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Not that different from other Slavic languages
RU: Poniedielnik, wtornik, srieda
UA: Ponedilok, wiwtorok, sereda
Does anyone know what the origins of Polish weekdays are? Like how in Germanic languages some come from the names of Norse gods? I'm assuming czwartek and piątek come from the words for "fourth" and "fifth" and poniedziałek is "after Sunday" but the rest are giving me a headache because I have nothing to relate them to.
poniedziałek means "after Sunday" :-)
wtorek comes from "2nd" as in Russian wtoroj
środa comes from "middle"
czwartek comes from "4th"
piątek comes from "5th"
So are days of the week generally lowercase if they are not at the beginning of a sentence?
Is the w in wtorek really supposed to be pronounced like an s? I hear storek via p.c. Thanks.
No, it sounds like an "F." „ftorek.” It's the same effect in Russian. "Tuesday" is вторник (wtornik), but it's pronounced "фторник" (ftornik)
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(I apologize for a long reply)
Actually, Polish has specific rules for certain characters. "w" is always pronounced as an English "v" (i.e. "do widzenia" - Goodbye),
"c" is usually pronounced like a "ts" as in the word "boaTS" (i.e. "dobranoc" - Good night),
The diatric "ł", (as far as I've seen), is pronounced like an English "w" sound as in "Wish" or "oo/u" as in "fOOd" (i.e. "jabłka" - Apples, "chłopcy" - Boys)
The diatric "ą" is usually pronounced as English "on" as in "tON" (i.e. "piszą" - They write)
Learning the diatric "ą" is actually very important in Polish conjugation. In Polish, (just like Latin langauges such as Spanish or French), the suffix of a verb will change based on who you are speaking about/who is completing the action.
In Polish:
"Ja" [pronounced like English "ya"] (I/Me) - verbs typically end in -ę or -m (i.e. "piszę" - I write, "kocham" - I love, "widzę" - I see, "mam" - I have)
"Ty" [pronounced like English "tea"] (You [singular]) - verbs typically end in -sz (i.e. "piszesz" - You write, "kochasz" - You love, "widzisz" - You see, "masz" - You have)
"Wy" [pronounced like English "ve" as in "vengeance"] (You [Plural]) - verbs typically end in -cie [pronounced like "che" as in "chess"] (i.e. "piszecie" - You write, "kochacie" - You love, "widzicie" - You see, "macie" - You have)
"My" [pronounced like English "me"] (We/Us) - verbs typically end in -my (i.e. "piszemy" - We write, "kochamy" - We love, "widzimy" - We see, "mamy" - We have)
"On/Ona/Ono" (He/She/It) - verbs stay in general form (i.e. "on/ona/ono pisze" - he/she/it writes, "on/ona/ono kocha" - he/she/it loves, "on/ona/ono widzi" - he/she/it sees, "on/ona/ono ma" - he/she/it has)
"One" [pronounced like English "on" as in "tON" and "e" as in "Egg"] (They) - verbs typically end in -ą (i.e. "piszą" - They write, "kochają" - They love, "widzą" - They see, "mają" - They have)
I hope this helps!
Ą is not pronounced like English "on". It's pronounced like French "en" like Henri, encore, enclave, envelope.
Polish my and ty are not pronounced like English "me" and "tea." It's more like "mih" as in "Mickey" and "tih" as in "tick"
Thank you! I have been struggling with the endings and hoping that if i do enough Duo exercises it will become clear. I think I am going to have to buy a workbook or grammar book, because this is by far the hardest language i have ever attempted. Your explanation is clearer than most.
If the uppercase rule does not apply to this language, does that mean that names are also that way?
