18 Comments
I know it's a random question but is (się) a link word in a sentence or it has a particular meaning? I am learning my Polish language without any grammatical knowledge and basically memorising words and their relationship to a situation. Please humor my lack of grammar
'się' is a reflexive pronoun. It is a part of many verbs. Sometimes the verb itself without it means something else, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. For example, "podobać" on its own has no meaning.
1660
Thank you, great resource! This is just like Spanish gustar, except Spanish has no 'lubić' equivalent.
For reference, here is the relevant snippet (credit to the above link): 'TO LIKE', 'TO LOVE'. In Polish, in order to 'like' something or someone, one first has to get to know it or them fairly well. Otherwise, especially when having just encountered something or someone, one says that the thing or person 'appeals to' one.
- Always use podobać się ’appeal to’ rather than lubić about a just-seen object (like a film), a just-met person, or, say, a recently-read book, no matter how positively they might strike you.
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Also, what kind of blunder is it to misuse lubić and podobać? Could it be seen as offensive to use podobać where lubić is expected, or awkwardly intimate to do the opposite? Or would it at most raise an eyebrow.
I'd say that the first connotatation of "podobać się" used about a person is "to find that person physically attractive" It doesn't have to be that, but will probably be the first thought that comes to a Polish mind hearing that. So be careful about that. But if you say "podobasz mi się" to this newly met person just after she makes a very witty, sharp remark (or anything specific that could gain your approval), it may be more obvious that you mean her personality.
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Thanks - that seems like an important caveat that should be addressed within one of the quiz questions!
No, it wouldn't sound offensive. Simply, "lubić" describes long-term relation not impression in contrast to "podobać się" so it may sound inadequate to the situation.
"podobać się" takes Dative, which for 3rd person plural is "im". As far as I remember, your native language is Spanish, right? If that's so, it will be easier to understand for you, I believe. "podobać się" works similary to gustar. Just like you have "Me gusta esta cama", you have "Podoba mi się to łóżko". The bed is the subject. And in this sentence 'the thing that you cooked' is the subject.
The food you cooked does not please them is a more likely English sentence with the subject , the food, at the beginning.
