Learn the difference between the prepositions na and do
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.
| MICHAEL: What is the difference between the prepositions, na and do? |
| MARZENA: And how do Polish speakers use these prepositions? |
| MICHAEL: At PolishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. |
| The following situation is typical. ANNA KOWALSKA (@COLLEGE-FRIENDF), a college student, sees BEN LEE (@HERO-SON) headed out of the university cafeteria and asks, |
| "Where are you going?" |
| ANNA KOWALSKA (@COLLEGE-FRIENDF): Gdzie idziesz? |
| ANNA KOWALSKA:Gdzie idziesz? |
| BEN LEE:Idę na pocztę. A ty? |
| ANNA KOWALSKA:Idę do supermarketu. |
| MICHAEL: Once more with the English translation. |
| ANNA KOWALSKA:Gdzie idziesz? |
| MICHAEL: Where are you going? |
| BEN LEE: Idę na pocztę. A ty? |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to the post office. And you?" |
| ANNA KOWALSKA: Idę do supermarketu. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to the supermarket." |
| MICHAEL: Many students have noticed that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: and the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: both translate as the same English preposition, "to," as in "I'm going to.…" In Polish, the word you need to use will change depending on the destination. |
| MICHAEL: Let's take a closer look at both responses. |
| Do you remember how Ben says, |
| "I'm going to the post office." |
| BEN LEE:Idę na pocztę. |
| MICHAEL: Here, Ben uses the dynamic preposition |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: meaning "to." A dynamic preposition is a preposition used with verbs of movement, like "to go" or "to ride." When used as a dynamic preposition, the preposition |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: is always followed by a noun in the accusative case. |
| You can use the preposition |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: when your destination is |
| one, an island, |
| two, a part of a territory — for example a district in a town, |
| or three, an event, like a party |
| (short pause). |
| There are also some destinations that require the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: and you'll need to memorize them. Here are the most common ones. |
| "Post office." |
| MARZENA: Poczta. |
| MICHAEL: "Airport." |
| MARZENA: Lotnisko. |
| MICHAEL: "University." |
| MARZENA: Uniwersytet. |
| MICHAEL: "Swimming pool." |
| MARZENA: Basen. |
| MICHAEL: Finally, while this preposition is not usually used with countries, it's sometimes necessary in a few isolated instances, such as, |
| "Ukraine." |
| MARZENA: Ukraina. |
| MICHAEL: "Hungary." |
| MARZENA: Węgry. |
| MICHAEL: And "Slovakia." |
| MARZENA: Słowacja. |
| MICHAEL: But remember that there are only few countries for which you can use this preposition, and you'll need to memorize them. |
| MICHAEL: Now let's take a look at our second preposition. |
| Do you remember how Anna says, |
| "I'm going to a supermarket." |
| MARZENA: Idę do supermarketu. |
| MICHAEL: Here Anna uses the preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: meaning "to." It's also a dynamic preposition. The preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: is always followed by a noun in the genitive case. |
| Recall that we have said that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: is used when the destination is a part of a territory, such as a city district, but not a country, and we have also given you some exceptions to this rule, such as Ukraine. The preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: on the other hand, is used when the destination is a country. For example, |
| MARZENA: Jadę do Francji. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to France." |
| Now, recall that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: is also used when the destination is an event like a university lecture or a party. The preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: on the other hand, is used when the destination is a person, meaning a person's house, workplace, or a place where that person is at a given moment. |
| For example, |
| MARZENA: Idę do Marka. |
| MICHAEL: This literally means "I'm going to Mark's," but it translates as "I'm going to Mark's house" or whatever other place he happens to be at the moment. |
| Now recall that we have also given you some special destinations, such as a "university" or an "airport" that will always come with the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na. |
| MICHAEL: The good news is that once you memorize these few exceptions you can use the preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: with all the other destinations, such as the "supermarket" in our example. |
| MARZENA: Idę do supermarketu. |
