Learn how to use the reflexive pronoun -się
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello everyone and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, season 2, lesson 15, Visiting a Polish Friend! I’m Brandon. |
| Marzena: And I’m Marzena. |
| Brandon: In this lesson you'll learn about Polish reflexive pronouns. |
| Marzena: The conversation takes place at home. |
| Brandon: It’s between Tom, Jane, and Marta. |
| Marzena: The speakers are friends, so they’ll be using informal Polish. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jane: To moja koleżanka Marta. A to jest Tom. |
| Tom: Miło mi cię poznać. |
| Marta: Miło mi. Rozgośćcie się. Czego się napijecie? Mam kawę, herbatę i sok jabłkowy. |
| Jane: Dla mnie sok. |
| Tom: Ja też poproszę sok. |
| Marta: Częstujcie się ciastem, a ja przyniosę sok. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jane: To moja koleżanka Marta. A to jest Tom. |
| Tom: Miło mi cię poznać. |
| Marta: Miło mi. Rozgośćcie się. Czego się napijecie? Mam kawę, herbatę i sok jabłkowy. |
| Jane: Dla mnie sok. |
| Tom: Ja też poproszę sok. |
| Marta: Częstujcie się ciastem, a ja przyniosę sok. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Jane: To moja koleżanka Marta. A to jest Tom. |
| Brandon: This is my friend Marta. And this is Tom. |
| Tom: Miło mi cię poznać. |
| Brandon: Nice to meet you. |
| Marta Miło mi. Rozgośćcie się. Czego się napijecie? Mam kawę, herbatę i sok jabłkowy. |
| Brandon: Nice to meet you. Make yourself at home. What do you want to drink? I have coffee, tea, and apple juice. |
| Jane: Dla mnie sok. |
| Brandon: Juice for me. |
| Tom: Ja też poproszę sok. |
| Brandon: I'd like juice too. |
| Marta: Częstujcie się ciastem, a ja przyniosę sok. |
| Brandon: Help yourselves with the cake, and I'll bring the juice. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: So Tom and Marta visited their friend and were treated to some drinks and sweets. Is that a common thing to do in Poland? |
| Marzena: Very common, more than that, it feels like the only right way to have guests at your house! |
| Brandon: That sounds nice. |
| Marzena: It is! Poles are rather open and friendly, and we really like to have guests over, and there’s always food involved. This is how we show our hospitality. And here’s a bit of advice for you, listeners. |
| Brandon: If you ever visit a Pole, you’d better go there with an empty stomach, especially if it’s dinner time. |
| Marzena: You’ll most likely be given dinner, and saying that you’ve already eaten won’t help much! |
| Brandon: So all of you with Polish friends, remember - don’t eat too much before you visit them! Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| Vocab list |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Marzena: koleżanka [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: friend (female) |
| Marzena: koleżanka [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: koleżanka [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: kawa [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: coffee |
| Marzena: kawa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: kawa [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: herbata [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: tea |
| Marzena: herbata [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: herbata [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: sok [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: juice |
| Marzena: sok [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: sok [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: sok jabłkowy [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: apple juice |
| Marzena: sok jabłkowy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: sok jabłkowy [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: ciasto [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: cake |
| Marzena: ciasto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: ciasto [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Marzena: przynosić [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to bring |
| Marzena: przynosić [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: przynosić [natural native speed] |
| And Last: |
| Marzena: dla [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: for |
| Marzena: dla [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: dla [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Marzena, what’s our first word? |
| Marzena: koleżanka |
| Brandon: This means “female friend” or “female colleague.” |
| Marzena: the masculine version of this word is kolega. |
| Brandon: Is that different from the English “friend”? |
| Marzena: It’s very different. In Polish there are quite a few words for relationships between people, depending on how deep the relationship is. People who are the closest to you, you call przyjaciel if it’s a man, and przyjaciółka if it’s a woman. |
| Brandon: Those two translate to “friend” in English. But in English, we use “friend” to refer to many different people, not necessarily those who are very dear to us. |
| Marzena: In Polish, przyjaciel or przyjaciółka are rarely used, because they refer to a very special relationship which doesn’t happen that often in life. |
| Brandon: So it’s very important to remember the difference between those two sets of words. Marzena, can you repeat them for us? |
| Marzena: Sure! Kolega / koleżanka and przyjaciel / przyjaciółka |
| Brandon: Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Marzena: kawa |
| Brandon: “coffee” |
| Marzena: The word can refer to both the coffee beans as well as the drink . |
| Brandon: Let’s go through a few sample phrases that make a use of this noun. |
| Marzena: Firstly, filiżanka kawy |
| Brandon: “a cup of coffee” |
| Marzena: kawa z mlekiem |
| Brandon: “coffee with milk” |
| Marzena: kawa rozpuszczalna |
| Brandon: “instant coffee”. Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Brandon: In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to use the only reflexive pronoun that exists in the Polish language. |
| Marzena: And that’s się. I must admit that it’s a pretty difficult topic, but listeners, I hope you won’t get discouraged. Just remember that practice is key. |
| Brandon: Can we compare it in any way to English? |
| Marzena: In most cases it’s completely different. First of all in English there are many words ending with “self”, whereas in Polish there’s always just the one się. Also in many cases Polish sentences are reflexive, but in English they are not. There are a few exceptions, though, and we will talk about those too. |
| Brandon: So when should we use the reflexive pronoun? |
| Marzena: First of all there are some verbs that ALWAYS need the pronoun się, so when you learn them, learn them as a set. |
| Brandon: Let’s go through those verbs. Listeners, Marzena will give you Polish, then please repeat after her. Then I’ll give you the English, and at the end we’ll add a sample sentence that uses the verb. |
| Marzena: Everyone ready? Here we go - cieszyć się |
| Brandon: (pause) This means “to be happy/glad” or “to rejoice” |
| Marzena: Cieszę się, że cię widzę. |
| Brandon: “I’m glad to see you” |
| Marzena: next - bać się |
| Brandon: (pause) “to be afraid/scared” |
| Marzena: Boję się egzaminu z matematyki. |
| Brandon: “I’m scared of Math exams” |
| Marzena: next - śmiać się |
| Brandon: (pause) “to laugh” |
| Marzena: Robert śmieje się z mojego żartu. |
| Brandon: “Robert is laughing at my joke” |
| Marzena: next - nazywać się |
| Brandon: (pause) “to be called” |
| Marzena: Nazywam się Nowak. |
| Brandon: “My name is Nowak.” |
| Marzena: There are also Polish verbs that have English equivalents. |
| Brandon: That’s definitely good news! Can you give us a few examples of those? |
| Marzena: Of course. They are - umyć się |
| Brandon: “to wash oneself” |
| Marzena: and - rozbierać się |
| Brandon: “to undress oneself” |
| Marzena: and - zaczynać się |
| Brandon: “to begin/to get yourself started” |
Outro |
|---|
| Marzena: There are many of these words in the notes of this lesson, so be sure to check them out. |
| Brandon: Just remember to learn these verbs together with the reflexive pronoun, listeners! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Marzena: Bye in Polish |
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