"Dlaczego panowie nie piją?"
Translation:Why are you not drinking?
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If you wanted to specifically single out all men from a very general group (and contrast it with ladies, who might do the contrary), then you could say so (again, better not to use that if you are saying this to men, or else they might misunderstand it as reffering to them).
In many contexts "tamci panowie" should work better (you might have a specific group in mind, not all of the men at the party, for example). And if you are not in a formal situation yourselves, you might simply use "oni".
That is due to a number of users 'fighting' for the options of 'you all' and 'you guys' as plural you. But you're right, in terms of register it really looks weird, so I deleted those options from this sentence.
Having said that, there is of course an option that the sentence is ironic, there is no context.
The thing with formal, plural 'you' is that there is also the semi-formal option: using panie/panowie/państwo not with 3rd person plural, but with 2nd person plural. Some people deem that incorrect (as it mixed formal and informal words), but it's definitely in usage. If it was "panowie nie pijecie", I think that would strengthen the possibility of the sentence being ironic.
Using the semi-formal option for singular, like "pan pijesz", really looks rather sarcastic.
Hey, on a separate note.... Can panowie ever be the object of a verb? (I think it can, cos I have seen "they do not respect you (formal)")
Cos I was just wondering what has stopped us thinking that this sentence is not "why are they not drinking the men"
(Apart from it being a weird sentence)
What stops it? Is it the fact that panowie is not accusative?
Yeah, it's "the fact that panowie is not accusative". Putting how absurd the meaning is, "Dlaczego panów* nie piją?" is a grammatically correct sentence meaning "Why don't they drink you, gentlemen?". We could put oni/one in there, but usually the subject is known from the context.
*That's Genitive due to negation, of course.
Putting it right after "dlaczego" is fine, it's not the beginning anymore. For a more logical sentence, "Dlaczego mnie nie lubisz?" (Why don't you like me?) is the most natural word order.
In Polish, the grammatical case signifies the purpose of the word within the sentence (if it is the subject, the object, etc.). There are however rare situations where it's impossible to tell from the sentence alone.
For example, in "Autobus wyprzedził motocykl". In situations like these, it's best to think of a way to rephrase the sentence (here you could use the passive voice or add the word "kierowca").
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Note for the learners: I find this answer a bit confusing as a Polish native speaker. 'Dlaczego panowie nie piją' translates literally into 'Why do not the gentlemen drink?' and Duo doesn't accept it for some reason. Suggeted answer is 'Why don't you drink' which does make sense in Polish if you are being polite, but is not really an accurate translation, which is what the exercise asks for.
Well, as another Polish native speaker I'd say that normally 'panowie' without any further description (ci panowie, wysocy panowie etc.) can only be Formal You. I can agree that in this sentence it can be 'the gentlemen' (I am 'a lady', drinking with other ladies, and our husbands = the gentlemen are not drinking). So ok, added such an interpretation.
But I believe that "Why do not the gentlemen drink?" is not the best way to put it in English. Negative questions are a nightmare to me, but this link (https://www.englishgrammar.org/negative-questions/) shows different solutions.
A very slight quibble, given that the new, beautifully clear TTS voices are generally far superior to their predecessors:
Normal-speed TTSia (which I hear in the exercise and at the top of this page) clearly says
"Dylaczego panowie nie piją?"
I've heard Dylaczego … (same voice & speed) in at least one other exercise, too:
EDIT 15.11.2020 18:12
e.g. (normal speed)
"Dylaczego chcesz z nami pracować?"
The slow version is fine, however.
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It says that Dlaczwgo panowie nie piją - translates into: They wil be back in 1 hour ;-)
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It did it again, and I tried to upload a screenshot from my phone, but the abb wouldn't let me
Unfortunately there's no way to upload a screenshot directly from the app, you need to upload it to an image hosting website first and then paste the link in the comment.
Although now that I think about it... isn't "They will be back in one hour" a message that you're shown after you click "I cannot listen now"? You know, when you can't use listening exercises...