How to Talk About Your Nationality

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Polish by PolishPod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your nationality in Polish.

For example, "I'm American" is

Jestem Amerykanką.

Two passengers, Karolina Kowalski and Maciej Mazur , are seated next to each other as passengers on a plane to Poland.

Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components.

Amerykanka.

"American"

Amerykanka.

Listen to the conversation.

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

Once more with the English translation.

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

"Are you American?"

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

"Yes, I'm American."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Maciej asks,

"Are you American?"

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

First is czy, something like "whether," in this context. Czy. Czy.

Note, there is no corresponding English translation here.

Next is pani jest, "you are," in this context. Pani jest.

First is pani, literally "Ms," but translates as "you" when addressing a woman using formal Polish. Pani. Pani.

Note, in Polish, the formal titles Mr. and Ms. are used to create the polite form.

The formal title is determined by the gender of the conversation partner. If the partner is male, the title would be pan.

Next is jest, literally "is," but translates as "are" in this context. Jest. Jest.

Jest is from the verb być meaning "to be." Być.

After this is Amerykanką, "American" when referring to a woman." Amerykanką. Amerykanką.

Amerykanką comes from the noun, Amerykanka, meaning "American woman." Amerykanka. Notice how the ending changes. Amerykanka becomes Amerykanką in this sentence. Amerykanką is used in this case because it follows jest.

The grammatical term here is the instrumental case.

All together, Czy pani jest Amerykanką? literally "Whether Mrs. is American," but translates as "Are you American?"

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says,

"Yes, I'm American."

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

This starts with tak, meaning "yes." Tak. Tak.

It answers Mr. Mazur's yes-or-no question, "Are you American?"

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Next is jestem. "I am." Jestem. Jestem.

Note: here jestem is a shortened form of ja jestem, "I am." In Polish, ja, "I," is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.

Jestem is from the verb być, meaning "to be." Być.

Next is amerykanką, "American woman." Amerykanką.

Amerykanką is placed in the instrumental case, because it follows jestem.

All together, Tak, jestem Amerykanką. "Yes, I'm American."

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

The pattern is

Jestem NATIONALITY.

"I'm NATIONALITY."

Jestem NATIONALITY.

Simply replace the {nationality} placeholder with your nationality.

Note: This pattern requires nouns in the instrumental case.

Imagine you're Mr. Mazur, and you're Polish. The word for a "Polish man" is Polak. When it follows jestem it becomes Polakiem. Polakiem.

Say

"I'm Polish."

Ready?

Jestem Polakiem.

"I'm Polish."

Jestem Polakiem.

In the conversation, the response to the yes-no question was "yes."

In case the answer was "no," the corresponding Polish response would be nie, meaning, "no." Nie. Nie.

For example, if Ms. Kowalski was asked

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

"Are you American?"

She could have answered

Nie, jestem Polką.

"No, I'm Polish."

Remember this pattern. You’ll need it for the practice section.

When talking about your nationality, the noun is placed in the instrumental.

There are some simple rules that will help you create the instrumental case based on the ending of the noun. You’ll learn a few in this lesson.

In general, masculine singular nouns in the instrumental tend to end with -em.

Polak, "Polish man" becomes Polakiem.

For example,

Jestem Polakiem, "I am Polish."

Anglik, "Englishman," becomes Anglikiem.

Note: In Polish Anglik in a strict sense means "English," but it's widely used to mean "British."

For all feminine nouns ending in an -a, simply replace the ending with an -ą.

Polka, "Polish woman," becomes Polką.

Again, the key pattern is

Jestem NATIONALITY.

"I'm NATIONALITY."

Jestem NATIONALITY.

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

Jestem Amerykanką.

"I'm American."

Jestem Amerykanką.

Jestem Polakiem.

"I'm Polish."

Jestem Polakiem.

Jestem Australijką.

"I'm Australian."

Jestem Australijką.

Jestem Anglikiem.

"I'm English."

Jestem Anglikiem.

Nie jestem Japonką, jestem Chinką.

"I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese."

Nie jestem Japonką, jestem Chinką.

Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern?

Nie jestem Japonką, jestem Chinką.

"I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese."

First is nie, "not." Nie. Nie.

Next is jestem. "I am." Jestem.

Together, it's nie jestem, literally "not I am," but it translates as "I'm not." Nie jestem.

