Learn a Polish Phrase per Week

No problem! - Learn 10 ways of being helpful in Polish. September 27 2015, 0 Comments

Are you one of those people who are always eager to help? Great! The following phrases can help you to be helpful in Polish:

Nie ma sprawy and Nie ma problemu can be used interchangeably as they both mean the same thing - No problem/No big deal/That's fine.

Check out these mini dialogues:

A: Czy mogę pożyczyć twój samochód? (Can I borrow your car?)

B: Nie ma sprawy! (That's fine)

A: Czy możesz mi pomóc z remontem? (Can you help me with the renovation)?

B: Nie ma problemu! (No problem)

or

B: Oczywiście! (Of course) is also the one that can be used here.

Here are some more worth memorising, all meaning That's no trouble/No problem:

To żaden kłopot.

To nie kłopot.

To nie problem.

A: Czy mógłbyś mnie jutro zastąpić? (Could you [speaking to a man, informally] substitute for me tomorrow?)

B: Pewnie! To żaden kłopot. (Sure thing! That's no trouble)

When someone apologises to you for something, simply say

Nic nie szkodzi. (No worries/Not at all)

or, in an informal situation, respond by saying

Nie ma sprawy (No problem)

as in this example:

A: Nie mogłam wcześniej oddzwonić. Przepraszam. (I couldn't [a woman speaking] call you back sooner. I'm sorry).

B: Nic nie szkodzi. (Not at all)


False friends - the Polish "no" means many things... September 20 2015, 2 Comments

Useful Polish phrases with audio. 

When you listen to Polish people speaking Polish in an informal situation, you will hear the word no on many occasions. To your confusion, it has not much to do with the negative word no in English. On the contrary, it's a colloquial expression for tak meaning yes. When Poles agree, they nod their head and say no. Check out this short dialogue:

 

A: Czy to prawda, że znów chcesz kupić nowy samochód? (Is it true that you want to buy a new car, again?)

B: No! Czas na zmianę. (Yes! It's time for a change)

The same word works when forming questions:

A: Mam pytanie (I have a question) says one person

B: No? (Yes?/Well, what is it?) replies the other person with a rising intonation.

When you're unsure about something, use no:

No, nie jestem pewny/pewna. (Well, I'm not sure [man/woman speaking])

No, nie wiem. (Well, I don't know)

There is no better way to express how much you appreciate your future mother-in-law's cooking than by saying:

No, to jest wyśmienite! (Well, this is absolutely delicious!)

When someone is telling a very interesting story and you simply can't wait for them to get to the end, you can rush them politely:

No, no i co dalej? (Well, come on, what happened next?)

No is also used to emphasise an order:

Chodź no tutaj! (Come here!)

Or to express a warning:

No, ale bez żartów! (Don't you dare play any jokes!)

And finally, it expresses finality:

No to cześć! (Goodbye then!)

No to do następnego tygodnia! (Till next week then!)


How to say ... in Polish? September 12 2015, 1 Comment

Useful Polish phrases with audio.

No matter how quickly you can pick up a language, the how do you say... question will be the one you're going to need on many occasions, and on all levels of fluency.

Here is how you do it in Polish:

Jak powiedzieć po polsku ...?

Jak się mówi ...?

for example: 

Jak powiedzieć po polsku smile
How do you say smile in Polish?

Jak się mówi I like you?
How to say I like you?

When something a Polish person has just said is not so clear you can use a phrase I teach my students on the very first Polish lesson:

Co to znaczy? 
What does it mean?

or

Co to znaczy ... ?

where the three dots ... stand for any word or any phrase you want to know the meaning for. For instance you can say the following:

Co to znaczy kocham cię

What does kocham cię mean? (which by the way means I love you)

In case you haven't got a clue what someone is saying, try this one:

 

Nie rozumiem 
I don't understand.

Przepraszam, nie rozumiem 
I am sorry, I don't understand

You can ask them to rephrase:

Czy możesz to powiedzieć inaczej? (informally)

Proszę to powiedzieć inaczej. (formally)

You can always excuse your Polish by saying the following: 

Dopiero się uczę polskiego.

Literally: I'm only learning Polish

Słabo mówię po polsku.

I speak Polish not so well/(literally: poorly)

Nie znam dobrze polskiego.

I don't speak [literally: know] Polish well

Having said that you will be surely assured of how great your Polish is.

Which in fact is very true :) 


I love you in Polish - learn 7 ways of expressing your love in Polish September 03 2015, 0 Comments

Useful Polish phrases with audio, to express your love. 

You've met the one to be and want to tell her or him that you love them. In Polish, of course. I hope you find the following phrases good enough to express your deep feelings (you can use them when speaking to both a man and a woman):

Kocham cię. 
I love you.
Kocham cię z całego serca. 
I love you from the bottom of my heart.
Ciągle o tobie myślę.
I think about you all the time
Nie mogę przestać o tobie myśleć. 
I can't stop thinking about you.
Chcę z tobą spędzić resztę życia.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you.
Dziękuję za cudowną randkę. 
Thank you for a lovely date.
Cieszę się, że cię poznałem/poznałam.
I'm happy I've met you [speaking to a woman/man].

 

And a few romantic requests:

Przytul mnie! 
Give me a hug!
Pocałuj mnie!
Kiss me!
Wyjdź za mnie!
Marry me!

Women don't usually propose in Polish but if can't resist the temptation, say the following: 

Ożeń się ze mną!
Marry me!
To practice these phrases download our deck of flash cards with audio from ankiweb.net. Please give us 5 stars!

Partying in Polish - learn 4 useful Polish phrases when having a party! August 28 2015, 0 Comments

Useful Polish phrases with audio, when having a party.

 

Here are some phrases you may find useful when talking about partying the Polish way:

Organizuję parapetówkę. Przyjdziesz?
I'm throwing a house-warming party. Will you (singular) come?

You certainly don't want to miss out on a Polish party (impreza) so you may respond with the following:

No jasne! No pewnie! / Będę na pewno!
Sure thing/!/I'll be there for sure!

It's good not to show up empty-handed so you can ask: 

Co mam przynieść?
What do you want me to bring?

And there are two more phrases you may find worth remembering:

Baw się dobrze!
Have fun!/Enjoy! singular

Już się nie mogę doczekać
I can't wait!

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