żeby nie narobić sobie problemów

Derevon:

I watch a lot of TV-series and such with Polish subtitles, but finding Polish movies with Polish or English subtitles is not so easy. Just listening to some random people talking doesn't help me much, and if it helps at all it's only because I already know the words.

MoonlightingThreads: 60 Posts: 308 Joined: Apr 28, 07	Oct 13, 09, 08:38 / #
Hello, Problem to accurately understand this: "Jego to się trochę boję, żeby nie narobić sobie problemów." I think it means: "I'm a bit scared, that he causes problems to himself". Thanks for correcting.

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 [Moderator]	Edited by: Wroclaw Oct 13, 09, 08:56 / #
as not to cause problems (to oneself) wait till someone double checks

benszymanskiThreads: 9 Posts: 510 Joined: Feb 29, 08	Oct 13, 09, 09:54 / #
My translation is: "I am a little bit scared of him, so I don't cause myself problems"

MoonlightingThreads: 60 Posts: 308 Joined: Apr 28, 07	Oct 13, 09, 11:14 / #
benszymanski Thanks for your input. Given the context, your translation makes sense. But I'd like to have a confirmation from a native Polish speaker.

beazeeThreads: - Posts: 46 Joined: Sep 9, 09	Oct 13, 09, 11:24 / #
"She's a bit scared of him and do not want to cause herself troubles." n.P.s. confirms :)

MoonlightingThreads: 60 Posts: 308 Joined: Apr 28, 07	Oct 13, 09, 11:47 / #
Thanks n.P.s. ;-)

kiokoThreads: - Posts: 85 Joined: Jan 3, 08	Oct 13, 09, 11:50 / #
Moonlighting: But I'd like to have a confirmation from a native Polish speaker. Native Polish speaker does not have to be fluent in English :) benszymanski: "I am a little bit scared of him, so I don't cause myself problems" I go for this translation.

WroclawThreads: 77 Posts: 7,404 Joined: Apr 1, 06 [Moderator]	Oct 13, 09, 13:21 / #
just realized that i didn't do the first bit. Duh me !!

DerevonThreads: 12 Posts: 186 Joined: Oct 11, 09	Oct 13, 09, 13:51 / #
Please tell me this Polish sentence is wrong or at least very weird. It's exactly sentences like these that make me want to stop studying Polish. ;) I mean, even if I understand every single word of it and I read it 20 times it still makes no sense. What's to say that "jego" here is a person by the way? Couldn't it be a thing? Why is "to" here at all? And isn't "żeby" more like "in order to" or "that"? Granted that the sentence is taken out of its context, but still...

kiokoThreads: - Posts: 85 Joined: Jan 3, 08	Oct 13, 09, 14:48 / #
Moonlighting: Jego to się trochę boję It's not incorrect but it would sound better like "Trochę się go boję..." The problem with Polish is that the order of words is not very strict. We can say that though the sentence is correct the person that has written it is using very simple language.

ZiemowitThreads: 10 Posts: 1,062 Joined: May 8, 09	Edited by: Ziemowit Oct 13, 09, 15:37 / #
"To" either stresses or contrasts the compliment/the verb/both a little. Jego to się boję! (Jej się nie boję, ale jego to się boję.) (Tego lubię, ale tamtego to się boję.) Jego to się dopiero boję! (Boję się różnych osób, ale jego boję się bardziej niż innych.)

DerevonThreads: 12 Posts: 186 Joined: Oct 11, 09	Oct 13, 09, 18:40 / #
Thanks benszymanski! By the way, do you have any good tips for improving listening comprehension? I really don't understand much when people talk since I can't think in Polish and therefore have to translate each word and grammatical construction in my head which is way too slow. I really don't pick up anything from just listening to people. 100% of all concepts and words I know in Polish, I learned through active studies, dictionaries, repetition etc. Basically, I feel as if I'm one giant walking Polish dictionary/reference grammar who knows a lot about Polish but hardly any real Polish at all.

SzwedwPolsceThreads: 13 Posts: 1,915 Joined: Feb 21, 09	Oct 13, 09, 19:21 / #
Derevon: By the way, do you have any good tips for improving listening comprehension? Listen, listen, listen to Polish speakers in all forms. Actually listening to Polish music helped me. If you can find Polish movies with English subtitles it's excellent. The other way around is also good for learning new expressions and how to build sentences.

