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What, if anything, is the difference between "telewizor" and "telewisja"?
"Telewizor" is the TV set (the electronic device). "Telewizja" (with "z") is the broadcast system and industry. So, you could say "Oni nie oglądają telewizji, bo nie mają telewizora" = "They don't watch TV, because they don't have a TV set" (note that the second "oni"="they" is omitted in the Polish sentence; actually the first could be omitted as well "Nie oglądają telewizji, bo nie mają telewizora" since the form of the verb implies who is doing the action).
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Does oni only have one syllable? The way this voice pronounces it, I cannot distinguish it from on.
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I think definitely two syllables! The verb would be different for "on" too ( "ma" rather than "mają"), which might help you to distinguish them.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this means TV as the medium (they cannot watch the channels), not that they do not own the device. So it would be "Nie mają telewizji".
As I often mention to help understand the distinction, I own a TV set (the device), but I can only watch DVDs on it, as I don't have any channels.
We often say things like "we don't have television" instead of "we don't have a television" (not using the article as we are referring to the feature rather than the object, though the meaning is the same). As Polish (per my polish wife) does not have a term for the "feature" of TV, I'm not sure if the translation requires an article in this case.
What do you mean by "As Polish does not have a term for the "feature" of TV"
oni nie mają telewizora= they do not have the electronic device called "telewizor", ( a device shaped like a box with a screen that receives electrical signals and changes them into moving images and sound)
"Oni nie mają telewizji" they do not own a TV station, or they live in a place where TV signal cannot be received.
telewizja= the method or business of sending images and sound by electrical signals
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-polish/television
I don't think telewizja would make sense (people can get television, they just don't have it - it's more and more common too with the internet). Maybe "kablowka" is the better fit literally. Thanks though, I understand now that telewizor = TV Box, so even if the understanding is the same, technically leaving out the article gets the definition wrong.
I was talking about places that normal (terrestial) television does not reach.
And I was thinking about like big corporation that has radio, newapapers, powerfull websites but does not own a TV station.
I thought masculine nouns don't change in accusative unless they are personal masculine nouns. Is 'telewizor' a personal masculine noun?
it's genitive, because of negation.
Oni mają telewizor (accusative)
Oni nie mają telewizora (Genitive)
It's perfectly understandable, it's used sometimes (rather in writing than in speech), but I would only use it for "television" as the medium, the broadcasting, than the device.
If you're asking about accepting it in the English answers, yes, you can write "They do not have a TV".
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Thanks so much. I'll remember that. I'll also make sure to use the full spelling to make sure I remember.
Some Polish TV channels have „TV” in their name, like TVP, TVN or TV4. There is also a popular shortening „RTV” for radio and TV equipment. But outside of those, I don't really see „TV” used much.
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Things like this is killing my fingers. To type extra stuff anyone on earth knows why jesu.
