Common Mistakes Polish People Make in English

In Polish you say "z drugiej strony"...

The correct translation of "drugiej" in this phrase is "other".

... but Polish people often mistake this for another translation of "drugiej".

"Drugiej" also translates literally to "second" as in "second place" ("drugie miejsce").

But in English we do NOT commonly use phrases like "on the second side of the coin" or "on the second side of the house"... we say "on the other side of the coin" or "on the other side of the house".

In Polish you say "dzisiaj rano", but in English it's as though you say "tego rana".

TL;DR

"How to say ____" is a statement, not a question.

"How do you say ____?" is the correct way to ask how to say something.

The whole story

"How do you say..." may sound wrong to a lot of Polish people, it translates to "jak Ty mówisz..."

... which doesn't make much sense in Polish. You don't care how one specific person says something, you want to know what the correct way to say it is!

But in English, this is accepted as the correct way to ask how something is said.

"How do you say" doesn't literally mean you are asking how that specific person you are talking to says something, it's just the normal way to ask how something is said or done.

This applies to asking how to do just about anything.

If you want to ask someone how to do a back flip, you say: "How do you do a back flip?"

"You" is referring to anyone in general... as in "w jaki sposób ktoś robi salto?"

If you want to tell someone how to do a back flip, you say "This is how to do a back flip."

First of all: ouch? I wasn't invited to your party. But whatever...

Second of all: Polish people seem to mistake the meaning of "nobody" and "anybody", generally the concept of "no-" (nobody, nothing, nowhere, etc.) and "any-" (anybody, anything, anywhere, etc.) for whatever reason.

This is just one of those things you have to pay special attention to when you talk or write in English and get into the habit of using correctly.

• "no-" as in: nobody, nowhere, nothing, means none. Nothing. Nada. Zero people. Zero places. Zero things...
• "any-" as in: anybody, anywhere, and anything means whatever. One, single non-specific person, place or thing...
• "every-" as in: everybody, everywhere, and everything means all. Every single person. Every single place. Every single thing...

Many Polish people mistake "any" for translating directly to "żadne"...

... because sometimes it does! But only when it is used negatively.

"Any" actually translates more directly to "jakiekolwiek".

You wouldn't say "mam jakichkolwiek planów", that makes no sense...

... but you could theoretically say "nie mam jakichkolwiek planów"...

and to say that, you have to make the whole sentence negative by adding don't, i.e.: "I don't have any plans."

As with many of the common mistakes Polish people make, I think this one stems from Polish people translating sentences like this 1-to-1 from Polish into English.

In Polish, "tam" = "there"... so "spędziliśmy tam dużo czasu" would logically be "we spent there a lot of time", but it's not.

I think this mistakes stems from the fact that in Polish, "so" and "as" are often the same word... "takie".

E.g., you can say:

"This milkshake is so good."

AND

"This milkshake is as good as my mom's famous milkshake"...

with the same Polish phrase:

"Ten shake jest taki dobry."

and

"Ten shake jest taki dobry jak sławny shake mojej mamy."

Unfortunately in English, you have to distinguish between the 2.

When you want to compare 2 things, you need 2 "as"s... make sense? I also like to think of is as an "as sandwich"... 2 "as"s with a sweet, sweet adjective in between them.

.... just like 2 pieces of bread with healthy, nutritious Nutella between them.

I think the issue here is that Polish people correctly associate 2 different phrases that mean the same thing ("looks like" and "how it looks") and then mix them together and incorrectly say both of them.

You should say EITHER "how it looks" OR "what it looks like", NOT both.

Without getting super technical:

"Should I" is used as a question.

"I should" is used as a statement.

In Polish, a "programista" is someone who writes computer programs.

... naturally you would think that in English that translates to "programist"...

... just like "optymista" translates to "optimist"...

... but it doesn't.

Sorry. In English, it's programmer.

I love tables. Like really sturdy, well-built tables... so if you want to show me a really nice table, I'd love to "come for table"!

But if you're trying to describe how a spoiled dog feels in a human bed... then you're trying to say "comfortable".

Try saying this in Polish: "komftrbl"

I don't know what it is about these terms, but Polish people mix them up unconsciously all. the. time.

It's definitely not because they don't know the difference (if you can read this sentence, I guarantee you know the difference between "he" and "she") but for some reason they are used almost interchangeably by Polish people. As soon as I mention this mistake to anyone they immediately correct themselves and laugh, but after a while passes by they will forget and make the mistake again.

Although they are very small terms and may seem insignificant, pay extra attention to how/when you use he/she! These pronouns are very important! When you use the wrong one, the person you are talking to may think you started talking about somebody else.

In Polish you say "to jest bez sensu"...

... which literally translates to "that is without sense"...

And I have good news! That phrase is 100% grammatical in English!

... but colloquially it just sounds wrong. It sounds like a proclamation a mad scientist would make in 1825.

In Polish, when you talk about the age of a person, you can say:

1. "skończyła X lat" and
2. "ma X lat".

The literal translations of these phrases are:

1. "she finished X years" and
2. "she has X years."

But unfortunately the literal translation doesn't work in English. In English, you ARE an age.

In Polish, "historia" is a story, as in: something you tell your friends by a campfire.

In Polish, "historia" is also history, as in: the subject you probably hated sitting through in school.

But in English:

A history is not something you tell by a campfire... but it is other things:

• a history is what you have if you're known for doing something, e.g.: "He has a history of being late."
• a history is what you have with someone you know, e.g.: "Him and Jennifer used to date, they have a history."

‍

History (by itself, no "a") is everything that's happened in the past...

... and the future, my friends, is nothing but a mystery (and also has nothing to do with this explanation).

Remember...

1. Jeżeli chcesz opowiedzieć historię kolegi, you want to tell his story (2 words.)
2. Jeżeli chcesz opowiedzieć historię świata, you want to teach history (1 word.)