Next is Japonką. "Japanese." Japonką. Japonką.

Japonką is from Japonka, "Japanese woman."

All together, Nie jestem Japonką. "I'm not Japanese." Nie jestem Japonką.

Jing Liu then states her actual nationality. Jestem Chinką. "I'm Chinese." Jestem Chinką.

First, jestem "I am." Jestem.

Next is Chinką, "Chinese." Chinką. Chinką.

Chinką is from Chinka, "Chinese woman."

Together, Jestem Chinką. "I'm Chinese." Jestem Chinką.

All together, Nie jestem Japonką, jestem Chinką. Literally "Not am Japanese. I am Chinese." But it translates as "I'm not Japanese. I'm Chinese."

Nie jestem Japonką, jestem Chinką.

The pattern is:

Nie jestem NATIONALITY, jestem ACTUAL NATIONALITY.

"I'm not NATIONALITY. I'm ACTUAL NATIONALITY."

This can be shortened to

Nie, jestem Chinką. "No, I'm Chinese." Nie, jestem Chinką.

This pattern is:

Nie, jestem ACTUAL NATIONALITY.

"No, I'm ACTUAL NATIONALITY."

Remember this shortened pattern. You’ll need it for the practice section.

Let's review the new words.

In Polish, adjectives of nationality can change based on gender. In these cases, we provide the masculine word for the nationality followed by the feminine one.

"Polish"

Polakiem. Polakiem.

Polką. Polką.

"American."

Amerykaninem. Amerykaninem.

Amerykanką. Amerykanką.

"Australian."

Australijczykiem. Australijczykiem.

Australijką. Australijką.

"British."

Anglikiem. Anglikiem.

Angielką. Angielką.

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 "yes?"

tak

And the word for an "American" woman, when it follows jestem?

Amerykanką.

Do you remember how Ms. Kowalski says,

"Yes, I'm American."?

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

Do you remember how Mr. Mazur asks,

"Are you American?"

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Do you remember how to say "British man," when it follows jestem?

Anglikiem.

Do you remember how to say "Australian woman," when it follows jestem?

Australijką.

Do you remember how to say "no?"

nie

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Kaja Kowalski , and you're American, or Amerykanką in Polish.

Respond to the question.

Ready?

Czy pani jest Amerykanką?

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

Listen again and repeat.

Tak, jestem Amerykanką.

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Mia Martin , and you're Australian or Australijką.

Ready?

Czy pani jest Angielką?

Nie, jestem Australijką.

Listen again and repeat.

Nie, jestem Australijką.

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Jack Jones , and you're English, or Anglikiem.

Ready?

Czy pan jest Anglikiem?

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

Listen again and repeat.

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

In Polish, nationality nouns are always written with an uppercase letter.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your nationality in Polish. This plays an essential role in the larger skill of introducing yourself. Let’s review.

Do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says,

"I'm Karolina Kowalski."

Jestem Karolina Kowalski.

And do you remember how Karolina Kowalski says

"I'm Karolina Kowalski. Nice to meet you."

Jestem Karolina Kowalski. Miło mi.

Do you remember how to say "from?"

And how to say "from Miami"?

Z Miami.

Do you remember how Karolina says,

"I'm from Miami."

Jestem z Miami.

Do you remember how to say "from where"?

Skąd.

And do you remember how Maciej Mazur asks,

"Where are you from?"

Literally, "From where Ms. is?"

Skąd pani jest?

Imagine you're Jack Jones , from London.

Do you remember how to pronounce "Jack Jones" in Polish?

Jack Jones.

Respond to Maciej Mazur 's self-introduction and follow-up question…

Ready?

Nazywam się Maciej Mazur. A Pan?

Jestem Jack Jones. Miło mi.

Listen again and repeat.

Jestem Jack Jones. Miło mi.

Do you remember how to say "London" in Polish?

Londynu.

Now respond that you’re from London.

Skąd pan jest?

Jestem z Londynu.

Listen again and repeat.

Jestem z Londynu.

And do you remember how to say "English" in Polish?

Anglikiem.

Now respond that you’re English.

Jest pan Anglikiem?

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

Listen again and repeat.

Tak, jestem Anglikiem.

Well done! This is the end of the lesson.

In this lesson, you learned how to talk about your nationality, an essential skill for introducing yourself.

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

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