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Lesson 19: To understand, possible and 'Me too'

There are only a couple of forms of 'to understand' that you will use regularly - 'I understand' and 'Do you understand?'

"No to dobrze", as they say in Poland, let's go into the verb via the 'I' form

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I don't understand the question

Now there is a lot we can do here to exercise our minds and revise what we've learnt.

We know we are in the "Something is missing?" case - our understanding of the answer is missing. We can also see that "pytania" ends in 'a'. We know which gender moves its ending to 'a' in the Something is missing case so we know how to say "pytania" in the after the verb case.

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I have a question

We also know that to get "I don't understand" from "understand" we just add the "Nie" in front so that means we know how to reverse engineer that to say "I understand". So ...

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I understand the question
I understand the situation

Now we saw "Wiem" also ended in 'iem' - so we can work out how to get the 'you (informal)', 'we' and 'he/she/it' forms of "to understand":

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Do you understand?
We don't understand the problem
He understands (that) you are right

We won't dwell too much on these except the 'you (informal)' and 'I' forms because those are the ones you will use all the time but it's always good when you remember one form of a verb in your mind to see if you can extract the others just as a mental exercise. You'll also remember different forms of verbs much better if you 'think them out' rather than try to remember them parrot fashion.

And if a phrase you have learnt pops into your mind try seeing if you can identify the case from clues in the phrase.

Possible

We've already had "Może" which covers both "he/she/it can" and "Maybe" ... because "Maybe" is sort of like "It can". But, just like in English, if we want to be stronger we say "Possible"

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Possible

So if "impossible" is a bit like saying "not possible" ...

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
impossible

You'll hear these one a plenty in gossip. One person tells a tale and the other looks shocked and says "Niemożliwe!", then the other person says "Możliwe, możliwe!"".

And just as in English their exact meanings depends how you say them. If someone asks you if something can be done and you look wistfully into the distance and slowly say "Możliwe" that means "it might be possible". If you reply quickly with full confidence that means "it's very possible".

So how would you say:

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I understand (that) it's possible
It's possible because I have internet
It's impossible because I don't know (about) the address
I don't understand, is it possible or impossible?
Do you understand the question? Yes or no?
Do you understand why it is impossible?

Too/Also

One small but oh-so-useful word in English is also a small and oh-so-useful word in Polish.

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Too / Also

No this isn't the too as in "too much" but the too as in "I too" or "you also".

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I too understand
Do you also understand?

... so ....

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Do you also want to go?
I too want to sleep
Do you also like it?
I too like it
I too have coffee
Do you also like wine?

You;ll also hear these very short versions a lot:

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Do you also want?
Do you also like?

So how would you say:

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
We're going to town, do you also want (to go)?
We like ecological shampoo, do you also like (it)?

As is so common in Polish the rest of the sentence - what it is that you also want or like - is implied by the situation or the context.

I / You

It's time to reveal the actual words for "I" and "You (informal)"

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I
You (informal)

We haven't needed them up until now and you wouldn't use them anyway in all the phrases we have learnt because to date they are completely unnecessary. How you say the verb tells the listener everything they need to know so the speaker doesn't usually bother.

But if you want to say "I too" or "You too / You also" and the word for "too" is "też" no matter what (because it's not a verb or an adjective) then we need to actually state the "I" and "you".

Exactly as in English "I too / You also" can be a statement or a question - "Me too?", "You also?"

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I/me too
You (informal) as well?

So how would you say:

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
You like rock? I too (like rock)!
I have a television. You (informal) as well?

Now in all the sentences and phrases we've covered up until now you can add "Ja" or "Ty" to the front if you want. It's normally done for emphasis to make the point stronger, you don't need to be using "Też".

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
I like Techno
You've got cold coffee?
I'm going home now
You have a very bad ambition

Personally I use "ja" a lot because my accent is so bad ... so it helps the person I'm talking to understand the sentence better!

Also watch out for this one:

EnglishEnglishPolishPolish
Hey! You!

Among friends this is normally the prelude to announcing some great idea "Eh! Ty! Why don't we cycle to Spain instead? It'll be so much cheaper!". You'll also hear it quite often in radio adverts for obvious reasons - they want to get your attention before announcing their great offer or promotion.

"No to dobrze. Dalej!"

Lesson 20: To buy, What, Hi and To Be Heard