A point of order
If you have been looking at Polish outside of this course you might have noticed that adjectives sometimes appear before the noun ... and sometimes after it. What is the correct adjective ordering in Polish?
In an earlier lesson we said 'a virtual product' was 'wirtualny produkt' but to be grammatically correct it is actually:
- Produkt wirtualny -
We could describe it further as a:
- Fantastyczny produkt wirtualny -
So how do we know that 'fantastic' should come before 'product' but 'virtual' comes after it? Read on ...
We need to ask ourselves: "Is the adjective something that can be easily changed or is a matter of opinion?"
Maybe I think a product is 'fantastyczny' but you think it is 'problematyczny'. This type of adjective goes before the noun.
- Fantastyczny produkt -
It is something that can easily change because it is just my current opinion. Tomorrow I might find a much better product making this one look 'problematyczny' to me.
However a virtual product is a virtual product. We can't disagree on this or easily change it into, say, a physical product. So 'virtual' comes after the noun:
- Fantastyczny produkt wirtualny -
Think about things that can be changed or disagreed on and see if you get the word ordering right before clicking the play button:
- Good mineral water -
- Good ecological food -
- A fantastic new hotel -
- A new public telephone -
- An old virtual assistant -
- A good virtual product -
- A fantastic virtual product -
Heads up!
The Polish language is very flexible and it does not matter if you get this ordering wrong. Everyone will understand you.
Do not let a fear or messing up your word order stop you from communicating early on. You can say 'wirtualny produkt' all you want and everyone will know what you mean!
In fact a quick internet search of 'wirtualny produkt' will show you plenty of Polish people being grammatically incorrect ;)
However start developing a nose for how the words should be placed and very soon you will find it starts to come naturally and you will start to pick up on grammar mistakes that Polish people make!.
Word Stems
Sort these 'you are' phrases into opinion or factual
Drag and drop all the dark blue boxes to their correct locations
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Think out the Polish
Type out the following phrases in Polish to practive the position of adjectives. Typing is a physical activity that helps knowledge move to long term memory
(Answers are case sensitive!)
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Good mineral water | |
Good ecological food | |
A fantastic new hotel | |
A new public telephone | |
An old virtual assistant | |
A good virtual product | |
A fantastic virtual product | |
Refresher
Revise earlier words and phrases to keep them fresh! Match the Polish and Engish below
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise