5 English mistakes commonly made by Poles
While teaching English in Poland and having language exchanges with Polish people over Skype, I've noticed that there are a few English mistakes that a lot of Poles seem to make.
While other nationalities certainly make these mistakes too, because of my familiarity with Polish, in most cases I can point to some characteristic of the Polish language that the speaker could be transferring to English.
Don't worry, none of the mistakes I'm going to discuss are critical! Native speakers will still understand, even if you make a few of these mistakes. :-)
Read more to see five mistakes that Poles commonly make when speaking or writing English!
do vs. make
Like many languages, Polish only has one word that means both "do" and "make" (robić). It's always challenging when your native language only has one word, but the language you're learning has two or more corresponding words! English speakers learning Polish will encounter this as well: in English, we have just one word for "know" but in Polish there are two (wiedzieć and znać).
The basic difference is:
- We use "make" when the object is created as a result; for example: "make dinner."
- We use "do" for activities in general; for example: "do taxes," or "do homework."
Confusion arises because both words are used in many expressions which don't follow these rules. You simply have to memorize them! For example:
- make a mistake
- make a decision
- do someone a favor
- do harm
learn vs. teach
"Trevor learns teaches us English!"
This is very similar to do vs. make. In Polish there is a word for "teach" (uczyć), but the word for "learn" (uczyć się) could be interpreted as "teach oneself."
There are actually dialects of English where people do use "learn" like the example above! But this is not standard English.
advices/informations
Both Polish and English have countable and uncountable nouns (meaning some words have plural forms and some do not). Sometimes these are the same words; for example, these words are uncountable in both languages: water (woda), music (muzyka) and coffee (kawa). But sometimes words that are countable in Polish are not countable in English.
The two most common examples I hear used incorrectly are "advices" and "informations." In Polish, these words are used very frequently in the plural form (porady and informacje). But in standard English, they can only be used in the singular form: "advice" and "information."
"He running" / "He done it"
I've noticed that some Polish people sometimes drop the helper verb in sentences that require one. In Polish, there are no helper verbs.
But I think the problem stems from contractions in English. It can be difficult to hear a native speaker say the helper verb at all!
| Sentence | With contraction | Can sound like |
|---|---|---|
| He is running | He's running | "He running" |
| He has done it | He's done it | "He done it" |
| John had already been there | John'd already been there | "John already been there" |
"From where are you coming?"
The correct version is: "Where are you coming from?"
(Note [2011-09-13]: As pointed out in the comments by Mark Shepherd, in some dialects keeping the preposition in front of the question word is always acceptable.)
Some Poles don't like to end sentences with prepositions. In Polish, you always put the preposition in front of the object it affects. But in English, in questions, sometimes you move the preposition to the end of the sentence.
Do you know any other common English mistakes? Write a comment!
English
Polski
Do you mean that I can't write "thanks for this informationS?"
Wow, I am in a little shock.
Yep! In standard English, "informations" is never correct. Regards, David.
Is sentence "pieces of information/advice" correct?
Yes! You can say, for example: "I'll give you two pieces of information" or "two pieces of advice".
I thought so, because I'm almost certain that I've listen to some podcast, where this problem was touched. I can share with you that podcast, but I don't want to offence you, by putting here link.
I'd like to ask you a question about commas. Should I put one of these before e.g. "that" (pol. że; patrz pierwsze zdanie)?
I think, that maybe "won't" and "want" can be confusing too.
Correct my mistakes if you'll be so kind.
Don't worry, putting a link in a comment won't cause offense so long as it's relavant to the conversation! :-)
No, you don't have to put a comma before "that" (like you do with "że" in Polish). The rules for commas in English are totally different than in Polish and I have to admit that I make lots of mistakes with them. ;-)
As far as you mistakes in the comment above:
But those are all very small mistakes! You are doing very well. :-)
Best regards,
David.
So, here it is: http://teacherluke.podomatic.com/ The one before last, named "Common Errors/Typical Mistakes"
I try to use commas in common sense, and I must admit that is a part of some serious lack of my knowledge ;)
Thanks for pointing me my mistakes, and good word:)
Someone mentioned about pronunciation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/ Pretty good material from the BBC - British accent of course.
There are tons of listen-to (can I say that?) material on iTunes. Some of it is really good - pretty much everything from the BBC is nice, clear spoken etc.
