Learn how to say "can" and "be able to"
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 |
| Brandon: Hello everyone, and welcome back to PolishPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 9: “Planning a Polish Christmas Feast.” I’m Brandon. |
| Marzena: And I’m Marzena. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the Polish words for “can” and “be able to.” |
| Marzena: This conversation takes place at home. |
| Brandon: It’s between Tom and Jane. |
| Marzena: Since the speakers are friends, they’ll be using informal Polish. |
| Brandon: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Jane: Umiesz robić pierogi? |
| Tom: Umiem. Czemu pytasz? |
| Jane: Bo potrzebuję twojej pomocy przy gotowaniu na święta. |
| Tom: Nie ma problemu! Potrafię też robić rybę po grecku. |
| Jane: Super! To jeszcze tylko dziesięć dań. |
| Brandon: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jane: Umiesz robić pierogi? |
| Tom: Umiem. Czemu pytasz? |
| Jane: Bo potrzebuję twojej pomocy przy gotowaniu na święta. |
| Tom: Nie ma problemu! Potrafię też robić rybę po grecku. |
| Jane: Super! To jeszcze tylko dziesięć dań. |
| Brandon: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Jane: Umiesz robić pierogi? |
| Brandon: Can you make pierogi? |
| Tom: Umiem. Czemu pytasz? |
| Brandon: I can. Why do you ask? |
| Jane: Bo potrzebuję twojej pomocy przy gotowaniu na święta. |
| Brandon: Because I need help with cooking for Christmas. |
| Tom: Nie ma problemu! Potrafię też robić rybę po grecku. |
| Brandon: No problem! I can also make a Greek-style fish. |
| Jane: Super! To jeszcze tylko dziesięć dań. |
| Brandon: Super! So only ten dishes left. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Are we going to talk about food again? |
| Marzena: Yes! I know it’s everyone’s favorite topic! |
| Brandon: Hopefully our listeners ate something before this lesson. I’m guessing we’re going to talk about the types of food Poles eat at Christmas. |
| Marzena: Exactly! In Poland, Christmas is very traditional and we prepare many special dishes for this dinner. |
| Brandon: What are some examples? |
| Marzena: Ryba po grecku, which is fried cod in carrot and onion stew, or karp lub dorsz w galarecie, which is carp or cod in an aspic. |
| Brandon: Sounds yummy! |
| Marzena: Something very interesting about Christmas Eve dinner in Poland is that we don’t eat meat. All of our dishes are made from fish, vegetables, grains, and nuts. |
| Brandon: There’s much more to learn about Polish Christmas food, so be sure to check out the lesson notes! Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Brandon: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Marzena: umieć [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: can, to be able to |
| Marzena: umieć [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: umieć [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: pytać [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to ask |
| Marzena: pytać [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: pytać [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: potrzebować [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to need |
| Marzena: potrzebować [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: potrzebować [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: Pomocy! [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: Help! |
| Marzena: Pomocy! [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: Pomocy! [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: gotować [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: to cook |
| Marzena: gotować [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: gotować [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: problem [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: problem |
| Marzena: problem [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: problem [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Marzena: ryba [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: fish |
| Marzena: ryba [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: ryba [natural native speed] |
| : And Last: |
| Marzena: danie [natural native speed] |
| Brandon: dish |
| Marzena: danie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Marzena: danie [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of the words and phrases from this lesson. Marzena, what’s our first word? |
| Marzena: Gotować. |
| Brandon: “To cook.” |
| Marzena: It can mean “to prepare” food as well as “to boil” it. For example, gotować wodę na herbatę. |
| Brandon: Meaning “to boil water for tea.” |
| Marzena: An example of a sentence with the other meaning is, Moja babcia dobrze gotuje. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “My grandma cooks well.” |
| Marzena: There are two other words that mean the same as gotować. |
| Brandon: And those are? |
| Marzena: Pichcić and pitrasić. |
| Brandon: Wow! They sound super difficult to pronounce. Listeners, try to repeat after Marzena. |
| Marzena: Pichcić (pause) ….. pitrasić. |
| Brandon: (pause) Okay, what’s the next word? |
| Marzena: Ryba. |
| Brandon: “Fish.” |
| Marzena: It’s a feminine noun, and it’s used in quite a few interesting sayings. |
| Brandon: These are always fun to hear. What’s the first one? |
| Marzena: Zdrowy jak ryba, which literally means “healthy as a fish.” You use this in reference to a person who has recovered from an illness or one who is very healthy in general. |
| Brandon: I already can’t wait to hear the others. |
| Marzena: Well then here’s the next one: czuć się jak ryba w wodzie, meaning “to feel like a fish in the water.” |
| Brandon: “To be very comfortable in certain situations or environments.” Listeners, there’s a bit more to discover about these two vocabulary words... |
| Marzena: ...so be sure to check out the lesson notes! |
| Brandon: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Brandon: In this lesson, we’ll compare two quite similar Polish verbs. What are they, Marzena? |
| Marzena: They’re umieć and potrafić. |
| Brandon: They translate into the English words for “able to” and “can.” |
| Marzena: Let’s start with potrafić. |
| Brandon: It expresses the “ability or capacity to do something,” or “to manage to do something.” |
| Marzena: Well said. When you use this verb, you’re rather confident about your abilities. |
| Brandon: It follows the second conjugation pattern. |
| Marzena: Hopefully everyone already knows what that means. |
| Brandon: Let’s not be too strict and give our listeners the singular forms. |
| Marzena: Okay, here we go - potrafię. |
| Brandon: “I’m able to.” |
| Marzena: Potrafisz. |
| Brandon: “You’re able to.” |
| Marzena: Potrafi. |
| Brandon: “He’s able to.” |
| Marzena: You’ll find the full list of conjugated verbs in the lesson notes. |
| Brandon: Is there anything else we should know about this verb? |
| Marzena: Yes, one more important thing. When potrafić is combined with another verb, that verb changes into an infinitive. For example, potrafię czytać. |
| Brandon: “I can read.” |
| Marzena: The second verb we’ll discuss in this lesson is umieć. |
| Brandon: How is it different from the previous verb? |
| Marzena: It means more or less the same, so it can be used in the same situations as potrafić. However, umieć also implies that the speaker has a theoretical knowledge of how to do something. Another difference is that umieć is more colloquial, so you use it when you’re talking with friends or other people you know well. Potrafić is used in more formal situations. |
| Brandon: As for the conjugation pattern, it follows the fourth one. |
| Marzena: The singular forms are as follows, umiem. |
| Brandon: “I can.” |
| Marzena: Umiesz. |
| Brandon: “You can.” |
| Marzena: Umie. |
| Brandon: “He can.” |
| Marzena: Just like potrafić, umieć combines with another verb and changes that verb into an infinitive. For example, umiem robić. |
| Brandon: Meaning, “I can make.” |
Outro |
| Marzena: OK, for more examples of both verbs, please check out the lesson notes. |
| Brandon: We hope you enjoyed this lesson, and don’t forget to come back for the next one! Thanks for listening, bye! |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Marzena: Premium members, get all the lessons or just the lessons you want with My Feed. |
| Brandon: My Feed is a powerful tool that delivers lessons and materials you want, right to your computer. |
| Marzena: Choose your level and the lessons you want at PolishPod101.com. |
| Brandon: A personalized profile is created, and you can download ALL the lessons with a click of the button. |
| Marzena: This is a great way to customize your language learning experience. |
| Brandon: So that you can just focus on mastering Polish! |
| Marzena: Go to PolishPod101.com to set up your customized My Feed today! |
Comments
Hide