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May 1, 08, 10:57 #6
Polish is an inflected language and that means that word order is far more flexilble than in positional languages such as English or Chinese. That is because the ending tells you which function a word performs. Usually, one does use the standrad word order in Polish (as in English): subject, predicate and object. eg: On widzi psa (he sees the dog). However, for the sake of emphasis things can be switched about. Psa /on/ widzi (which in English would be translated as: It's a dog he sees /not a cat or horse/). In other words, it is important to learn your endings. On the other hand, in practical terms, Poles (unlike the French) are quite tolerant of foreigners butchering their tongue and bend over backwards to try to understand. So even if you engage in Kali-speak (me go, me want, etc.), named after a savage in Sienkiewicz's 'In Desert and Wilderness', you should be able to get by with a pocket dicionary and phrase book at your fingertips.
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Member Posts: 143
Joined: Apr 11, 08
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