I think I'll look through your site - looks interesting.
"Tough", "through", "though" are also problematic to me - mainly by spelling - this "-ough-" thing is weird. How can it be: "Tough" [taff] and "though" [doł]?:)
Can you hint me some synonym to "pretty" in meaning like here "You've got pretty nice job here!"
Also, does anyone even use "got" anymore?
Sorry for so long post. Again, can you correct my possible mistakes?
Thanks for the links! They look very nice. :-)
"listen-to material" might be "listenable material"? I'm not entirely sure what you want to say.
Yes, the pronunciation of words with "ough" is very inconsistent. You simply have to memorize how they are pronounced. I mentioned these words in a recent post BTW:
http://www.linguatrek.com/blog/2011/09/is-spelling-easier-for-non-native...
You could also say: "You have a rather nice job". I can't think of any other synonyms.
Yes, lots of people use "got"! Such as: "I got a raise", "I got home late last night", etc..
Sure, here are the mistakes I noticed:
Hope that helps!
Regards,
David.
Now I can remember only one mistake: Poles have a tendency to use "actually" instead of "currently", because of polish word "aktualnie". :)
Eventually in English means finaly - in Polish there is word "ewentualnie" which means "or, as another (less obvious) possibility ...". Like "He should go by bus which is cheap, ewentualnie by train."
Poles often use eventually in English in its Polish meaning. I
I've been also told that Poles often ommit "the" and "a" in sentences or use one when another is required - which is easy to understand, because there's no "the" nor "a" equivalent in Polish.
Good example! Native speakers of English make the same mistake but in reverse! :-) I've heard people say "ewentualnie" when they meant "w końcu".
I left "the" and "a" out of this article because I think all nationalities make mistakes with them in English, even when their language has equivalent words. For example, in Spanish there is "el/la" and "un/una" but even they make similar mistakes in English. I think "the" and "a" are just plain hard!
Regards,
David.
I've heard that one of the biggest mistakes, which Poles make, is that Poles say "mep", "plen" instead of "maep", "plaen".
And now think of the way Poles pronounce the word "comfortable". If you didn't notice that - write it down and ask them to read. I'd say it's pretty common :)
Yes, I've noticed that with several other nationalities too. That word is just spelled badly! :-)
Yes. Very often we (The Poles) spell that word like "comfort-table". It's very hard to us to say it in proper way :) Please forgive us :)
Actually, I don't think it's a matter of the word being hard to pronounce. Because it's actually quite easy! It's just that many non-native speakers simply don't know that the pronunciation is so different from the spelling.
If the word had been spelling "comfterble" (the way it's actually pronounced) I don't think anyone would have any problems!
So, no forgiveness necessary. Maybe it's the non-native speakers who need to forgive the people responsible for creating English spelling. ;-)
Best regards,
David.
Pierwszy raz spotykam sie z maep i plaen. O czym tu mowa?
Myślę, że autorowi tego komentarzu chodziło o symbol fonetyczny "æ" (wygląda trochę jak "ae"), ktory reprezentuje dźwięk "a" w słowach "plan" i "map" po angielsku. Oto jest artykuł o tym dźwieku na Wikipedii po polsku i po angielsku.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
David.
komentarza :)
Dzięki za poprawkę. :-) Pozdrawiam serdecznie, David.
Chodzi o wymowę. Słowa takie jak "plan" oraz "map" nie wymawia się ani przez A ani przez E (wymawiane jak w polskim), to brzmi jak połączenie tych dwóch samogłosek ;)
Dziękuję za odpowiedź. Tak na marginesie powinno być " tego komentarza".
Pozdrawiam.
Aha! Dziękuję za poprawkę. :-)
I wish my english was so "bad" as your polish! ;-)
Regards!
Fabulous job you have done for us!
Thanks for the kind words! :-)
Best regards,
David.
Yes I totally agreed with you.Few monts ago-when I found him on YT -I feel in love in this dude- because of his imagination,big big heart for us - other "poor" people trying to learn foreign language;)))And his sunny,bright personality ;-))how nice he is, isn't?....in a few simply words of his advance - he is giving us a big KICK on our hard way of learning ;-))
Ja tak z innej beczki ( tzn. zupełnie nie na temat). Interesuje mnie jak powiedzieć po angielsku "jesień życia". Czyli wiek w którym starsi ludzie są na emeryturze i cieszą się jej urokami.
