How to Ask for a Word in Polish

Learn how to ask for a word in Polish

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can Do Polish by PolishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask how to say something in Polish.

For example, "How do you say 'book' in Polish?" is

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

Kaja Kowalski is at a cafe doing a language exchange with her classmate, Anna Kowalska.

It’s the Polish portion of the exchange, and she points at the textbook and asks what it's called in Polish.

Before you hear the conversation, let's preview some of its key components.

Polski.

"Polish"

Polski.

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

Mówi się "książka".

Once more with the English translation.

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

"How do you say 'book' in Polish?"

Mówi się "książka".

"You say 'book'."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Kaja asks,

"How do you say 'book' in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

The standard way to ask for the meaning of a word in Polish follows a simple pattern.

First is jak, "how." Jak. Jak.

Next is się mówi, "one says." Się mówi.

Się, roughly translating as "one," as in "one says." Się. Się.

Next is the word, mówi, "says," as in "one says." Mówi.

Mówi is from the verb, mówić, meaning "to say." Mówić.

Together, Jak się mówi, literally "How one says," but translates as "how does one say." Jak się mówi.

After this is the phrase, po polsku, meaning "in Polish." Po polsku.

First is po, "in." Po. Po.

After this is, polsku, "Polish," as in "the Polish language." Polsku. Polsku.

Polsku is from the adjective, polski, meaning "Polish." Polski.

Last is the English word, "book."

All together, Jak się mówi po polsku "book"? means something like, "How one says in Polish 'book'," but translates as, "How does one say 'book' in Polish?" and in more natural English, "How do you say 'book' in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

Let’s take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Anna says,

"You say 'book.'"

Mówi się "książka".

First is the phrase, mówi się, literally "says one," but translates here as "you say." Mówi się.

After this is the answer to the question, książka, "book." Książka. Książka.

All together Mówi się "książka," means something like "One says 'book,'" but it translates as "You say 'book.'"

Mówi się "książka".

The pattern is:

Jak się mówi po polsku "ENGLISH WORD"?

"How do you say 'ENGLISH WORD' in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "ENGLISH WORD"?

To use this pattern, simply replace the {ENGLISH WORD} placeholder with the word you want to know.

Imagine you want to know the Polish word for "pen."

Ask

"How do you say 'pen' in Polish?"

Ready?

Jak się mówi po polsku "pen"?

"How do you say ‘pen’ in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "pen"?

This lesson introduces a grammatically complex, but commonly used, pattern: the impersonal form with się. Się is a gender-neutral, indefinite pronoun. The się-construction is used to express what people do in general, rather than point to a specific person.

The pattern is a verb in the third person plus się. The example used in the lesson was mówi się, literally, "says one," but translates as "one says." Let’s quickly look at a few more examples.

Nazywa się, literally "calls one," but it translates as "one calls," as in "one calls it 'a book.'"

Je się, literally "eats one," but it translates as "one eats," as in "one eats a lot at Christmas."

Śpi się, literally "sleeps one," but it translates as "one sleeps," as in "one sleeps late on Saturday."

Again, the key pattern is

Jak się mówi po polsku "ENGLISH WORD"?

"How do you say 'ENGLISH WORD' in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "ENGLISH WORD"?

Let’s look at some more examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

"How do you say "book" in Polish?"

Mówi się "książka."

"You say "book."

Jak się mówi po polsku "pen"?

"How do you say "pen" in Polish?"

Mówi się "długopis."

"You say "pen."

Jak się mówi "bag"?

"How do you say "bag" in Polish?"

Mówi się "torba."

"You say "bag."

Jak się mówi po polsku "pencil"?

"How do you say "pencil" in Polish?"

Mówi się "ołówek."

"You say "pencil."

Jak to się nazywa?

"What do you call this in Polish?"

To się nazywa "książka."

"It's called "book."

Did you notice how the native speaker used a different sentence pattern?

Jak to się nazywa?

"What you call this?"

Jak to się nazywa? literally, "How this does one call," but it translates as "What do you call this?"

First is jak, translating as "what" here. Jak.

Next is to, "this." To. To.

Following this is się nazywa, literally "one calls," but translates as "you call." Się nazywa.

First is się, "one." Się.

Next is nazywa, "calls." Nazywa. Nazywa.

Nazywa is from the verb nazywać, meaning "to be called. Nazywać.

Note: po polsku, "in Polish," may be omitted if understood from context.

All together, Jak to się nazywa? Literally, "What this one calls," but translates as "What you call this?" Jak to się nazywa?

This is a very useful pattern for using Polish to learn Polish.

Remember this phrase. You’ll need it later in the lesson.

The response would be as follows,

"This is called a 'book.'" To się nazywa "książka".

To się nazywa "książka," literally, "This one calls 'book'," but translates as "It’s called a 'book.'" To się nazywa "książka".

Let’s review the key vocabulary.

Torba.

"bag"

Torba.

Długopis.

"pen"

Długopis.

Ołówek.

"pencil"

Ołówek.

To.

"this"

To.

Nazywać się.

"to be called"

Nazywać się.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "Polish?"

Polski.

And how to say

"in Polish?"

Po polsku.

Do you remember how to say "how?"

Jak.

Do you remember how Kaja asks,

"How do you say 'book' in Polish?"

Jak się mówi po polsku "book"?

Do you remember how to say "book?"

Książka.

And do you remember how Anna says,

"You say 'book.'"

Mówi się "książka".

Do you remember how to say "this?"

To.

And how to say

"What do you call this?"

Jak to się nazywa?

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Karolina Kowalski, and you’re having a language-exchange lunch with Jolanta Jablonska.

You point to the pen and ask, "How do you say 'pen' in Polish?"

Ready?

Jak się mówi po polsku "pen"?

Mówi się "długopis".

Listen again and repeat.

Jak się mówi po polsku "pen"?

Now you want to know the word for "bag," omit "in Polish."

Ready?

Jak się mówi "bag"?

Mówi się "torba."

Listen again and repeat.

Jak się mówi "bag"?

Let's try one more.

Imagine you’re Konrad Kowalski , and you’re studying with your classmate. Point at a pencil and ask "What do you call this?"

Ready?

Jak to się nazywa?

To się nazywa "ołówek".

Listen again and repeat.

Jak to się nazywa?

In this lesson, you learned how to ask how to say something in Polish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of asking for clarification. Let’s review.

Do you remember the informal way to say

"Excuse me."

Przepraszam.

And how to say “repeat?”

Powtórzyć.

Do you remember how to say,

"Excuse me, can you repeat that" in informal Polish?

Przepraszam, czy możesz powtórzyć?

Imagine You're Jack Jones , and you're meeting your fellow student Anna Kowalska for the first time. She introduces herself, but you can't catch her name.

Respond to her introduction, and ask her to repeat it one more time, and slowly.

Ready?

Jestem Anna. Miło mi.

Przepraszam, czy możesz powtrórzyć?

Listen again, and repeat.

Przepraszam, czy możesz powtrórzyć?

On a different occasion you're doing a language exchange. In the Polish portion of it you want to know how to say pencil in Polish.

Ask Anna Kowalska how to say "pencil" in Polish..

Jak się mówi po polsku "pencil"?

Mówi się "ołówek".

Listen again, and repeat.

Jak się mówi po polsku "pencil"?

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Ask for Clarification unit of this course.

Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills.

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You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like.

Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results.

Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson!

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