19 Comments
"I not want" is not such good English; "I don't want" would be better, although I don't know if "matter" is allowed.
They wrote "I do not want". But what could "I do not want this matter" actually mean?
'ta sprawa' here seems to me like a case for a detective, or a lawyer.
Actually, Jack tricked us by editing, and thereby correcting, his comment after I made mine. It had originally said" "i not want this matter".
However, as for the use of the word "matter", I feel that it could be used, but, this side of Wału Hadriana at least, an additional verb would be good, giving something like "I do not want to {handle | process | look after | take care of} this matter".
Right. The only time you'd say 'I do not want this matter' would be when you are talking about something that is excreted from the body (urine, faeces, pus, the 'goo' that builds up in the corners of the eyes when eyes are infected, etc.). So it's possible in a medical context, though highly improbable that someone would offer someone else some 'matter' and require acceptance or refusal. By its very nature, 'matter' is something the body is trying to get rid of.
Then again, there's 'grey matter' signifying 'the brains' or 'intelligence':
-- 'Use your grey matter to solve the problem.'
-- 'I don't want this "matter"'.
It could comfortably be a general expression meaning I do not want this 'situation / business / problem / etc.' to be 'going on' or 'to involve me'.
Business, matter, problem and case would all convey this, aside from the reference to a legal case.
Hm, I read all your helpful comments. I'm still figuring out how the word "sprawy" is used, and I think it will just take more time. Do people say "Nie chce tej sprawy?" And if so, what do they mean when they say it? Is the meaning as JerryMcCarthy99 says: I don't want to handle this case/matter?
I really think that the context is quite limited and it still sounds to me like detective/lawyer thing. If it was something else, if it was just "I don't want to handle this matter", I would say "Nie chcę się zajmować tą sprawą".
"Tych spraw" would be the plural genitive, I believe. (In reply to the query from KVRMx which disappeared as I was typing).
