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- "The big boys and little boys…
"The big boys and little boys."
Translation:Duzi chłopcy i mali chłopcy.
21 Comments
I'm having a really hard time figuring out when it's supposed to be an -i and when it's supposed to be a -y. it's mezczyzni but it's also chlopcy. What's up?
https://pl.wiktionary.org/wiki/Aneks:Język_polski_-_deklinacja
~y po c, dz, cz, dż, sz, ż, rz,
but there is still possibility for -owie,
the rule for that is simple : does it describe male people? if it does 99% of time it is duzi, mali etc.
I am confused. I was told that children always belong to the 'one'- category, regardless of their gender. Here they are treated as 'oni' since 'duże' and 'małe' was not accepted.
„Dzieci” ≠ „chłopcy” ;) „Dzieci” are indeed not-masculine-personal, „chłopcy” are masculine-personal and for a total mind-bender, „chłopaki” are not-masculine-personal in the nominative and behave like masculine-personal in other cases… Personally, I suggest to take cue from the natives, and never use „chłopak” in the plural (personally, I avoid it like a plague). ;)
I this is a typo but am pretty sure it is supposed to be małi instead of mali
No, ł does not stand before i -- thus you have mały chłopiec with ł but mali chłopcy with l.
The "i" historically softened (palatalised) the letter -- ł used to be more like a "dark (velarised) l" in English as in "bell" while l (without stroke) is more like a "light l" in English as in "light".
Similarly, duży but duzi -- the i palatalised the ż to ź (but we write zi instead of źi).
Oh ok because i have never heard of mali, with pronounced "l" instead of "ł" which kind of makes a eum-sound.
These changes sound very similar to lenition. Quite fascinating. This is my first serious attempt at Polish because I adore wandering small Polish villages and few speak English there. My knowledge or Gaelic lenition helps guide me when to soften a word. It's not perfect but oddly enough it does help when I remember to use it. (in case anyone else knows the Gaelic!)
No, it's mianownik, Nominative. It's just a phrase without any verb, but it would look the same if they were the subject of a sentence.
And biernik (Accusative) would look completely different: dużych chłopaków i małych chłopców.
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Why is it "Duzi" in this case and not "Duży"? Is it because its making reference to people ?
"duży" is the masculine singular form. Here you have a plural noun, 'masculine personal plural', to be exact. The right form is "duzi". The masculine personal form is usually a bit different from the other ones, kinda softened (ży -> zi).
not duzi but dużi, no?
No; żi is impossible in Polish. zi is correct -- the vowel i in the masculine animate plural palatalises the consonant from ż into ź (but we spell źi as just zi).
