"Mężczyzna produkuje czapki."

Translation: The man is producing caps.

[flootzavut]

Is it me, or does this sound a little strange in English? I'd say the man makes caps. To say a man produces caps makes me think of a magician pulling hats out of his coat sleeves or waving a wand about and creating them out of thin air. Or is this just me?

[br0d4]

It may sound strange in English, but in Polish the meaning of "produkować" not so broad as in English. See produkować

produkować

1. to manufacture some sort of goods (work done for living by a person, or production of some company)
2. (speaking about an organism or organ of body) to produce some sort of secretion
3. (scorning) to create something

produkować się ("produce oneself")

1. (colloquial) to give show, to show off

[flootzavut]

I'm not suggesting it should mean something different in Polish, but that the translation into English doesn't really (IMO) get the right meaning across.

[mwyaren]

to say 'the man makes caps' would actually be even more confusing, because it would rather translate to Polish 'mężczyzna robi czapki' - this could mean that he makes them for himself or his dog, while 'produkuje' clearly implies it's his job and the caps are for sale. so 'produces' vs 'makes' is probably the best way to preserve this distinction.

[flootzavut]

Hmm, I can see that's an issue. I think possibly it's partly the continuous tense that makes it sound weird; if you say "the man produces caps", that sounds less weird to me. Still possibly odd, but less weird. I'm not sure why it seems less odd, I have to be honest.

Manufactures? I'm not sure.

[mwyaren]

hmm, I only now noticed that it's continuous. I don't know what to think about this anymore.

'manufactures' makes it sound like the caps are free-range and gluten-free, but that's again because Polish 'manufaktura' retains the original meaning of small-scale hand-made production. 'produces' feels more industrial-ish. there seems to be little difference in English, though. ah, sorry for meddling, I no longer know how to English (or Polish) properly. :<

[A_User]

I would agree than "the man produces caps" doesn't sound as odd. Maybe "fabricates" would be better?

[flootzavut]

Hehehe I forget how to English all the time, I sympathise completely!

[Jack.Elliot]

to make could be here

[A_User]

It's not just you. :-) It's me too.

[flootzavut]

Pójdę okay, that's what I get if I try to type phew while still in Polish. And now I have to go find out what it means...

EDIT: It means "I'll go."

[A_User]

:-)

[AnneMacek]

I see this is a 4 year old post but still very relevant. I feel exactly the same way. It would be interesting to know if produkować is a commonly used verb in Polish, as used in the examples provided. Probably in the US, produce is most commonly used in the entertainment industry, as in producing a film or TV show. Here's a lingot.

[br0d4]

Yes, it is a very common word in Polish, referring e.g. to manufacturing any small parts, industrial production of any objects or rural production like crops or meat.