My recent foray into the blog world has caused me to be filled with admiration for you bloggers out there that are able to maintain their blogs with regularity. The thing that makes me glad is that, given my level of Polish, I am not going to run out of material worth writing about any time soon. The flip side is that, given my level, coming up with examples and explanations of this stuff is 1) exhausting and difficult, and 2) takes forever. I left off last post with a hint that I would post some examples using the basic verbs of motion I introduced last time. Here they are:
Iść: (to go on foot)
- Już idę do domu. (Now I am going home.) - on foot
- W piątek, idziemy na imprezę w centrum. (On Friday we are going to a party downtown.) In this case we are not strictly going on foot - we will probably take a tram, but we choose 'iść' because if we use jechać people will think we are traveling much further.
Chodzić: (to go on foot - regularly or frequently)
- Zawsze chodzę na lekcje wcześnie. (I always go to my classes early.)
- Rzadko chodzą do Włoskiej restauracji. (They rarely go to the Italian restaurant)
Jechać: (good for wheeled transport)
- Jadę do Gdańska na spotkanie w weekend. (I am going to Gdańsk on the weekend.)
- Jedziesz ze Stanisławem do Zakopanego na Święta? (Are you going with Stanisław to Zakopane for Chritsmas?)
Jeżdzi: (wheeled transport - regularly or frequently)
- Często jeżdzę do Sopotu z Piotrem, ale wolę jeżdzić z psem. (I often travel to Sopot with Piotr, but I would rather travel with a dog.)
- Weronika jeździ do Otwocka na zupę i kanapki dwa razy w miesiącu. (Weronika goes to Otwock for soup and sandwiches twice a month.)
Examples with pójść and pojechać coming. . . This is a slow process for me! My recent revelation was that by right clicking in the 'compose post' window, I can select a language from the list for the spell checker to use. Spell check in Polish and English! Great! Apparently this works in my Firefox wherever I am on the internet, but I hadn't noticed until now. The number of words in a Polish spell check dictionary must be immense (more than English, surely?) with all the possible endings/przypadki.
I'm not sure what you mean by "Zawsze chodzę na lekcje wcześnie. (I always go to my classes early.)" And English translation doesn't make it easier for me ;-).
OdpowiedzUsuńThanks - I guess this sentence requires improvement. What I mean is that I always show up early for my classes. Maybe it didn't make sense because it's not the literal truth :). So, I am looking now how to correctly say in Polish that I always show up to my classes early, whether it is true or not!
OdpowiedzUsuńZawsze przychodzę na lekcje (trochę) wcześniej (niż trzeba) [you're there ahead of scheduled time].
OdpowiedzUsuńZawsze przychodzę na lekcje (bardzo) wcześnie (rano) (it would suggest that you always start your classes in the morning).
Or even I would say:
Zawszę przychodzę na lekcje przed czasem [no confusion or doubt about the meaning :D]
*Zawsze
OdpowiedzUsuńI'm confused now. I don't know whether "Zawsze przychodzę na lekcje (bardzo) wcześnie (rano)" is correct. Sounds a bit odd.
OdpowiedzUsuńSorry for a mess (and spam too).
No mess, no spam - all feedback greatly appreciated! I think the best, from your ideas and those of my interlocutor is: Zawsze chodzę na lekcje wcześniej.
OdpowiedzUsuńThe good thing about the comments, and thinking about if they work or not: I'm learning! Maybe someone else out there is too.
That's the thing about translation - it seems like the longer you try to play with getting it right the more frustrating it gets. Most importantly though, I should say that I'm less trying to make accurate translations and mostly trying to write natural (enough) sounding polish sentences using the examples verbs with proper grammar. Really the English translations are just for my English speaking readers. Like my parents, for example.