ZiemowitThreads: 10 Posts: 1,062 Joined: May 8, 09	Oct 13, 09, 19:38 / #
Derevon: I really don't pick up anything from just listening to people. 100% of all concepts and words I know in Polish, I learned through active studies, dictionaries, repetition etc. Basically, I feel as if I'm one giant walking Polish dictionary/reference grammar That's exactly how I struggle with my French. Fortunately enough, I have discovered that the French have listening comprehension exercises accompanying their weekly TV 5 Monde programme "7 jours sur la planète" with transcription of the texts for "apprendre le français". Listening compehension is very important. I usually go through the oral several times and doing the prescribed exercises before I even look up the text in its integrity, and - believe me - each time I am able to understand more of it. But, even if you did it thousands of times, you are always left with somethng you are unable to grasp; that's where the transcription is indispensable. A good solution for you can be English subtitles to some of the films on Polonia TV, or the course "Profesor Smok i przyjaciele" on TV Polonia as well. Well, now I should be off to www.tv5.org ...

ZiemowitThreads: 10 Posts: 1,062 Joined: May 8, 09	Oct 13, 09, 15:09 / #
Moonlighting: Jego to się trochę boję, żeby nie narobić sobie problemów. No logic in the construction of the sentence, nevertheless understandable. Jego to się trochę boję, nie chcę mieć przez niego problemów. Jego to się trochę boję, nie chcę aby narobił mi problemów.

krysiaThreads: 26 Posts: 3,604 Joined: Aug 10, 06	Oct 13, 09, 15:10 / #
kioko: It's not incorrect but it would sound better like "Trochę się go boję..." Right, in English it would sound: "Him, I'm a little afraid of"

DerevonThreads: 12 Posts: 186 Joined: Oct 11, 09	Oct 13, 09, 15:18 / #
But why is there a "to" here? Does it link to the second clause somehow?

DerevonThreads: 12 Posts: 186 Joined: Oct 11, 09	Oct 13, 09, 15:55 / #
Thanks

benszymanskiThreads: 9 Posts: 510 Joined: Feb 29, 08	Oct 13, 09, 16:50 / #
Derevon: It's exactly sentences like these that make me want to stop studying Polish. ;) Don't be put off Derevon - 3 years ago I couldn't speak a word of Polish. 18 months ago my head hurt after an hour of Polish conversation. It will come with time. Derevon: What's to say that "jego" here is a person by the way? Couldn't it be a thing? I think you could be right - gramatically "jego" could refer to a neuter object. But I would have expected a different word such as "tego" if it was an object and not a person. Derevon: Why is "to" here at all? Nicely covered by Ziemowit. Derevon: And isn't "żeby" more like "in order to" or "that" Yes again you are right. Literally it says "I am a little bit scared of him in order that I don't cause myself problems". I just changed the words to be a little bit more natural in English. Just to add too - the original speaker might have put "jego" at the start just to emphasise that it is "he/him" that he/she is afraid of and not something else. Derevon: at least very weird. Yes it's always hard to translate something when the sentence is taken out of context. It sounds a little odd both in Polish and English

DerevonThreads: 12 Posts: 186 Joined: Oct 11, 09	Oct 13, 09, 19:35 / #
I watch a lot of TV-series and such with Polish subtitles, but finding Polish movies with Polish or English subtitles is not so easy. Just listening to some random people talking doesn't help me much, and if it helps at all it's only because I already know the words.

peter_olsztynThreads: 8 Posts: 760 Joined: Apr 18, 07	Edited by: peter_olsztyn Oct 13, 09, 20:10 / #
Moonlighting: "Jego to się trochę boję, żeby nie narobić sobie problemów." Jego to się trochę boję. Żeby nie narobić sobie problemów. I am a little bit scared of him. We can get\|put\|push\|throw ourselves in troubles man\|woman!

SzwedwPolsceThreads: 13 Posts: 1,915 Joined: Feb 21, 09	Edited by: SzwedwPolsce Oct 13, 09, 20:14 / #
Derevon: I watch a lot of TV-series and such with Polish subtitles, but finding Polish movies with Polish or English subtitles is not so easy. Just listening to some random people talking doesn't help me much, and if it helps at all it's only because I already know the words. It helps more than you think. But it's better when it's a conversation where you interact, and then the person will explain until you understand. It's the best way to learn of course. Det finns inga genvägar när man ska lära sig ett språk, regelbundna konversationer är ett måste.

krysiaThreads: 26 Posts: 3,604 Joined: Aug 10, 06	Oct 13, 09, 20:23 / #
Derevon: But why is there a "to" here? Him, "is" whom I'm afraid of

ZiemowitThreads: 10 Posts: 1,062 Joined: May 8, 09	Oct 13, 09, 20:58 / #
SzwedwPolsce: Det finns inga genvägar när man ska lära sig ett språk, regelbundna konversationer är ett måste. Mods will say to you as Queen Vitoria used to say: SzwedwPolsce, we are not amused!