"My boss is a good man."

Translation:Mój szef to dobry człowiek.

January 22, 2016

22 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AnnFabiszakPayne

why isn't the word for man---mezczyzna acceptable? Please excuse the lack of polish characters in that word. thanks


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

It is accepted. However, using the word "człowiek" (jest dobrym człowiekiem) would sound a lot more natural to me. Specifying the gender sounds okay for a woman, but for a man, it's kinda weird.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jeanette364461

ok - it explains feminism but beyond that, wouldn't the English translation be "my boss is a good person"?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/NelsonCanh3

If the best wotd is the one for human don't use the one for man.


[deactivated user]

    What is wrong with "Mój szef jest dobrym mężczyzną"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Fraser259114

    Człowiek has never been taught as being the word for man on this course before


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

    It's hard to find out where exactly the given word is used how first, maybe this is the first time. But "man" is usually the most natural translation of "człowiek", unless "człowiek" is used as a word for the homo sapiens species ("On jest człowiekiem" = "He is a human").


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Suomenkielinen

    Alright? English is a bit weird. Why is "chłowiek" also man without hu? If man means anybody guy, what do hu and wo mean? Is woman also a man and are male persons just normal men without any specialities?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Xelareip

    Isn't "jest" a valid verb here? I thought "jest" could replace "to" anytime?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/mihxal

    Yes, it is. But with "jest" you have to use Instrumental case.

    Mój szef jest dobrym człowiekiem.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SySy9000

    My answer was "Mój szef jest dobrym czlowiekiem". It was accepted but I got the "You've got a typo" notification and instead I was offered "Mój szef to dobry człowiek". Lol, that's quite a typo. So I was wondering what's more common to say, the to construction or the jest construction?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

    That's the (relatively) new Duolingo's decision to correct you to the starred answer if you have a typo, which in my opinion creates more confusion. Obviously your typo was putting L instead of Ł in "człowiekiem".

    Anyway... here both sound fine to me, but generally I think that the 'jest' construction is better in most cases.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SySy9000

    Thanks for the clarification!

    To be very honest, it was a typo on purpose as I only use special characters that I can enter with my keyboard. And Ł is not part of that, so it's just L. I highly appreciate that lacking special characters do not count as a wrong answer.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/MattG0110

    Why not "sa dobry"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

    "są" = (they) are.

    And then the adjective would need to change to "są dobre" (only women), "są dobrzy" (at least one man).


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/e0bardthawne

    Why not "Mój szef to dobry chłopak"?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

    That's like... he's a good lad? He's rather young for a boss...


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SpanPolielsh

    This makes me think of the saying, "he's good people." My boss is good people.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei

    This does sound a bit too colloquial to accept, I'm afraid.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/cevJDYQl

    Mój szef to dobry mężczyzn was not accepted


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Jellei
    1. Typo, "mężczyzna".

    2. As above: I don't think we'd say that. In such a sentence it's about as natural as "My boss is a good male person".

    So it's a technically correct translation, which however is unidiomatic to the point of sounding just weird.

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