Learn some phrases for asking about Polish words
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Gabriella: Hello everyone and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 24, Surviving in Poland. I’m Gabriella. |
| Joanna: And I’m Joanna. |
| Gabriella: In this lesson you'll learn useful phrases for asking about Polish words. |
| Joanna: This conversation takes place at the post office. |
| Gabriella: It’s between Alex and a sales clerk. |
| Joanna: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll be using formal Polish. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Gabriella: In the dialogue Alex went to the post office. How do you say “post office” in Polish? |
| Joanna: It’s ‘poczta’ |
| Gabriella: Will we see that word above the entrance to every post office? |
| Joanna: Yes, and also it’s possible to see another one, which is ‘urząd pocztowy’ |
| Gabriella: But both of them have the same meaning. |
| Joanna: That’s true. Also, very often post offices, especially the main one in the city, will be located in an old building, which makes some of them an interesting place to visit. |
| Gabriella: Are there many post offices around the city? |
| Joanna: Of course it depends on the size of the city - in smaller towns there can only be one office. Also when you want to send a letter, it’s best to bring it to the office, instead of dropping it in the mailbox, because then you can be sure it will be sent soon. |
| Gabriella: That’s some useful information! |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gabriella: Let's take a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Joanna, what’s the first word? |
| Joanna: ‘list’ |
| Gabriella: “letter” |
| Joanna: in Poland, there are a few kinds of letters, and it’s necessary to know the names and differences if you want to send something from Poland |
| Gabriella: Now, let’s go through them one by one |
| Joanna: ‘zwykły list’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “regular letter” |
| Joanna: It’s usually sent within Poland |
| Gabriella: then we have air mail |
| Joanna: in Polish we call that one ‘list priorytetowy’ or simply ‘priorytet’ |
| Gabriella: As you may have guessed, this means “priority mail” |
| Joanna: the last kind is ‘list polecony’ |
| Gabriella: “registered mail” |
| Joanna: to send that one, you will need to fill in additional paperwork, and of course the cost is higher |
| Gabriella: but that way you can be sure that it won’t get lost and reaches the recipient quite quickly. So what’s the next word? |
| Joanna: ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: “to understand” |
| Joanna: there are quite a few colloquial words that are used instead of the verb ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: I’m sure our listeners are dying to hear them ! |
| Joanna: Okay, well, we often use them to confirm if the other person knows or understands what we want to say. Then we can say ‘kumasz?’ |
| Gabriella: This is the Polish for “do you understand?” or “do you get it” |
| Joanna: You could also say ‘czaisz?’ or ‘kapujesz?’ |
| Gabriella: Okay, now let’s move on the the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Gabriella: In this lesson, you will learn useful phrases to ask about Polish words |
| Joanna: In other words, we will teach you how to survive in Poland, when you’re not a fluent Polish speaker yet! |
| Gabriella: Sounds like a really important lesson! |
| Joanna: C’mon! All of them are important! |
| Gabriella: Okay, Okay! What shall we start with then? |
| Joanna: With the situation when you don’t understand something. |
| Gabriella: Alex found himself in this kind of situation. |
| Joanna: Yes, then he said - ‘Przepraszam, nie rozumiem’ |
| Gabriella: in English “I’m sorry, I don’t understand” |
| Joanna: Here we have two new verbs. First is ‘przepraszam’, the first person singular form of ‘przepraszać’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “I’m sorry” |
| Joanna: The other verb was ‘rozumiem’, the first person singular of the verb ‘rozumieć’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “understand” |
| Joanna: Now, please repeat after me - ‘przepraszam, nie rozumiem’ |
| Gabriella: (pause) “I’m sorry, I don’t understand” |
| Joanna: After saying this, you can expect someone to repeat or explain what they have just said. |
| Gabriella: What if we just didn’t hear something clearly? What can we say? |
| Joanna: We can ask the person to repeat it, right? The verb needed here is ‘powtarzać’ |
| Gabriella: meaning “to repeat” |
| Joanna: One of the ways to say that is - ‘Proszę powtórzyć’ |
| Gabriella: In English “Repeat please” |
| Joanna: Or something more like a question - ‘Możesz powtórzyć?’ |
| Gabriella: “Can you repeat it?” |
| Joanna: Let’s try together - ‘Proszę powtórzyć’ (pause)... and another one - ‘Możesz powtórzyć?’(pause) |
| Gabriella: Okay. What if we want someone to write something down for us. |
| Joanna: The simplest way to ask someone that is - ‘Proszę napisać’ |
| Gabriella: “Write it down, please” |
| Joanna: But it’s very direct, so a more polite option is - ‘Możesz to napisać?’ |
| Gabriella: “Can you write it down?” |
| Joanna: Then if you find yourself talking to someone who speaks really fast, you can ask them to slow down a bit |
| Gabriella: Yes, that happens, especially when you’re still learning. |
| Joanna: Again the simplest way is - ‘Proszę mówić wolniej’ |
| Gabriella: “Please, speak slower” |
| Joanna: There are more ways to ask that, so please check the lesson notes. |
| Gabriella: For every situation, there are a few example sentences, ranging from the easiest to the more complex. |
| Joanna: Remember, when you don’t understand or you’re confused, don’t be afraid to say so and ask for help! |
| Gabriella: That’s good advice. |
Outro |
|---|
| Gabriella: Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time. |
| Joanna: Papa. |
6 Comments
HideHello Listeners! How do you say "I don't understand" in Polish?
Cześć Luis c,
You can read the whole lesson transcript in Lesson Transcript. Just find the words you need.
Kind regards,
Hanna
Team PolishPod101.com
Hello! Okay so, qhen in the audio they say the coloquial forms, you dont put that part in text, so I dont know how to write it
Hi Greg
Thx for your help. We will try to correct that.
Sincerely
Piotr
Team PolishPod101.com
Hej Julia
You are correct! ;-)
Sincerely
Piotr
Team PolishPod101.com
Nie rozumiem!