| MICHAEL: So far we have learned that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: is used when the destination is |
| one, an island, |
| two, a part of a territory, |
| three, certain countries, such as Ukraine, |
| four, an event, |
| and five, some special locations that you need to memorize: |
| an airport, a university, or a post office. |
| In general, it tends to be used when you're heading to a big open space, but there are some exceptions. |
| We have also learned that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: is used when the desitionation is |
| one, a country, two, a person, or three anything else that is not covered by the preposition, |
| MARZENA: Na. |
| MICHAEL: This makes it a very productive preposition so be sure to take advantage of its flexibility!! |
| Examples |
| MICHAEL: Now let's look at some examples. Our first example is |
| MARZENA: Jadę na Majorkę (enunciated). |
| Jadę na Majorkę. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to Majorca." This uses the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: because Majorca is an island. |
| The next example is |
| MARZENA: Jadę na Mazury (enunciated). |
| Jadę na Mazury. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to Masuria." This uses the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: because Masuria is a region in Poland and a part of Polish territory. The next example is |
| MARZENA: Jadę na Ukrainę (enunciated). |
| Jadę na Ukrainę. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to Ukraine." This uses the preposition, na, |
| because Ukraine is one of the exceptions. The next example is |
| MARZENA: Idę na przyjęcie (enunciated). |
| Idę na przyjęcie. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to the party." This uses the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: because a party is an event. |
| The next example is |
| MARZENA: Idę na uniwersytet (enunciated). |
| Idę na uniwersytet. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to the university." This uses |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: because a university is one of very few exceptions when we use this preposition. The next example is |
| MARZENA: Jadę do Niemiec (enunciated). |
| Jadę do Niemiec. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to Germany." This uses |
| MARZENA: do |
| MICHAEL: because Germany is a country and we use this preposition with most countries. |
| The next example is |
| MARZENA: Idę do Tomka (enunciated). |
| Idę do Tomka. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to Tomek's place." This uses |
| MARZENA: do |
| MICHAEL: because Tomek is a person. |
| And our last example is |
| MARZENA: Idę do sklepu (enunciated). |
| Idę do sklepu. |
| MICHAEL: "I'm going to the shop." This uses |
| MARZENA: do |
| MICHAEL: because a shop is not one of the very few exceptions we have listed for you, with which you would use the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na. |
| MICHAEL: Once again, remember that |
| MARZENA: do |
| MICHAEL: is one of the most productive prepositions! |
| MICHAEL: Now let's take a look at a situation where you can use both prepositions, but the meaning of the sentence will change. For example |
| MARZENA: Jadę do Krakowa (enunciated). |
| Jadę do Krakowa. |
| MICHAEL: This means "I'm going to Krakow." And there is the nuance that this is the destination. Now listen to the second sentence. |
| MARZENA: Jadę na Kraków. (enunciated) |
| Jadę na Kraków. |
| MICHAEL: This means "I'm heading towards Krakow." But Krakow may not be my destination. This sentence would be used only to describe the direction in which you're moving. |
| Practice Section |
| MICHAEL: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the Polish speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how BEN LEE (@HERO-SON) says, |
| "I'm going to the post office." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| MARZENA KARPINSKA AS BEN LEE |
| Idę na pocztę. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Idę na pocztę. |
| MICHAEL: And how ANNA KOWALSKA (@COLLEGE-FRIENDF) says, |
| "I'm going to the supermarket." |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| MARZENA AS ANNA KOWALSKA |
| Idę do supermarketu. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Idę do supermarketu. |
| MICHAEL: Now, one last insider hint. Remember that the preposition, |
| MARZENA: do, |
| MICHAEL: Is used much more often than the preposition, |
| MARZENA: na, |
| MICHAEL: So this means that if you memorize when to use |
| MARZENA: na |
| MICHAEL: You can use |
| MARZENA: do |
| MICHAEL: in all the other cases! |
| Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| MARZENA: Do usłyszenia! |
| MICHAEL: "Bye, see you next time!" |
Comments
Hide