Lesson 28: Cheap, Expensive and a bit of Revision

Two of the most popular adjectives in any language are 'cheap' and 'expensive' because these days everything is either 'cheap' or 'expensive'

"Dzien dobry albo dobry wieczór. Witamy na lekcji"

OK - up until now all the adjectives we've only seen end in 'y' - "dobry albo zły", "nowy albo stary", "ciepły albo zimny". But there are also adjectives that end in 'i'. We'll look at a couple here and at the same time do a full revision of where we are up to ... and even learn some new vocab on the way!

Cheap

English	Polish
I think that it's a cheap living room	Myślę, że jest tani salon
I'm saying that it's a cheap kitchen	Mówię, że jest tania kuchnia
You're saying that it's a cheap patio	Mówisz, że jest tanie patio

Well, there isn't too much difference here in how "tani" ends.

• The masculine "tani" is what you would find in the dictionary
• The feminine "tania" ends in 'a' just as "dobry" changed to "dobra"
• The neuter "tanie" ends in 'e' just as "dobry" changed to "dobre"

"Salon", by the way, can also mean "showroom" - the posh word for "shop". So you'll often hear it in advertisements - "Salon Toyota".

So how would you say:

English	Polish
I think that it's a cheap car	Myślę, że jest tani samochód Click to Reveal
I saying that it's a cheap bag	Mówię, że jest tania torba Click to Reveal
You're saying that it's a cheap wine	Mówisz, że jest tanie wino Click to Reveal

Accusative singular

Now let's start accusing ourselves and others of having or liking things!

English	Polish
He/she/it has a cheap living room	Ma tani salon
Magda, you had a cheap kitchen	Magda, miałaś tanią kuchnię
I remember that we had a cheap patio	Pamiętam, że mieliśmy tanie patio

Again, nothing major here. As with other adjectives it's only the feminine that changes and it gets the usual 'ą' ending. So how would you say:

English	Polish
He/she has a cheap laptop	Ma tani laptop Click to Reveal
I know that you have a cheap sofa	Wiem, że masz tanią sofę Click to Reveal
I remember that I had a cheap flat	Pamiętam, że miałem tanie mieszkanie Click to Reveal

So let's try something a bit longer:

English	Polish
I know that you have a cheap computer but I don't want it	Wiem, że masz tani komputer ale nie chcę Click to Reveal

Now there is a bit more of a grammatically correct way to say that to make sure you get the "it" in but the way we've done it here is the way people often talk. We'll polish up our Polish to please the text books later!

Accusative plural

English	Polish
I like cheap living rooms	Lubię tanie salony
You like cheap kitchens	Lubisz tanie kuchnie
We like cheap patios	Lubimy tanie patia

So just like the other adjectives we've seen before they now all become the same. "Kuchnie" though seems odd - if it followed the standard rules it should be 'kuchniy'. True but because 'kuchnia' ends with two vowels ('i' and 'a') the ending for plurals is 'ie' ... just one of those exceptions.

If you forget this and say "kuchniy" it will sound so much like "kuchnie" you will be understood but obviously if you are learning to write this is a rule to remember. OK, so how would you say:

English	Polish
I like cheap houses	Lubię tanie domy Click to Reveal
I remember that you like cheap lamps	Pamiętam, że lubisz tanie lampy Click to Reveal
You remember that we like cheap beers?	Pamiętasz, że lubimy tanie piwa? Click to Reveal

And something longer:

English	Polish
I remember that you like cheap coffees but I don't want one	Pamiętam, że lubisz tanie kawy ale nie chcę Click to Reveal

Genetive (something is missing) Singular

English	Polish
I'm not buying a cheap living room	Nie kupuję taniego salonu
We're not buying a cheap kitchen	Nie kupujemy taniej kuchni
He/she is not buying a cheap patio	Nie kupuje taniego patio

Now "kuchni" is again unusual compared to what we have seen. Feminine nouns usually end in 'y' here but again this is the rule where a noun ends in two vowels ('i' and 'a') then it ends on 'i' in the genetive.

We also have the neuter "patio" not changing to the expected "patia" - what's that all about?

Sometimes when words come in from other languages they will behave slightly differently and 'patio' actually has its original origins is Spanish where it was used to mean "a common grazing area!". There you go, learning Polish and Spanish.

