co, jak, czego

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Jul 10, 10, 18:55 #1

i am a bit more confused, i am reading more and more phrases with the question 'what', and the polish use the word jak and not co, or czego, what are the rules for this word.
i use jak when i want to say 'how', co when i want to ask 'what, but i also use the gen czego for 'what'.
most of the time i can tell what they are saying, but there are others where the quesiton is' what' and the polish word used is jak.

What do you mean? co pan znaczy?
What is your name? Jak się pan nazywa
What do you expect? Czego pan oczekuje
What sort of book is that? Jaka to jest ksiąźka

chaza

jablko	Jul 10, 10, 19:59 #2
chaza: What do you mean? co pan znaczy? It should be - O co panu chodzi? But you dont need to add 'panu' and you can just say 'o co ci chodzi', though it would be less polite.

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Edited by: SzwedwPolsce Jul 10, 10, 20:01 #3

As you say co=what, jak=how, sometimes Jaki/Jaka/Jakie (see below).

But there are expressions in all languages that can't be translated word-by-word into for example English. This means we get exceptions from the rule above.

One of these exceptions is "what kind of" / "what sort of". As you said above. Here Polish uses Jak or Jaki/Jaka/Jakie.

Jak is not declined. It's used when you refer to a verb.
Jak się pan nazywa? (verb)

Jaki/Jaka/Jakie is declined as an adjective (both gender and case). It's used when you refer to an adjective.
Jaka to jest książka? (adjective)

How to decline Co:
Nom. & Acc: Co
Gen: Czego
Dat: Czemu
Instr. & Loc: Czym

This is commonly used with prepositions that governs the different cases.

chaza:

What do you mean?

O co panu/pani/ci chodzi?

chazaThreads: 49 Posts: 266 Joined: Dec 21, 09 ♂	Jul 10, 10, 20:20 #4
thanks szwed as you say, ill stick to the common, co'what', jak 'how'. im sure the more i speak with my cousin the better i will get and understand more. we all know the tenses are the most confusing. thanks again chaza

chazaThreads: 49 Posts: 266 Joined: Dec 21, 09 ♂	Edited by: chaza Jul 10, 10, 21:14 #5
by the way szwed, can i follow up on something you said, What do you mean? co pan znaczy? you said should be O co panu chodzi? that i read as, about what you go, im not totally up on the chodić thing yet, as i undertsand it, znazcy means 'mean' where have i gone wrong. chaza

SzwedwPolsceThreads: 13 Posts: 1,915 Joined: Feb 21, 09 ♂	Jul 10, 10, 23:55 #6
Actually I didn't think about it before. But all Poles say "O co panu/pani/ci chodzi?" in this situation. Literary it means "About what are you going?". It doesn't make sense in English, but in Polish it does make sense. But you use "znaczy" when you define what words mean, and in most other situations.

chazaThreads: 49 Posts: 266 Joined: Dec 21, 09 ♂	Jul 11, 10, 11:06 #7
thanks for that! chaza

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Jul 12, 10, 10:26 #8

SzwedwPolsce:

But all Poles say "O co panu/pani/ci chodzi?" in this situation.

In fact, saying 'O co panu chodzi' may not be polite in many situations.
The better expression would be 'Co ma Pan/Pani na myśli' or just ' nie rozumiem co Pan/Pani mówi'. This sentence can be used any time you don't understand what someone means or just you don't understand the words they are using.
If you say 'O co panu chodzi' it's a "higher level" of confusion when you have completely no idea what's going on (like: what the f..k are you talking about ???)

cinek

Polonius3Threads: 1,005 Posts: 4,834 Joined: Apr 11, 08 ♂	Jul 22, 10, 12:32 #9
O CO PANU CHODZI?: In many cases might be translated as 'What's your point?' or 'What's your problem?' WHAT DO YOU MEAN?: In some contexts might be 'Co Pan chce przez to powiedzieć?', 'W jakim sensie?' or even 'W czym rzecz?' (although some regard the latter as an intolerable russicism: w cziom dieło?)

chazaThreads: 49 Posts: 266 Joined: Dec 21, 09 ♂	Jan 4, 11, 16:08 #10
in a previous post the word 'co' i am told has several meaning. as,every,what,which,that. is it not best to use the words already used foer the same, like as=jako what=co which=które that= źe( also some others depending on the case used) every=wszelki will this not reduce the confusion. chaza

alexw68	Jan 4, 11, 16:51 #11
chaza: will this not reduce the confusion. Not out of context, no - the English words also have multiple meanings.

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co, jak, czego - usage