"Mam prześcieradło."

Translation: I have a bedsheet.

[tomboysquirrel]

I pity anyone who didn't learn the Polish alphabet before starting this course. lol

[Ollyfer]

I wonder what I had to have learnt prior to starting my Polish lessons to not struggle with the proper pronunciation of such words. In the beginning, I struggled with the Polish word for man, now it's going to be this creature of a word.

[sirwootalot]

So, am I wrong, or does this literally mean "thoroughfare lister"? I couldn't possibly be more baffled by the etymology of this word.

[luless]

(XV century) perstirati - means 'rozpościerać' (to spread, outstretch).So after some time pers became -> prześ , tir->cier, ati->adło.

[askeath]

That is very interesting. Thank you.

[Olyapka84]

Funny word for Russian speaker))))

[rommster]

Переводя его по "кусочкам" на русский, получил "простирало" (или "простирадло"). То есть, то, что простирается. Так запомнить получилось проще. И только сегодня выяснил, что такое слово, оказывается, есть в украинском.

[alik1989]

Переводя его по "кусочкам" на русский, получил "простирало"

Увы, но ничего общего со стиркой это слово не имеет. Корень здесь ścier-, который содержится также в глаголе rozpościerać - расстилать, раскладывать.

[rommster]

Именно поэтому в моём комментарии нет ничего о стирке ;)

[Jas789]

Why is there a letter 'c' after that 's' with the mark that makes it "sh"? What is the purpose of that letter 'c' if it isn't adding to the word? Is it grammatical?

[Jellei]

The letter "c" is part of "ci" here. "ci" and "ć" are palatalized sounds. "ci" precedes vowels, generally.

"ś" is a separate sound here, also a palatalized one.

[AnushPereira]

Is 'P' silent in prześcieradło. I cant figure it out through this robotic recordings. Moreover why sometimes the consonants in the first position silent and sometimes not how do we figure it out? Like for ex książki here K is silent but in wspierać w is pronounced.

[Jellei]

You could count words with any silent letters in Polish on your fingers, and I don't think any of them has a silent letter at the beginning... in all the words that you mentioned, the first letter is definitely pronounced.

[AnushPereira]

Thanks Jellai for confirming. but I really can't hear the sound of K in Książki all this while I was thinking K is silent.

[Scrubbings]

It is adding to the word because the ci makes a ć sound, so here you have ść = sh-ch

[Xuu37]

I am not a native english speaker, but it seemed to me that you always take the plural ("sheets") even if it is just for one person...? Just asking...

[alik1989]

The singular is totally fine when referring to a single item.

[Maja146717]

Hi I wrote I have bedsheets

[Ollyfer]

But it's only one in this sentence.

[AadmiMan]

The spelling bees have entered the chat.