So let's just try those but with some verbs which follow the common rules!:

English	Polish
I'm not looking for a cheap car	Nie szukam taniego samochodow Click to Reveal
We're not looking for a cheap firm	Nie szukamy taniej firmy Click to Reveal
He/she is not looking for a cheap flat	Nie szuka taniego mieskanie Click to Reveal

And something a bit longer:

English	Polish
I'm not looking for a cheap computer but price is important	Nie szukam taniego komputera ale cena jest ważne Click to Reveal

Genetive (something is missing) Plural

English	Polish
I don't like cheap living rooms	Nie lubię tanich salonów
We don't like cheap kitchens	Nie lubimy tanich kuchni
He/she doesn't like cheap patios	Nie lubi tanich patio

Again, just "patio" looking a bit strange there but again it is an imported word so it can! So how would you say:

English	Polish
I don't like cheap cameras	Nie lubię tanich aparatów Click to Reveal
We don't like cheap coffees	Nie lubimy tanich kaw Click to Reveal
He/she doesn't like cheap beers	Nie lubi tanich piw Click to Reveal

Instrumental

I'm not going to go into the instrumental. I mean you can learn to say stuff like:

English	Polish
I'm doing (making) coffee with cheap milk	Robię kawę z tanim mlekiem

But you wouldn't even talk like that. You're more likely to say something like the following (which you know!):

English	Polish
I'm doing (making) coffee but I have cheap milk	Robię kawę ale mam tanie mleko Click to Reveal
I'm doing (making) coffee and I have good milk	Robię kawę i mam dobre mleko Click to Reveal

It's enough, at this stage, really to be aware of the Instrumental and the specific places it mostly gets used like "I'm going by car" and "I would like coffee with milk". With that you'll spot the instrumental in texts and become more comfortable with its use over time.

Expensive

So at the other end of the scale is "expensive".

English	Polish
Expensive	Drogi

It also ends in 'i'. Watch out for this one with online translators though because "drogi" also means "roads"!

Now that I've told you that can you think out how to say "Public Roads" ... really you can!

• "Public" is an "ic" ending word so you can transform that to Polish by lopping off the 'ic' and adding 'iczny'.
• But if "drogi" is roads (plural) then the adjective becomes like neuter - 'Publiczny' -> 'Publiiczne'

So you are out for a walk in the country and come across an angry looking farmer how would you ask "Are they public roads":

English	Polish
Are they public roads?	Są drogi publiczne?
No, they are private	Nie! Są prywatne!

There you go, learning "private" was as easy as thinking out "public" ... easy! Yes, the "public" does normally come after the "road" but no big deal if you say it the wrong way around. And because you know "Road" is feminine you can think out these:

English	Polish
Private Road	Droga prywatna Click to Reveal
Public Toilet	Toaleta publiczna Click to Reveal

Dear

Now you may also hear "drogi" used to mean "dear"

English	Polish
My dear friend robert is right	Mój drogi przyjaciel Robert ma rację Click to Reveal

Anyway, back to "Drogi" when we mean "expensive":

English	Polish
I think that it's an expensive table	Myślę, że jest drogi stoł
I'm saying that it's an expensive bathroom	Mówię, że jest drogia łazienka
We're saying that it's an expensive chair	Mówimy, że jest drogie krzesło

So let's try a few:

English	Polish
I have an expensive chair	Mam drogie krzesło Click to Reveal
I don't like expensive tables	Nie lubię drogich stołow Click to Reveal
I don't have an expensive bathroom	Nie mam drogiej łazienki Click to Reveal
You have an expensive bathroom	Masz drogią łazienkę Click to Reveal
Why do you have an expensive bathroom?	Dlaczego masz drogią łazienkę Click to Reveal

So that takes us through the whole spectrum of cases which we need most of the time. We just need to add this type of adjective to our table:

Now I don't know any shortcut to memorising all the endings for adjectives and verbs in all the cases except practice. As long as you go through the steps:

1. What case am I in?
2. What gender is the verb?

And then simply look them up on the table. After a while you'll know them better and better and need the table less and less.

Case	Masculine	Femine	Neuter
SINGULAR - NOMNATIVE	To duży/tani aparat	To duża/tania klawiatura	To duże/tanie wino
SINGULAR - ACCUSATIVE	Mam duży/tani aparat	Mam dużą/tanią klawiaturę	Mam duże/tanie wino
SINGULAR - GENETIVE	Nie mam dużego/taniego aparatu	Nie mam dużej/taniej klawiatury	Nie mam dużego/taniego wina
SINGULAR - INSTRUMENTAL	z nowym/tanim produktem	z nową/tanią wodą	z nowym/tanim mlekiem
PLURAL - NOMNATIVE	Są duże/tanie aparaty	Są duże/tanie kawy	Są duże/tanie wina
PLURAL - ACCUSATIVE	Mam duże/tanie aparaty	Mam duże/tanie kawy	Mam duże/tanie wina
PLURAL - GENETIVE	Nie mam dużych/tanich aparatów	Nie mam dużych/tanich kaw	Nie mam dużych/tanich win

Lesson 29: Meeting People