Posts tagged w/ Vocabulary

Current News in Poland - Professor Religa’s Death

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
14
2009

If you were in Poland last week, you know there was one bit of sad news that was impossible to miss. The death of professor Zbigniew Religa. Yesterday was his funeral at Powązki Cemetery in Warszawa. This was much talked about, too. Not only because professor Religa was a famous kardiochirurg (heart surgeon), but also because he was an avowed ateista (atheist). His funeral service was entirely secular, and I didn’t even know that Powązki has an area where non-Catholics can be buried.

I admit, I don’t know much about medicine, and all I ever learned about cardiac surgery and heart transplants was from watching ER, but even I knew who Zbigniew Religa was. He was, without a doubt, the most famous Polish medical professional. By perforning the first heart transplant surgery in Poland, he proved that our country was capable of world-class medicine. And to the people whose lives he saved by giving them new hearts in his clinic in Zabrze, he will forever be a true hero.

His funeral was broadcast on TV and it was a very touching ceremony. People came from all over the country to pay their final respects. Professor Religa was buried with full honors normally reserved for heads of state and the like.

The saddest part of this story is the irony of his death. He died of lung cancer. Even though he was a highly educated heart surgeon fully aware of the dangers of tobacco, he was also a devoted smoker. And in his own words, he was “unable to quit.” When his lung cancer was detected, it was already in a very advanced state.

I myself don’t smoke, but I know a couple of people who used to justify their own nicotine addiction by saying that if Dr. Religa could smoke, and he was the Minister of Health at one point, then so could they. This week they both pledged to quit.

  • chirurg (masc., plural: chirurdzy) – surgeon
  • operacja (fem., plural: operacje) - surgery
  • lekarz (masc., plural: lekarze) – doctor
  • serce (neuter, plural: serca) – heart
  • nałóg (masc., non-personal, non-animate, plural: nałogi) – addiction
  • nikotyna (fem., no plural) – nicotine
  • papieros (masc., non-personal, non-animate, plural: papierosy) – cigarette
  • rak (masc., non-personal, plural: raki) – cancer
  • śmierć (fem., plural: śmierci) – death
  • pogrzeb (masc. non-personal, non-animate, plural: pogrzeby) – funeral
  • rzucić palenie – to quit smoking
  • palacz (masc., personal, plural: palacze) - smoker

Some of you might remember this famous photo:

It was taken by Jim Stanfield and published in National Geographic in 1987. The doctor in the photo is Zbigniew Religa. The patient is still alive and attended the funeral yesterday - he was interviewed by the media.

 
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Polish Word of the Week - Przeprowadzka

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
10
2009

Hi guys! I’m back in the land of internet again! I promise to respond to all your comments shortly. And a couple of them gave me ideas for new blog posts - thanks Pinolona and Jennifer! And audio files are coming back, too! I just need to unpack my boxes to find the mic.

But for now, let’s talk about przeprowadzka (moving house). You have to admit, it can be a very exciting experience. Yes, it’s also awfully stressful and tiresome. Plenty of stuff to do and to take care of. First pakowanie (packing), which can be a total disaster when done wrong. And it definitely went wrong in our case, or at least - not quite right. Being too cheap to hire a moving company, pakowaliśmy wszystko sami (we packed everything ourselves).

Today, when unpacking, I was faced with such life mysteries as socks inside a rice cooker (to economize space, I presume) and a cat carrier stuffed with assorted bathroom items (luckily, we have more than one cat carrier case, otherwise the furry ones would have been in trouble).

After this przeprowadzka, I can honestly say that I’ve had enough of moving house for a long while.

So, because I’m really not looking forward to more rozpakowywanie (unpacking) tonight, let’s talk about przeprowadzka vocabulary instead. Don’t worry, you’ll see it’s a very interesting word.

The word “przeprowadzka” is of course a noun, a feminine noun at that (plural: przeprowadzki). But where does it come from? From a verb. The verb is “przeprowadzać się.” And here is where it gets interesting.

You see, “przeprowadzać się” is an imperfective form of “przeprowadzić się.”

