Learn how to use imperatives
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 9 - What Are Your Plans in Poland? John here. |
| Marzena: Cześć. I'm Marzena. |
| John: In this lesson, you’ll learn about imperatives. The conversation takes place at a radio station. |
| Marzena: It's between Thomas and Ann. |
| John: The speakers are strangers; therefore, they’ll speak both formal and informal Polish. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ania: Witam państwa w naszym nowym programie "Bliżej ludzi". Dzisiaj jest z nami Tomasz, który od trzech lat mieszka w Polsce. Dzień dobry Tomaszu. |
| Thomas: Dzień dobry Aniu. Dziękuję za zaproszenie. |
| Ania: Powiedz nam coś więcej o sobie. |
| Thomas: Jestem z Ameryki, ale obecnie szukam pracy w Polsce. Interesuję się polskim filmem i przepadam za pierogami. |
| Ania: O, koniecznie spróbuj pierogów z jagodami. |
| Thomas: Nie omieszkam. |
| Ania: Zdradź nam proszę jakie są twoje plany na przyszłość? |
| Thomas: Jestem jeszcze kawalerem, ale jeżeli znajdę tutaj żonę to chyba nie wyjadę. |
| John: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Ann: Welcome to our new show, "Closer to People." Today we have with us Thomas, who has been living in Poland for the past 3 years. Good morning, Thomas. |
| Thomas: Good morning, Ann. Thank you for your invitation. |
| Ann: Could you tell us more about yourself? |
| Thomas: I'm from America, but currently I'm looking for a job in Poland. I'm interested in Polish movies, and I adore Polish pierogi. |
| Ann: Oh, be sure to try pierogi with blueberries. |
| Thomas: I will not fail to do so. |
| Ann: Could you tell us what your plans are for the future? |
| Thomas: I'm still single, but if I find a wife here then I don't think I will leave. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| John: I hope Thomas finds his Polish wife! |
| Marzena: I hope he can find a job! |
| John: Yes, that’s important too! |
| Marzena: Radio is still pretty popular in Poland. |
| John: Really? Who usually listens to the radio? |
| Marzena: A lot of age ranges do, but it’s especially popular with old people. |
| John: Is internet radio popular? |
| Marzena: Yes, it is. Internet radio has been available in Poland since 1998. |
| John: What about podcasts? |
| Marzena: It was about 2005 when the first Polish podcasts began. |
| John: Do you know how many Poles listen to the radio? |
| Marzena: About 75% of Poles listen to the radio every day. |
| 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: program [natural native speed] |
| John: show, program |
| Marzena: program[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: program [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: blisko [natural native speed] |
| John: near |
| Marzena: blisko[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: blisko [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: zaproszenie [natural native speed] |
| John: invitation |
| Marzena: zaproszenie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: zaproszenie [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: obecnie [natural native speed] |
| John: currently |
| Marzena: obecnie[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: obecnie [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: interesować się [natural native speed] |
| John: to be interested in |
| Marzena: interesować się[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: interesować się [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: nie omieszkać [natural native speed] |
| John: to not fail to |
| Marzena: nie omieszkać[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: nie omieszkać [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: zdradzić [natural native speed] |
| John: to tell (a secret) |
| Marzena: zdradzić[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: zdradzić [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: plan [natural native speed] |
| John: plan |
| Marzena: plan[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: plan [natural native speed] |
| John: Next we have... |
| Marzena: kawaler [natural native speed] |
| John: single, bachelor |
| Marzena: kawaler[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: kawaler [natural native speed] |
| John: And last... |
| Marzena: żona [natural native speed] |
| John: wife |
| Marzena: żona[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: żona [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 phrase is... |
| Marzena: dziękuję za |
| John: meaning "thank you for." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Marzena: dziękuję literally means “I’m saying thank you.” |
| John: And what does the next word mean? |
| Marzena: That’s za. It’s a preposition meaning “for.” It’s then followed by a noun in the accusative case. |
| John: How do you use this phrase? |
| Marzena: You can use it to show that someone is grateful for something. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Dziękuję za twoją pomoc. |
| John: ...which means "Thank you for your help." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Marzena: nie omieszkam |
| John: meaning "I will not fail to do." What can you tell us about this phrase? |
| Marzena: This is a negative form of the verb omieszkać. |
| John: Which means “to fail to do something.” |
| Marzena: This verb is almost always used in the negative form. |
| John: It’s used to show that you won’t forget, or you won’t fail to do something. |
| Marzena: Yes, the verb omieszkać is a little old-fashioned and isn’t really used in other phrases. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Dziękuję za polecenie, nie omieszkam sprawdzić. |
| John: ...which means "Thank you for your recommendation. I will not fail to check it out." |
| John: Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Marzena: plany na |
| John: meaning "plans for..." What does the first word mean? |
| Marzena: plany means “plans” and is in the plural form. It’s followed by the preposition na. |
| John: This means “for.” |
| Marzena: It’s usually followed by a noun in the accusative case. |
| John: Can it be used with anything else? |
| Marzena: It can be used with the verb mieć to show that you have something planned. |
| John: Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Marzena: Sure. For example, you can say, Nie mam jeszcze planów na przyszłość. |
| John: ...which means "I don't have any plans for the future yet." |
| John: Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| John: In this lesson, you'll learn about imperatives. |
| John: We use the imperative form to tell somebody to do something. |
| Marzena: Polish isn’t as direct as English, but you’ll still hear formal and informal imperatives. |
| John: Let’s look at the informal imperative. |
| Marzena: Imperatives are formed by taking the third person singular form. Then you drop the final -e, -ie, -y, -i, or add -j to the final -a. |
| John: Let’s hear an example using the verb “to sing.” |
| Marzena: Śpiewać becomes śpiewa in the third person singular form. Then you add -j, to make śpiewaj. This is the imperative form. |
| John: Are there any exceptions to these conjugations? |
| Marzena: Yes, sometimes o turns into ó. For example, Robić becomes robi and then, rób. |
| John: These all mean “to do.” |
| Marzena: If, after getting rid of the final vowel, the last consonant is n or rz preceded by another consonant, then you add -y or -ij. For verbs where the second singular ends in -ajesz, the imperative is formed by adding -awaj. |
| John: There are a few other singular exceptions, which are listed in the lesson notes. |
| Marzena: To make them negative, you simply put the particle nie in front of the verb. |
| John: How do we say “eat something”? |
| Marzena: Zjedz coś! |
| John: And “don’t sing so loudly!” |
| Marzena: Nie śpiewaj tak głośno! |
| John: Next, let’s move onto the vocative case. |
| Marzena: You use this when addressing someone, especially when calling someone or writing an email. |
| John: A lot of Poles, however, don’t use the vocative in that situation and use the nominative instead. |
| Marzena: Right, but technically that’s wrong. It’s weird in some cases to not use the vocative, so try to always use it when appropriate. |
| John: You can check the table in the lesson notes to see how to make the vocative case. For now, let’s look at some examples. |
| Marzena: Droga Aniu! Jak leci? |
| John: “Dear Anna! How’s it going?” |
| Marzena: Jak się macie, dziewczyny? |
| John: “Girls, how are you?” |
| Marzena: Finally, we can use który and its other forms in the same way “which” is used in English. |
| John: It can be used as an interrogative pronoun or as an introduction to another sentence. In this case, it can also be translated to “who” or “whom.” |
| Marzena: For example, Którego komputera używasz? |
| John: “Which computer are you using?” |
| Marzena: To jest człowiek, który zmienił kino. |
| John: “This is the man who changed the cinema.” |
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