <\/strong> \u2013 I\u2019m Polish. I\u2019m an actor. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
3. Gender \u2013 the male plural privilege<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
In the plural, the world is divided into two broad categories: <\/p>\n\n\n
Jeden syn \u2013 one son
Dwaj synowie \u2013 two sons<\/p>\n\n
Jeden chleb, jeden pingwin
Dwa chleby, dwa pingwiny<\/p>\n\n
Anio\u0142 <\/strong>\u2013 is that a male being or rather a spiritual entity?<\/p>\n\n
Dwaj anio\u0142owie<\/strong> or dwa anio\u0142y<\/strong>?
Both are correct.<\/p>\n\n