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co to jest?

dhennie_joThreads: 8 Posts: 46 Joined: Jan 3, 10 ♀	Jan 21, 10, 16:11 #1
when to use (jak/jaki/jakie) and when to use (co)? coz in bez problemu book it both means "what" but they dont give explanation about it. Just little confused. Im a beginer learner of Polish so i still dont know much and I hope someone can help me. Dziękuję

caprice49Threads: 4 Posts: 288 Joined: Aug 5, 09 ♀	Jan 21, 10, 16:16 #2
dhennie_jo: when to use (jak/jaki/jakie) and when to use (co) Jak = how Jaki = which one jakie= which ones co = what

♂

Edited by: McCoy Jan 21, 10, 16:25 #3

im not a good teacher but one difference is:

dhennie_jo:

(co)

when you use it you want somene to name the thing

dhennie_jo:

(jak/jaki/jakie)

and this one asks to describe

for example:

- i was in the mall and i bought something ( byłem w markecie i kupiłem coś )
- co? (what? )
- a new pair of shoes ( nową parę butów )
- jakich? (których ) (which ones? )
- tych niebieskich pum, które pokazałem Ci wczoraj ( that blue pumas i showed you yesturday)
- spoko, a teraz wypierdalaj ( cool, and now fcuk off )

hope it will help a bit

♂

Edited by: gumishu Jan 21, 10, 17:10 #4

dhennie_jo:

when to use (jak/jaki/jakie) and when to use (co)? coz in bez problemu book it both means "what" but they dont give explanation about it. Just little confused. Im a beginer learner of Polish so i still dont know much and I hope someone can help me. Dziękuję

what's the new Polish guy in the store like - jaki jest ten nowy Polak z magazynu

what's the colour of your car - jakiego koloru jest twój samochód
(literally - what colour is your car - don't know if it is good English)

what is your name - jak się nazywasz/ jak masz na imię

what is the price of these oranges - w jakiej cenie są te pomarańcze

what does your country look like - jak wygląda twój kraj

Note that in most cases sentences in Polish don't translate literally (word for word) into English - it is very often the case with these two languages

with the more standalone situation of what in English Polish counterpart is co

what is it? - co to jest
vs
what is it like? - jakie to jest

what is it that you have on your coat? a stain? - co to jest to coś co masz na płaszczu? plama jakaś?

I can't now figure if there is any apparent rule when what translates into co and when into jak(i,a,ie)
just learn more examples and you may get the feeling of when to use one and when the other

SzwedwPolsceThreads: 12 Posts: 1,915 Joined: Feb 21, 09 ♂	Edited by: SzwedwPolsce Jan 22, 10, 01:10 #5
Jaki, jakie, jaka you use when you want to know what something/someone is like. Jaki on jest? (What is he like)? And also when asking what kind of the "thing" people mean. - Poproszę piwo. - Jakie? - Lech If you ask what thing (not what kind of thing) you use co.