Survival phrases

The most common ways of greeting

Let us begin with greeting people around us.

As in all languages, there is a formal way to greet - e.g. I enter a company for a job interview - and an informal way - e.g. I greet a friend and I invite him to drink something.

Here you can find translated the English way of greeting with the corresponding Polish words which would be used in the same occasions; between /slash/ you find an approximate pronunciation of the word:

hi, hello = cześć                                /tsests/

bye bye = na razie                            /na raзe/

good evening = dobry wieczór          /dobre vietsiur/

goodnight = dobranoc                      /dobranots/

see you = do widzenia                     /do vidzenia/

see you tomorrow = do jutra            /do iutra/

good morning = dzień dobry            /dgiegn dobre/

Basic words of the speech

yes: tak

no: nie

stop it: przestań

maybe: chyba

yesterday: wczoraj

today: dzisiaj

tomorrow: jutro

here: tutaj

there: tam

sorry: przepraszam

thank you: dziękuję

ATTENTION: when Polish people nod while speaking to someone else, such as "ah yeah, right" they say "no, no...". In other words, "no" means "yes". Polish denial is "nie".

Now you will find some sentences which might be useful when you visit Poland; at the moment we will not study them from a grammatical point of view, but we will learn them by heart in order to use them fast in the emergency reasons.

In order to listen the polish pronunciation please copy the sentences and paste them here(LINK http://www.ivona.com/pl/).

At the restaurant

I would like to book a table = chciałbym zarezerwować stolik

May I ask for the menu? = czy mogę prosić menu?

Something to drink? = Coś do picia?

I would like this = poproszę to

May I have the bill? = mogę prosić o rachunek?

May I have the invoice? = mogę prosić o fakturę?

On the street

May I have a sandwich? = poproszę jedną kanapkę

Where is the center? To the right, to the left, go straight = Gdzie jest centrum? Na prawo, na lewo, prosto / na wprost

Help! = Pomocy!

At the mechanic's

I have a broken car = mam zepsuty samochód

How much to repair it? = ile kosztuje naprawa?

How long does it take? = ile czasu to zajmie?

I need a spare wheel = potrzebuję dodatkowe koło

ATTENTION: the word "wulkanizacja", which you will see in some whops. means "vulcanization" and stays for that process of reparation of wheels. You know that you can buy very cheap wheels which will actually lose their pieces by the way.

Let us end with some slang lexicon:

doyouknowpolska.com

Exercises

The first dialogues

Fill the gaps. Next to the dialogue you find the English translation. Between parenthesis you find the literal translation of what Polish people say.
At the bottom of the exercise you find a small keyboard with Polish letters.

INFORMAL

A - ! A - Hi!
B - ! Jak się masz? B - Hi! How are you? (how do you have yourself?)
A - Dobrze, a ty? A - Fine, and you?
B - Bardzo dobrze! B - Very well!
A - ! A - Bye bye!


FORMAL

A - . A - Good morning.
B - . B - Good morning.
A - Jak ma Pani na imię? A - What is your name Mr? (how do you have name)
B - Mam na imię Anna. B - My name is. (I have as name Anna)
A - Jak się Pani nazywa? A - How is your name Mr?
B - Nazywam się Polański. B - My name is Polański
A - . A - Goodbye.
B - . B - See you tomorrow.


NEUTRAL

A - , która jest godzina? A - Sorry, do you know what time is it?
B - Jest 9.20 B - It is 9.20.
A - Bardzo A - Thank you very much.
B - Nie ma za co. B - Not at all.
A - . A - Have a nice evening.
B - . B - Goodnight.