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- "To tylko jeden sposób."
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So, would "there's only one way" be "tamto tylko jeden sposób"? Or is this awkward and un-natural? I'm asking because the English sentence "that is only one way" is pretty odd, and would have a very limited use.
„Tamto tylko jeden sposób” is grammatically incorrect. I know it may be confusing, but there is more than one „to” in Polish. This „to” (with omitted, but assumed „jest”) is used as an English "This is/That is/It is" and it has no equivalents for different distances.
For "there's only one way" you should use „jest tylko jeden sposób”. As you see, it gets rid of „to” (since we don't want to specify the object) and makes „jest” reappear (because you shouldn't drop both).
This is only one solution is not accepted even though solution is listed as one of the accepted meanings for sposob in other examples, and I would probably more naturally use solution over way in this case, unless I were talking about a physical route.
Couldn't "jeden sposób" also be translated as "one option"? "Way" is similarly an indirect translation.
Well, that's simply "jedna opcja". "Sposób" translates to "way" very well.
"This is only one way" for me sounds like it can only be used for the specific context of describing a one-way street.
It certainly can be used for that, but I wouldn't say only for that. This is only one way of using it. ;)
That sentence needs an article. It doesn't make sense without it. This is THE only way.
Po polsku można powiedzieć zarówno "To słoń" jak i "To jest słoń", ale po angielsku musi być "This is". Samo "This" oznaczałoby ten/ta/to.
"just one way" may be indeed better. Changed.
"This is the only way" says the opposite.
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I think "This is just/only one possibility" would both be "To tylko jedna możliwość", since possibility = możliwość. But you really need a Polish native speaker to confirm my guess. [EDITED for typo]
It seems as it should be, there is only one way of doing it. This is not proper English.
