Learn the basic rules of Polish sentence structure
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: How are sentences structured in Polish? |
| Igor: And are the grammatical rules rigid? |
| Michael: At PolishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Ben Lee is a foreign exchange student and he is walking in central Warsaw with his friend Anna Kowalska. Ben notices a celebrity on the street and he points the celebrity out to Anna by saying, |
| "I know him. It's Zenek Martyniuk." |
| Ben Lee: Znam go. To Zenek Martyniuk! |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Znam go, to Zenek Martyniuk! |
| Anna Kowalska: Też go znam. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Znam go, to Zenek Martyniuk! |
| Michael: "I know him. It's Zenek Martyniuk." |
| Anna Kowalska: Też go znam. |
| Michael: "I know him too." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In the conversation, both Ben Lee and Anna say different versions of the sentence, "I know him!." In English, Anna only adds another word — the word for "too." |
| Igor: Też. |
| Michael: But did you notice how the words were also in a different order? Whereas Ben says, "I know him!" |
| Igor: Znam go. |
| Michael: Anna literally says, "[I] too him know!" |
| Igor: Też go znam. |
| Michael: In Polish, word order is relatively flexible. While basic Polish is classified as an S-V-O language, especially in an affirmative sentence, this order does not need to be observed as strictly as in English. This is because, in English, meaning depends almost entirely on word order. In Polish, however, the forms that are used for each of the words carry a lot of grammatical information. If you want to convey something, you use prefixes and endings to make changes to the word, rather than change the whole sentence structure. Almost all Polish words can be changed in this way. |
| Let's take a closer look at both responses. |
| [RECALL 1] |
| Michael: Do you remember how Ben says, |
| "[I] know him!" |
| Igor: Znam go. |
| Michael: Ben omits the subject "I," |
| Igor: Ja |
| Michael: But follows the S-V-O order. First, he uses the verb, "know," |
| Igor: Znam, |
| Michael: Then, he says the object pronoun, "him." |
| Igor: Go. |
| [RECALL 2] |
| Michael: Now let's take a look at our second version. |
| Do you remember how Anna says, |
| "I know him too!" |
| Igor: Też go znam. |
| Michael: Anna's sentence differs from Ben's by only one extra word, "too," |
| Igor: Też. |
| Michael: But she also uses a different sentence structure to express the exact same thought, basically, because of the natural flow of the sentence that includes "too." She starts off with the "too" |
| Igor: Też. |
| Michael: Then, like Ben, she omits the subject, and inserts the object pronoun "him," |
| Igor: Go. |
| Michael: The last word in Anna's sentence is the verb, "know." |
| Igor: Znam. |
| Michael: As you can see, this sentence, although it is affirmative, follows the subject-object-verb pattern. It may sound difficult, but don't worry—the more Polish you use, the better you'll know which sentence structure you should use to sound natural! |
| [SUMMARY] |
| Michael: So far we learned that although Polish is classified as a Subject-Verb-Object language, the words can be moved around rather freely. This is because Polish speakers change the words themselves rather than the entire sentence. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: Does the free word order mean that two sentences with different word orders convey the same nuance? Not exactly. Let's consider two examples. |
| Igor: Czytam gazetę. (enunciated) |
| Czytam gazetę. |
| Michael: Meaning "I'm reading the newspaper." Here, the subject "I" is omitted and {Gazeta} is the object. This sentence is a simple informative statement. |
| Igor: Gazetę czytam. (enunciated) |
| Gazetę czytam. |
| Michael: This sentence also means "I'm reading the newspaper." Here, the object "Gazeta" is put at the beginning of the sentence, which indicates that this is the most important piece of information in this sentence. Such an uncommon word order would usually be used for a reason. This sentence for example might be a reply to someone's question, "What are you reading?" Thus, we change the word order to emphasize a particular piece of information, or use it to change speaking style. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Igor: Do usłyszenia! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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