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- Topic: Polish >
- "Potrzebuję nożyczek."
33 Comments
Do you literally mean that you wrote "a pr. of" when translating, or did you just write it in the comment? "a pair of" should have worked, but I don't really see a reason to accept such an abbreviation here...
193
Czesz, I wrotr a pair of scissors in 1 answer and a pr of scissors for anothet answer. Both were rejected. Happy accept that a pr. is unacceptable for duo.
I'm Irish & I keep getting this wrong because it's just instinctual to say "a scissors".
Does this words genitive form decline unusually ? from nożyczki. Genitive plurals usually end in -ow, -i, y, or no ending ?
it's the "no ending".
http://popolskupopolsce.edu.pl/pogotowie-jezykowe
Uwaga: Jeżeli w rzeczowniku liczby mnogiej rodzaju żeńskiego lub nijakiego w zakończeniu tematu występują dwie spółgłoski, to między nimi wstawiamy samogłoskę - e np.: jajko - jajek, sukienka - sukienek, jabłko - jabłek, gruszka - gruszek. Rzeczowniki te mają w dopełniaczu tzw. końcówkę zero (brak końcówki). Końcówka zero występuje też w rzeczownikach, które w mianowniku mają końcówkę -o, -e, -a lub -i. Np. jajko - jajek, spotkanie - spotkań, cytryna - cytryn, pani - pań.
If in the ending of a feminine or neuter nouns have two consonants , we put vovel "e" between them for example. jajko - jajek, sukienka - sukienek, jabłko - jabłek, gruszka - gruszek. Those nouns have in Genitive so called ending zero(no ending ). Zero ending is also in nouns that end in nominative with -a, -o -a and -i. For example jajko - jajek, spotkanie - spotkań, cytryna - cytryn, pani - pań.
In the last part of this explanation, the last few example words do not have the "e" inserted in the Genitive form as described, but instead have the vowel endings trimmed, and if the resulting final letter is "n" then that letter is (often) accented ("n" --> "ń"). The explanation shows this, but doesn't draw attention to it or explain it.
This is relevant in the previous exercise, in which "czasopismo" is changed to "czasopism."
is there a grammatical term for a word like scissors? Something thats always plural
I don't believe that you can say "a scissors" in English... "a pair of scissors" is accepted, though.
- 899
Thank you, I was also confused. I learned it as a fixed expression in school as "a pair of scissors". Google translate allows scissors as well.
Is there any reason why you can't say 'I need some scissors'. Or is there a different way of saying that?
- 703
It may not be grammatically correct, but we do say 'a scissors' much more than 'some scissors'. "Hand me a scissors" rather than "hand me some scissors".
Well, this is also a course that Polish people learning English take... and I believe that anyone who writes "a scissors" on an English test will be failed for that answer, even if there are some natives who say that.
- 1375
I have to agree with 'a scissors' being acceptable. Language is a fluid thing that is constantly being updated with use. If it's used by'some natives' then how long before it becomes accepted? I can't agree with the English test arguement as this is a polish course not an English course.
I think there's enough people saying "a scissors" for it to be added. The pair of is implied.
- 107
I agree. When teaching or learning a language it's first important to teach 'standard forms. With more fluency, you can more easily learn the more colloquial usage .
I have to strongly agree. In our area of midwest US, saying "I need a scissors" is probably more common than "I need scissors."