These two guys in turn come from other verbs – “prowadzać się” and “prowadzić się” respectively.

But the meaning of those stem verbs is totally different. And then different again, if you drop the reflexive “się” bit.

Take a look:

  • prowadzić (imperfective) – to drive (as in “prowadzić samochód” – to drive a car), to lead (as in “prowadzić naprzód” – to lead forward), to run (as in “prowadzić firmę” – to run a business), to guide (as in “prowadzić wycieczkę”) and so on…

  • prowadzić się – to behave, to conduct oneself

And see what happens when you stick “prze-“ to the front of this verb?

  • przeprowadzić – to lead (escort) someone across (as in “przeprowadzić babcię przez ulicę” – to escort grandma across the street), to carry out something (as in “przeprowadzić eksperyment” – to carry out an experiment)

and

  • przeprowadzić się – to move house

See? I told you this is an interesting word. How it managed to morph from “to drive” to “to move house” I’m not entirely sure. It’s one of those quirky little things that make Polish so much fun.

 
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Pleasantly Surprised with City Hall in Gdańsk

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Feb
12
2009

I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised with the speed and efficiency of Polish governmental offices. With the exception, perhaps, of Urząd Skarbowy (Tax Office), but then again, you can’t expect too much from the Taxman. They’re only fast if THEY want something from you, right?

But all the other offices I’ve dealt with so far – I have no complaints. Just the opposite, in fact.

I don’t know if this is just a local thing in Gdańsk, or if things are equally speedy and efficient in other towns. But I have to say, whatever they’re doing in Gdańsk, they’re doing it right.

Last week I had to submit some documents to Urząd Miejski w Gdańsku (City Hall in Gdańsk). So I showed up bright and early, handed my documents to the lady in the appropriate room and half expected her to have a cow. She admitted that one document was from a country she never even heard of, and the other - written in a script she didn’t know how to read. She wasn’t even sure if she was holding it upside down or not. But both papers were accompanied by that hateful thing required on official documents – apostille, and had translations (done by a sworn, official translator – tłumacz przysięgły) stapled to them, so she took them and made me sign a few papers and pay some money.

I had read on the internet that the average processing time for this type of document but issued by a Polish authority was about 30 days. So imagine my shock and surprise when two business days later a phone call came. This time I fully expected it to be about problems. But no. My documents were accepted and approved and I could send someone over to pick up the Polish versions.

This has been about the fourth time when the official offices in Gdańsk exceeded my wildest expectations. Whether dealing with Urząd Miejski or Urząd Wojewódzki or Urząd Stanu Cywilnego, my experiences were surprisingly pain-free and wholly positive.

The same however cannot be said about Urząd Skarbowy. C’mon Skarbówka, get on with the program! You’re ruining the good image for the rest of them.

  • Urząd Miejski – City Hall
  • Urząd Wojewódzki – Voivodeship Office (or Regional Office)
  • Urząd Stanu Cywilnego – Registry Office
  • Urząd Skarbowy (Skarbówka colloquially) – Tax Office
  • tłumacz przysięgły – [tłumacz (noun, masc., pl. tłumacze) - translator + przysięgły (adj., fem. przysięgła, pl.personal: przysięgli, pl.other: przysięgłe) – sworn] = sworn translator (one who is approved by the government to translate official stuff, like documents, court proceedings, etc.)
  • apostille – same in Polish as it is in English. In Poland you get an apostille from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw.
 
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Co się tutaj stało? - What happened here?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jan
10
2009

In the comments to the previous post, Yellerbelly made a very valid point regarding “co się stało?”

He said that he thought it meant “what’s wrong?”

I think it’s a reflection of our collective Polish psyche that something so innocent as “what happened” can imply “what’s wrong?” in our language. Just goes to show you that we, as Poles, always expect the worst.

Let’s take a closer look at “co się stało?”

