Bits of Polish » accusative

Days of the week

Alicja — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:24:54 +0000

After learning the names of the months last time, it’s time for the days of the week. In the example sentences, they appear in their Accusative singular forms – that’s the form you use to talk about on which day something happens. Yes, it’s different from the Locative form used with months, and no, there’s no sensible rationale behind this. None that an average speaker knows of.

Notice that the days of the week, unlike in English, are not capitalized!

You’ll also notice that in the phrase we wtorek, the preposition w gets an extra letter. Why? Well, try to pronounce *w wtorek… There are two other instances where some speakers will add an e to the preposition: we środę and we czwartek. These forms appear probably as frequently as their equivalents with w, and are just as correct. So you can pick and choose ;)

poniedziałek – Monday
W poniedziałek mam ważne spotkanie.
On Monday I have an important meeting.

wtorek – Tuesday
We wtorek idę do kina.
On Tuesday I’m going to the cinema.

środa – Wednesday
W środę muszę wykąpać kota.
On Wednesday I have to bathe the cat.

czwartek – Thursday
W czwartek idę na zakupy.
On Thursday I go shopping.

piątek – Friday
W piątek czytam cały wieczór.
On Friday I read the whole evening.

sobota – Saturday
W sobotę uczę się polskiego.
On Saturday I study Polish.

niedziela – Sunday
W niedzielę odpoczywam.
On Sunday I rest.

10 things you can have in Polish

Alicja — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:48:35 +0000

The verb mieć – to have – has a number of idiomatic uses. Even a beginner should get familiar with at least some of them, since they’re very common, and, to make matters worse, they often don’t translate literally. Translating things literally can have disastrous consequences. Believe me, you don’t want to ask a Polish woman for her age by doing a word-to-word translation of the English “how old are you?”; in Polish the word for old – stary – feels much more negative than in English, and suggesting a woman she might be stara only works for you if you’re suicidal. Doing it the Polish way, you simply ask her how many years she has.

Even though you should know better than to ask about such matters in the first place.

1. mieć ochotę – to feel like

If you want to say you feel like doing something, you use the infinitive form of the verb:

Mam ochotę uczyć się gramatyki.

I feel like studying grammar.

Nie mam ochoty napić się wódki.

I don’t feel like drinking vodka.

If you feel like having something – a noun – you add the preposition na and put the noun in the Accusative case:

Mam ochotę na wódkę.

I feel like having some vodka.

Nie mam ochoty na papierosa.

I don’t feel like having a cigarette.

2. mieć sens – to make sense

Bez ciebie moje życie nie ma sensu.

Without you my life doesn’t make sense.

Twoje rozwiązanie nie ma sensu.

Your solution doesn’t make sense.

3. mieć na imię – to be called (first name); mieć na nazwisko – surname

Jak masz na imię?

What’s your first name?

Jak masz na nazwisko?

What’s your surname?

Mam na imię Piotr, a na nazwisko Kowalski.

My first name is Piotr, and my surname Kowalski.

4. mieć coś na oku – to have your eye on something

Mam na oku kilka ładnych biustonoszy, ale nie wiem, który wybrać.

I have my eye on a few pretty bras, but I don’t know which to choose.

Słyszałem, że chcesz kupić mieszkanie – masz już coś na oku?

I’ve heard you want to buy an apartment – do you already have your eye on something?

5. mieć coś na myśli - to have something in mind, to mean

Co masz na myśli?

What do you mean?

Gdy mówię o leniwych ludziach, mam na myśli was.

When I speak of lazy people, I have you in mind.

6. mieć coś na sobie – to be wearing something

Mam na sobie czarną kurtkę.

I’m wearing a black jacket.

Kobieta miała na sobie płaszcz z norek.

The woman was wearing a mink coat.

7. mieć X lat / miesięcy – to be X years / months old

Moja córka ma dwa lata i pięć miesięcy.

My daughter is two years and five months old.

Ten budynek ma prawie dwieście lat.

This building is almost two hundred years old.

8. mieć znaczenie – to be of importance, to matter

Ten problem ma dla nas duże znaczenie.

This problem is of great importance for us.

Nie ma znaczenia czy jesteś bogaty, czy biedny.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor.

9. mieć rację – to be right

Wiem, że mam rację.

I know I’m right.

Uważamy, że nie masz racji.

We think that you’re not right.

10. mieć nadzieję – to hope

Note that there is no verb equivalent to the English ‘to hope’, so you always have to use this construction. It has two variants. It can be followed by a subordinate clause:

Mam nadzieję, że przestanie padać.

I hope that it will stop raining.

Mam nadzieję, że polska gramatyka okaże się łatwa.

I hope that the Polish grammar will turn out easy.

Mamy nadzieję, że woda nie była zatruta.

We hope that the water wasn’t poisoned.

Or you can say that you hope for something. Then you add the preposition na, followed by the noun in the Accusative case:

Mamy nadzieję na deszcz.

We hope for rain.

Mam nadzieję na dobry wynik.

I hope for a good result.

Mamy nadzieję na szczęśliwe zakończenie.

We hope for a happy end.

To have or not to have?

Alicja — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:37:47 +0000

The verb mieć – to have – is more tricky than it seems. You probably already know that you have to inflect the noun following it – your direct object – since it would be a shame if the richness of Polish cases went to waste. The case used, however, will differ depending on whether your statement is a positive or a negative one.

If you do have something, you put the noun in the Accusative case. Now, remember that Polish inflects pretty much everything, so if you adorn your noun with any modifiers – adjectives, possesive pronouns or numerals, for example – you put them in the Accusative as well. Together with the noun, these extras constitute a noun phrase, and should be treated equally – in the fancy linguistic jargon it’s called agreement. Easy, right?

To jest książka.

This is a book. Nominative case, so that you can see the basic form of the noun.

Mam książkę.

I have a book. Accusative case.

To jest twoja nowa, interesująca książka.

This is your new, interesting book. Nominative case.

Mam twoją nową, interesującą książkę.

I have your new, interesting book. Accusative case.

Note how the modifiers – even the prounoun twoja – have changed. It’s not every day you encounter a language which does that to pronouns.

What about not having something? The same general rule applies, but you’ll use another case – the Genitive. Don’t ask why. Just inflect your noun phrase accordingly.

Nie mam książki.

I don’t have a book. Genitive case.

Nie mam twojej nowej, interesującej książki.

I don’t have your new, interesting book. Genitive case.

Now, this distinction between the two cases, the Accusative and the Genitive, is something you’ll encounter very often. In short, if in a positive statement the object takes the Accusative, in a negative statement it takes the Genitive:

Piszę książkę.

I’m writing a book.

Nie piszę książki.

I’m not writing a book.

Lubię tę stronę.

I like this site.

Nie lubię tej strony.

I don’t like this site.

Czytam ten nowy, gruby, polski słownik.

I’m reading this new, thick Polish dictionary.

Nie czytam tego nowego, grubego, polskiego słownika.

I’m not reading this new, thick Polish dictionary.

Lubimy polską gramatykę i ortografię.

We like Polish grammar and orthography.

Nie lubimy polskiej gramatyki i ortografii.

We don’t like Polish grammar and orthography.

The correct answer to the question in the title is, obviously: it depends on which grammatical case you’re more comfortable using.