Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
First, do you remember how Mark asks,
"How are you?"
Jak się masz?
First is jak, "how." Jak. Jak.
Next is się masz, literally "yourself have" but translates as "you are [doing]." Się masz. Się masz.
Note, się masz is from the verb mieć się, "to be (doing)." Mieć się.
Together, it's Jak się masz? Literally "How yourself have," but it translates as "How are you?"
Jak się masz?
Note the rising intonation to mark that it's a question. Jak się masz?
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Jarosław says,
"I’m well, thank you."
Mam się dobrze, dziękuję.
"I’m well, thank you." Mam się dobrze, dziękuję.
First is mam się, literally "[I] have myself," but translates as "[I] am." Mam się. Mam się.
Note, mam się is a shortened form of ja mam się, "I am [doing]." In Polish, ja, "I," is often omitted when it’s understood.
Mam się is from the verb mieć się, meaning "to be in a state." Mieć się.
Next is dobrze, "well." Dobrze. Dobrze.
Together, it’s Mam się dobrze. Literally "[I] have myself well," but translates as "I’m well." Mam się dobrze.
Note, Mam się dobrze can translate as “I’m well,” “I’m fine,” “I’m good,” “I’m okay,” etc, but we’ll use “I’m well” for this lesson.
Next is dziękuję, meaning "Thank you." Dziękuję. Dziękuję.
All together, it’s Mam się dobrze, dziękuję. Literally "[I] have myself well, thank you" but translates as "I’m well, thank you."
Mam się dobrze, dziękuję.
Note the question “Jak się masz?” is for informal situations.
For formal situations make the following adjustments:
when asking a man, replace masz with pan ma: “Jak się pan ma?”;
when asking a woman, replace masz with pani ma: “Jak się pani ma?”
Pan is a formal way to address a man, and pani is a formal way to address a woman.
Ma is the formal form of the verb “mieć.”
Ja się pan/pani ma? "How are you?" for formal situations. Jak się pan/pani ma?
Remember this variation. You'll see it again later.
In Polish, reflexive verbs are formed by adding the reflexive pronoun się, which has the same form for all persons. Sometimes the verb changes completely its meaning when it is used in the reflexive form such as mieć, “to have” and mieć się, “to be [doing].”

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