Saying Hello No Matter the Time of Day in Polish

Learn how to share your name with others and how to obtain someone else's name in informal situations

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Outro
INTRODUCTION
Gina:	Hello everyone and welcome to PolishPod101.com’s Absolute Beginner series. This is season 1, lesson 1, Saying Hello No Matter the Time of Day in Polish. I’m Gina.
Joanna:	And I’m Joanna.
Gina:	In this lesson you'll learn how to greet people.
Joanna:	This conversation takes place at a cafeteria.
Gina:	It’s between Gosia and Alex.
Joanna:	The speakers are around the same age, so they will be using informal Polish.
Gina:	Let’s listen to the conversation.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Gina:	Let’s learn a little more about Polish culture. Joanna, do Poles use a lot of gestures when they talk?
Joanna:	Yes, generally speaking, we do, but of course it depends on the person.
Gina:	Are there times when it’s important to use certain gestures?
Joanna:	Yes, there are, especially when you’re greeting people.
Gina:	Can you tell us more about those?
Joanna:	Sure! First of all there’s a handshake, which is usually reserved for men only, or for business matters. When you meet someone for the first time, it’s best to do the handshake. Also when you meet your friends, the most common thing to do is to hug or kiss each others’ cheeks. Poles are very open with this.
Gina:	So listeners, keep these tips in mind. Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Gina:	Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Joanna, what’s the first word?
Joanna:	‘świetnie’
Gina:	“great”. This can be used in different situations, both when you want to express happiness or excitement and sarcasm or irony - it all depends on your intonation. What part of speech is it?
Joanna:	It’s an adverb that derives from the adjective ‘świetny.’
Gina:	Which can also be translated as “great”.
Joanna:	In Polish, nouns and adjectives have a gender. Świetny is a masculine adjective.
Gina:	For the other forms, please refer to the lesson notes. What’s next, Joanna?
Joanna:	A phrase - ‘jak się masz?’
Gina:	Meaning “how are you?”. “How are you” is used a lot in English, but in Polish, it’s not so common. But it is a good way to start a conversation, if you don’t really know what to say.
Joanna:	There’s also something interesting about the words used in the Polish version.
Gina:	What’s that?
Joanna:	In Polish, the verb used in this phrase is ‘masz’, the 2nd person form of the verb ‘mieć’.
Gina:	which means “to be”.
Joanna:	For more information about this, check the lesson notes for this lesson. Okay, now onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Gina:	In this lesson, you’ll learn about how to greet people in both formal and informal situations.
Joanna:	Let’s start with the informal, and most common way of greeting people in Poland, which is ‘cześć’.
Gina:	It means “hi” or “hello” in English.
Joanna:	This is a familiar greeting you can use with family members, friends, or colleagues.
Gina:	So, all the people who you address by their first name, right?
Joanna:	Exactly.
Gina:	Are there any other greetings that can be used with friends?
Joanna:	There are quite a few, and they are mostly slang.
Gina:	Don’t keep us in suspense!
Joanna:	Okay, so the first one, which is very popular among younger generations nowadays is ‘siema’. It’s a very interesting word, because it actually derives from the phrase ‘jak się masz’.
Gina:	meaning “how are you”.
Joanna:	if we cut off the first word ‘jak’
Gina:	...meaning “how”...
Joanna:	...what’s left is ‘się masz’. Then to make it even shorter, the word ‘siema’ was created.
Gina:	Does it still mean “how are you”.
Joanna:	Not really, it’s just another way of saying “hi” to your friends.
Gina:	Any other informal greetings?
Joanna:	There’s also ‘hej’.
Gina:	It’s exactly the same as the English “hey”.
Joanna:	...and that’s what it comes from!
Gina:	So, to sum up, there are three ways of greeting your friends. Listeners, try to repeat after Joanna
Joanna:	‘cześć’ [pause]
Gina:	“hi, hello”
Joanna:	‘hej’ [pause]
Gina:	“hey”
Joanna:	‘siema’ [pause]
Gina:	“hi, hey”
Joanna:	Please note that you can’t really use these last 2 with your family members
Gina:	Good to know. What about greeting strangers or those older than you?
Joanna:	Here we also have a few options.
Gina:	Let’s start with the most common one.
Joanna:	Ok. That would be ‘dzień dobry’.
Gina:	meaning “good morning”.
Joanna:	‘dzień dobry’ can be used through the whole day. In other words, in Polish we don’t distinguish “good morning” and “good afternoon” - it’s always ‘dzień dobry’.
Gina:	What does it literally mean?
Joanna:	“good day”.
Gina:	What about “good evening”?
Joanna:	It’s ‘dobry wieczór’.
Gina:	Alright. Let’s practice these. Everyone, repeat after Joanna.
Joanna:	‘dzień dobry’
Gina:	“good morning, good afternoon”
Joanna:	‘dobry wieczór’
Gina:	“good evening”
Joanna:	Well, that’s all for this lesson!
Gina:	Thanks for listening, and be sure to check the lesson notes. We’ll see you in the next lesson. Bye!
Joanna:	Papa