"Jesteś człowiekiem?"
Translation:Are you a human?
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This probably wouldn't be one of the first sentences i'd use when speaking with someone in Poland.
It's gotta better than "jestesz mężczyzną? Jestem kobietą." And babbling about evil ducks eating fish ("zła kaczka je rybę") or "krab je ciasteczka" will probably result in you getting hospitalized. :P
The matter of translating Polish "człowiek" to English "person" is difficult. I wrote something about it here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/19428542
I think this is one of those situations when I wouldn't accept it. "Jesteś człowiekiem?", after all, is like a phrase from a sci-fi movie.
After reading your other, lengthier comment, I still don't see why "person" is marked wrong here. "Are you a human" and "are you a person" are both strange questions, like something one would only hear in a sci-fi movie. And you say in your other comment that człowiek is more commonly used than osoba. Well, "person" is more commonly used than "human" (especially as a noun). So, again, why wouldn't it be used here?
I discussed it with a native that helps us regularly, I actually expected her to agree with you, but she's against accepting it. Basically, "person" and "człowiek" overlap, but are definitely not the same. A person doesn't have to be human. Okay, obviously we enter sci-fi mode now, but if an alien asks you "Are you a human?", this alien is clearly a person as well but not a human. Similarly in comics/animations with antropomorphic animals, they are persons as well. I know that rejecting 'person' annoys many people, but I still think it's worth pointing the difference between "człowiek" and "person".
I'm still a bit baffled, but it's a pretty minor point and I appreciate your diligence. I can live with bafflement.
The noun "human" or, even better, "human being", refers to the one of the biological species of the animal kingdom. In this context the word "person" does not make sense, because "a person" might be, for example, a totally abstract character played by an actor in a play or a movie.
human/human being - istota ludzka, przedstawiciel jednego z gatunków całego królestwa zwierząt, istota, która należy do gatunku homo sapiens
Are you a human being?/an animal?/a robot?/an alien from another planet? -
Jesteś człowiekiem?/zwierzęciem?/robotem?/przybyszem z innej planety?
Person would be "osoba" I believe just like in serbo-croatian btw...Polish is a piece of cake for a native slavic speaker like me :) Just the use of the instrumental case with the verb "to be" is a bit bothersome for me, gotta get used to it...
Have you heard the Text To Speech audio? We're still safe, they won't sound natural for some time yet ;)
I still find these examples very useful for learning how to structure my own sentences that make sense...
- 1597
Wygląda na to, że jeśli jesz mięso, jesteś człowiekiem. Jeśli nie, jesteś wegetarianinem.
Just a little joke, because I just came across the "humans eat meat" sentence. I am a vegetarian myself; don't have a cow! ;-)
Nie chodzi o pojedyncze osoby, ściślej, pojedynczych osobników gatunku, lub przedstawicieli gatunku, lecz o cały gatunek ludzki, który z punktu widzenia biologicznego jest mięsożerny, w odróżnieniu od krów, które są roślinożerne.
Humans eat meat - Gatunek ludzki je mięso/Gatunek ludzki jest mięsożerny
So this is what they meant by "far-fetched sentences" hahahhaah... this is indeed a strange question to ask.
I came across "Jesteś Kotem?" earlier. That is indeed a very useful phrase to learn
Professor: Amy, what are you? Amy: Human. Professor: Damn!
Sorry to like most of you since this show is ridiculous.
Is "Czy jestes czlowiekiem?" also acceptable to say? I am uncertain when"czy" is required at the beginning of a question.
Both questions have the same meaning, and "Czy" is not required by any special rule of grammar. But, in spoken language, the question "Jesteś człowiekiem?" might be mistaken for a statement when it is hard to hear
the intonation... In writing, you know it is a question only because of the question mark.
The sentence started from "Czy" indicates right away that the question
will follow, so the intonation typical for a question is not that important.
Not directly, no. It can be translated this way in many sentences (let's say "On jest dobrym człowiekiem" = "He is a good person"), but not when "człowiek" is about... well, species.
See this comment: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/19428542?comment_id=19447331
You can use it when you're asking a yes/no question, but you don't have to do it.
Slender man: I guess, but I mean im a one with no face, but I've got a suit... Alright all I was supposed to do was leavr notes and kill you what is your problem.
Actually the line is 'are we human or are we denser' not dancers. Why was complicated.