  • co - what
  • się stało = stało się – happened, 3rd person singular, neuter, past tense

Now imagine this:
Your teenage daughter calls you and with a serious dose of panic in her voice says, “Dad, please don’t be mad…”
Your immediate reaction is “co się stało?” which here can be translated as “what’s wrong?”
“I totaled the car,” your daughter answers.

And this:
Your teenage daughter calls you and says, “Dad, ohmygod, you’re not gonna believe this!”
You ask “co się stało?” and here it simply means “what happened?”
“I got accepted to Stanford!” your daughter squeaks happily while you’re frantically trying to calculate in your head how on earth you’re going to pay for it.

“Stawać się,” as this verb looks in its basic dictionary form, also means “to become.”

For example, when in one of my moments I misspelled the name of the street I live on, and then can’t figure out why the mail is not getting to me, I can say “ostatnio staję się coraz głupsza i głupsza.” – I’m becoming stupider and stupider lately. Duh!

So, when you see this verb used in any other form than 3rd person singular, neuter, past tense, it will most likely mean “to become.”

In that 3rd person singular, neuter, past tense – “stało się” – it will most likely mean “to happen.”

And while we’re on the topic of “stało się,” here’s a handy Polish saying:

  • Co się stało, to się nie odstanie.

Literally, it means something like “what happened/what’s done, can’t be undone.”

So, when your daughter totaled your car and is crying over the phone, after asking her if she’s OK, you think to yourself “co się stało to się nie odstanie, but next time she’s definitely NOT borrowing MY car.”

And speaking of, have you noticed what happened here?
“Zauważyliście co się tutaj stało?”

The blog got a face-lift. Do you like the new design? I love it!

And now we’re also on Twitter!
Polish Blog on Twitter

So between blog posts here, you’ll be able to find me there, twitting away.

 
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Się, Part 1

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Jan
8
2009

Are you ready for another installment of Polish grammar? No? Don’t worry, I’m not ready either. We’ll get through it together.

A couple of posts back I started to talk about “się.” That was when I told you how this little word could alter the meaning of a verb. You have a verb without “się” and it means one thing. You stick “się” at the end and it means something else.
I gave “uczyć” (to teach) and “uczyć się” (to learn) as examples.

Here’s another one of such verbs: stawać.

  • stawać – to stand (up) – as in this expression: stawać na głowie (literally – to stand on one’s head) – to bend over backwards or to do one’s darnest

and then you have:

  • stawać się – to become, to happen – as in this expression (past tense): co się stało? – what happened?

By the way, did you notice how in this last example “się” migrated to the FRONT of the verb? “się” is like that, sometimes it can move, and sometimes it even HAS TO move. But that’s something we’ll talk about another day.

Let’s focus on the verbs for now.
OK, we need a verb. How about “myć” – a nice, short word.

  • “myć” means simply “to wash,” but
  • “myć się” – to wash oneself.

You want to see them in action? Sure thing!

  • Myję ręce. – I am washing (my) hands. See? No “się” here.
  • Myję się. – I am washing myself.

At least these two didn’t change in meaning. They’re still both about washing, right?

But apart from those verbs that can exist with or without “się,” there is a whole bunch that occurs almost exclusively with “się.” Here are just a few most popular ones:

  • domagać się – to demand
  • modlić się – to pray
  • domyślać się – to guess, to presume
  • dziać się – to happen
  • wahać się – to hesitate
  • upierać się – to stubbornly insist on something
  • opiekować się – to take care of
  • zgadzać się – to agree
  • zakochać się – to fall in love
  • nudzić się – to be bored
  • martwić się – to worry
  • cieszyć się – to be glad
  • dziwić się – to be surprised
  • denerwować się – to get upset
  • bać się – to be afraid (never occurs without “się”)
  • wstydzić się – to be embarrassed (never occurs without “się”)
  • śmiać się – to laugh

Do you notice anything particular about the verbs in the second group? Yes, many of them describe a state of mental agitation or feelings. Such verbs are almost always followed by “się” and in fact, as you can see, the two that I listed – bać się and wstydzić się do not occur without “się” at all.

To Be Continued…

 
Posted under Grammar, Vocabulary
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