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'Could/would' in Polish

kiwiboyThreads: 5 Posts: 11 Joined: Jun 25, 08	Aug 30, 08, 05:23 / #
Hello I've been coming across 'mógłbym' and 'byłoby' and other scary words like this lately. Are they used for 'would' and 'could'? If not, it would be great if someone could explain how to construct those phrases in Polish... Dzieki!

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,833 Joined: Apr 11, 08	Aug 30, 08, 10:20 / #
Mógłbym is simply the conditional mode = could I (when a male is speaking(. Byłoby = it would be.

Michal2Threads: - Posts: 80 Joined: Aug 30, 08	Aug 30, 08, 14:32 / #
Chieć to móc-where there is a will, there is a way comes from this very same verb.

osiolThreads: 59 Posts: 4,714 Joined: Jul 25, 07	Aug 30, 08, 14:40 / #
Can I? You can, but you may not.

benszymanskiThreads: 9 Posts: 510 Joined: Feb 29, 08	Aug 30, 08, 14:51 / #
'by' is the conditional marker. The things you are seeing like 'byłoby' are made from the past tense of być, i.e. było and 'by' - hence byłoby. There is a great article on the conditional here: http://www.polishforums.com/polish_conditionals-18_3270_0.html

kiwiboyThreads: 5 Posts: 11 Joined: Jun 25, 08	Aug 31, 08, 03:47 / #
Great! Thank you all :)

Michal2Threads: - Posts: 80 Joined: Aug 30, 08	Aug 31, 08, 10:40 / #
benszymanski: by' is the conditional marker. By is in fact the Russian conditional marker, later stolen by the Poles and incorporated in to their language.

z_dariusThreads: 22 Posts: 5,091 Joined: Oct 18, 07	Edited by: z_darius Sep 2, 08, 13:40 / #
Michal2: By is in fact the Russian conditional marker, later stolen by the Poles and incorporated in to their language. When Polish was a clearly cristalised language of its own Russians still spoke what in reality was not a language distinct from what was spoken by Byelorussians and Ukrainians. In short, one might argue that there was no Russian language per se at the time Although sometimes called Old Russian, it was really Old Slavonic. Russians were really late into the game of national languages, with their first grammar not even having been written until the mid 18th century. Meanwhile Polish was the lingua franca in part of Central Europe and in the majority of Eastern Europe. Polish replaces the Old Slavonic/Old Russian as the literary language of Lithuania. It also become the language of the Russian nobility. In fact, between the middle of the 16th and beginning of the 18th centuries, Polish was the language used in the Russian court. Yes, Russians "stole" from Polish extensively for quite some time. Russian derives, borrows from and is influenced by Old-Nordic,Old Church Slavonic, Greek, Tatar, Polish, German, French, and lately, English. Most borrowings from western languages, until around the end of the 19th century, sip through into Russian via the influence of the Polish language. You should really stop masturbating your mind with Stalinist "linguistics". I did have an opportunity to read some of that garbage too. The books are great if you want to have fun and poke some jokes around, but in order to understand where the fun is a solid understanding of linguistics and the history of languages is required. You're lacking in this respect so the result is that you continue to make a fool of yourself.

Michal2Threads: - Posts: 80 Joined: Aug 30, 08	Sep 3, 08, 14:22 / #
No, the Russian Language is much older than Polish, which in fact nearly died out. Hence its very phonetic nature. Russian is much harder than Polish for this very reason. Russian is the root of all Slavonic Languages like it or not Mr. Canada. How is your French coming on? You should spend more time learning French in your new adopted homeland.

z_dariusThreads: 22 Posts: 5,091 Joined: Oct 18, 07	Sep 3, 08, 14:36 / #
Michal2: No, the Russian Language is much older than Polish How much? Michal2: Polish, which in fact nearly died out. What a revelation! Russians wanted Polish to die out, but this is not the same. Polish has never even be close to dying out. Idiots like yourself hopefully will someday. Michal2: Russian is the root of all Slavonic Languages like it or not Nothing to like or dislike. P.I.E. is the root of all Slavonic languages, including Russian. Michal2: You should spend more time learning French in your new adopted homeland. Why? They don't speak French here, even though they think they do.

Michal2Threads: - Posts: 80 Joined: Aug 30, 08	Edited by: Michal2 Sep 4, 08, 08:37 / #
Also, to finish, Polish has never been a lingua franca language as t you point out. The aristocracy spoke French at court, certainly not Polish. Polish too has evolved and sounded even funnier hundreds of years ago than it does today!

z_dariusThreads: 22 Posts: 5,091 Joined: Oct 18, 07	Edited by: z_darius Sep 4, 08, 14:34 / #
Michal2: lso, to finish, Polish has never been a lingua franca language as t you point out. Polish was a lingua franca from 1500 to 1700 in small parts of Central and large areas of Eastern Europe, because of the political, cultural, scientific and military influence of the powerful Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. source Michal2: The aristocracy spoke French at court, certainly not Polish. At the times I wrote about Russians were as close to speaking French as you are to understanding linguistics. Od połowy XVI wieku do początku wieku XVIII polszczyzna była językiem dworskim w Rosji, i tą drogą przeniknął do języka rosyjskiego szereg wyrazów pochodzenia zachodnioeuropejskiego, przyswojonych wcześniej przez język polski. (source)

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