Polish, as I understand it

Dzień dobry - Good day (formal) - can be used at any time of day Dobry wieczór - Good evening Dobranoc - Goodnight  Cześć - Hello Hej - hey Witam - Hello - A bit more formal than cześć - used when you are not familiar with the person / people you are greeting. Witaj - Hello - Used when you are greeting one person you are familiar with. Witajcie - used when greeting multiple people you are familiar with. Serwus - Hello - colloquial Do widzenia - Good bye (formal) Do zobaczenia - See you later Do zobaczenia w piątek - See you on Friday Cześć - Bye Pa - Bye Pa pa - Bye bye Do jutro -  See you tomorrow Spadam - I'm off (I'm falling) see ya Uciekam - I'm off (running) see ya Na razie - So long (for now) Nara - a contraction of na razie, considered impolite by some Żegnam - A formal and possibly final goodbye or farewell - at a funeral, priest would say: - Żegnamy dzisiaj...  "Today we say goodbye..."

It would seem that there's no avoiding this. Words are masculine, feminine or neuter and adjectives describing them will need to agree with the gender of the noun. This bit I do remember, but I often make the biggest faux pas when in hurry and resorting to Google Translate . It seems that the app, unless you ensure the gender of the person is obvious, will default to assuming they are male.  So, I have often been corrected and reminded that my correspondent is a member of the fairer sex.  This gaff generally occurs with verbs outside the present tense. Using the first person (I) and the second person (you) in the present tense, the verb endings seem to be the same for male and female. In the past tenses, they differ.  For example: być, to be.  I am - jestem (both genders) You are - jesteś (both genders) I was - byłem (masc) byłam (fem) You were - byłeś (masc) byłaś (fem) On the subject of using Google Translate: When translating you , as well as assuming male by def...

I'm starting this blog as a place to keep notes along my journey with the Polish language.  It's really just for me in a bid to help me nail Polish.  If it eventually helps or interests others, then that would be splendid.  I would welcome helpful comments and thoughts if I have misunderstood anything. This is not a learning course for beginners.  I am learning Polish and making notes along the way as I learn things, so it is quite literally as I understand it. If you want to learn Polish, find a patient and helpful Polish friend, use an app like Duolingo , follow bloggers and teachers like the ones listed below, buy a book like Polish for Dummies, watch Polish films and TV, listen to Polish music, and make lots of notes to enable you to get your head around the grammar of this heavily inflected language.  Best of luck! Update: Links to more places and people who have taught me a great deal: Polish teacher, Aleksandra,  Being Ponglish website and on I...