Learn how to state a purpose
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 18 - A Catch-22 Situation in Poland. John here. |
| Marzena: Cześć. I'm Marzena. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about stating purpose. The conversation takes place at a coffee shop. |
| Marzena: It's between Ann and Thomas. |
| John: The speakers are friends; therefore, they’ll speak informal Polish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Thomas: Słuchaj Aniu, mam problem. |
| Ania: Co się stało? |
| Thomas: Żeby dostać mieszkanie, potrzebuję zaświadczenia o pracy. |
| Ania: No, to znajdź sobie pracę. |
| Thomas: No tak, tylko żeby dostać pracę potrzebuję wizy. |
| Ania: No dobrze, to czemu nie złożyłeś podania o wizę? |
| Thomas: Widzisz, żeby dostać wizę potrzebuję pracy...I tak w koło Macieju. |
| Ania: Nie martw się, jakoś to będzie. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Thomas: Listen, Ann, I have a problem... |
| Ann: What happened? |
| Thomas: To get an apartment, I need a certificate that I'm working. |
| Ann: Then just get yourself a job. |
| Thomas: Well yeah, it’s just that; to get a job I need a visa. |
| Ann: Okay then, why didn't you apply for a visa? |
| Thomas: You see, to get a visa I need a job... And so on... |
| Ann: Don't worry, it will be all good. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: It sounds like Thomas is in a bit of a catch-22 situation. |
| Marzena: Yes, he needs a visa to get a job, but to get a job he needs a visa... |
| John: And then there’s the housing issue too. I hope he can get it sorted. |
| Marzena: I hope so too. |
| John: Why are things so complicated? |
| Marzena: As Poland is a post-communist country, the bureaucracy system is still a bit complicated. |
| John: It sounds like it! Are there usually long lines for things too? |
| Marzena: Yeah, if you need important documents, you should be prepared to wait. |
| John: I can imagine that this is very frustrating for people. |
| Marzena: It is, especially for entrepreneurs. |
| John: Are there any other instances of bureaucracy that our listeners should know about? |
| Marzena: You’re supposed to register the place where you’re staying within 48 hours; although many tourists ignore this when they’re staying in private houses. |
| John: Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| John: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Marzena: problem [natural native speed] |
| John: problem |
| Marzena: problem[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: problem [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: stać się [natural native speed] |
| John: to happen |
| Marzena: stać się[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: stać się [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: zaświadczenie [natural native speed] |
| John: certificate |
| Marzena: zaświadczenie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: zaświadczenie [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: praca [natural native speed] |
| John: job |
| Marzena: praca[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: praca [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: dostać [natural native speed] |
| John: to get |
| Marzena: dostać[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: dostać [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: czemu [natural native speed] |
| John: why |
| Marzena: czemu[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: czemu [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: wiza [natural native speed] |
| John: visa |
| Marzena: wiza[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: wiza [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: koło [natural native speed] |
| John: wheel |
| Marzena: koło[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: koło [natural native speed] |
| John: And lastly... |
| Marzena: jakoś [natural native speed] |
| John: somehow |
| Marzena: jakoś[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: jakoś [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| John: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Marzena: czemu |
| John: meaning "why." What can you tell us about this word? |
| Marzena: Czemu is actually an accusative form of the interrogative pronoun co, meaning "what." |
| John: However, it’s used as “why.” |
| Marzena: It’s a less formal version of dlaczego and is used in less formal settings. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Czemu jesteś taki niemiły? |
| John: ...which means "Why are you so unkind?" |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Marzena: w koło Macieju |
| John: meaning "in a vicious circle." This is an idiom. |
| Marzena: First is the preposition w, which means “in.” Next is koło, which is a noun meaning “wheel.” The final word is the proper noun Maciej. |
| John: The English equivalent for this name is “Matthias.” |
| Marzena: You use this idiom when an annoying situation keeps happening over and over again. |
| John: Can it be used in both formal and informal situations? |
| Marzena: It’s not very informal, but is best used in informal situations. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this idiom? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, A ty co tak w koło Macieju? |
| John: ...which means "What, are you stuck in a vicious circle or something?" |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about stating purpose. |
| John: There are many different ways to state purpose, but in this lesson we’re going to look at one in particular. |
| Marzena: Yes, we’ll look at żeby. We’ve seen this word before in other lessons. |
| John: Yes, we’ve used it to make a request and to pass on a message. |
| Marzena: This time, it’ll be used to state purpose. |
| John: But it changes forms with different people. |
| Marzena: Right, for example, with the singular “I” it’s żebym. With the plural “we,” it’s żebyśmy. |
| John: But we don’t need to know those different forms when stating purpose, do we? |
| Marzena: Nope, we just need żeby followed by an infinitive. |
| John: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Marzena: Przyjechałem tu, żeby trochę zarobić. |
| John: “I came here in order to earn money.” |
| Marzena: Co trzeba zrobić, żeby dostać dobrą pracę? |
| John: “What do you have to do in order to get a good job?” Next, let’s look at indefinite pronouns. These are pronouns that don’t refer to anything in particular. In English they’re words like “someone,” “something,” “sometime,” and so on. |
| Marzena: To make them in Polish, we add ś to the interrogative. If the interrogative ends in a consonant, then we add oś. |
| John: So, how do we say “somehow” in Polish? |
| Marzena: jakoś. That comes from jak. As it ends in a consonant, it gets the oś ending. |
| John: Okay. And what’s “somewhere?” |
| Marzena: gdzieś. That comes from gdzie. |
| John: Indefinite pronouns also include words like “anytime” and “anyone.” |
| Marzena: To make these, we add kolwiek to the interrogative pronoun. |
| John: So what is “anyone?” |
| Marzena: ktokolwiek. That comes from kto. |
| John: And “anything.” |
| Marzena: cokolwiek. That comes from co. |
| John: Let’s finish the lesson with some examples. |
| Marzena: Nie martw się, jakoś to będzie. |
| John: “No worries, it will be good somehow.” |
| Marzena: Masz cokolwiek do pisania? |
| John: “Do you have anything to write with?” |
Outro |
| John: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Marzena: Cześć. |
Comments
Hide