Z góry dziękuję za odpowiedziedź.
Cześć!
Nie jestem pewien, że to znaczy dokładnie tak samo, ale kiedy ktoś jest na emeryturze, mówi się, że to są ich "golden years" ("złote lata").
Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
David.
PS: Dziękuję bardzo za wyjaśnienie frazy "z innej beczki". :-) Słyszałem to już wiele razy a nie byłem pewien co to znaczy.
Monty Python's "And Now For Something Completely Different" jest przetłumaczone na "A teraz coś z zupełnie innej beczki". Dla fanów Monty Pythona to zdanie jest kultowe :)
A wymyślił je nieodżałowany Tomasz Beksiński. Gdyby nie on i jego nieprzeciętne umiejętności przeniesienia bardzo specyficznego humoru Pythonów pewnie nigdy latający cyrk i filmy tej grupy nie zdobyły by w u nas takiej popularności.
Widziałem odcinki w innych tłumaczeniach i to już zdecydowanie nie było to...
Pozdrowienia.
Moim osobistym zdaniem prawdopodobnie większość Polaków ma problem z poprawna wymowa angielskich samoglosek jak również dwuch sepleniacych dźwięków jakich nie ma w polskim. Mowa o th w takich wyrazach jak: the, this, third, fifth czy that, those etc. Pamietam, będąc w Polsce gdzie uczyłem się angielskiego, za skarby swiata żadna osoba ani książka nie potrafiła efektywnie wyjaśnić jak poprawnie zbudować ten dźwięk, podczas gdy po przyjeździe do USA znajoma Amerykanka nauczyła mnie wszystkiego w 2 minuty. Większość studentów mowila tank you, sank you lub fank you. Nikt nie potrafił powiedzieć thank. Problem z samogloskami w angielskim dla odmiany jest taki, ze reprezentują one wiele bardzo podobnie brzmiacych dla Polaka dźwięków których subtelnych różnic polskie ucho nie wylapuje. Polskie A, E, O czy I wypwiada się zawsze tak samo, podczs gdy angielskiem samogloskom odpowiada na ogol kilka różnych dźwięków. Aby wyjaśnić. Slyszac rodowitego amerykanina wypowiadajacego grass i cup słyszę ze w obu wyrazach A brzmi jakoś inaczej, niemniej nie potrafię krystalicznie precyzyjnie zarejstrowac i w konsekwencji zreprodukowac różnicy. Mój mózg rejestruje A w obu wyrazach jako ten sam dźwięk - polskie A. Wyrazy wypowiedziane przeze mnie bedą brzmieć w konsekwencji: grAs, cAp, no i oczywiście nie zadko usłysze: Mike, in this country we saying graaaaass, baaaaaasss not grus. Ktoś wspomniał już o AE - kolejny dzwiek jakiego polski nie ma. Istnieją równiez inne klopotliwe dla polaka dzwieki jak wybuchowe K np w cat (szczegolnie brytyjski angielski), czy SH ktore zupelnie nie odpowiada polskiemu SZ. Analogicznie bardzo niewielu obcokrajowcow potrafi poprawnie wymowic polskie SZ, czesto używając dźwięku bardziej przypominajacego Ś niz SZ.
Dziękuję za komentarz!
Dźwięk TH jest problemem dla większości narodów uczących się angielskiego ale również dla Polaków. :-)
Oto są dwa dobre filmiki na YouTube'ie o tym, jak wymawiać ten dźwięk:
To prawda, mamy sporo samogłosek, o wiele więcej niż w języku polskim. To może cały nowy artykuł! Dziękuję za pomysł. :-)
Ja sam mam problemy z różnicą między SZ i Ś (jak wyraźniej słychać w moich filmikach) ale moim zdaniem, robię to odwrotnie. Wydaje mi się, że dobrze wymawiam SZ i najczęściej wymawiam Ś tak samo jak SZ. Ale oczywiście jest trudno sam to ocenić. ;-)
Pozdrawiam serdecznie,
David.
"Ale oczywiście jest trudno sam to ocenić. ;-)"
Powinno być "samemu to ocenić" :)
Dziękuję bardzo za poprawkę! :-) Pozdrawiam, David.
...A wielu Polaków ma problem z ortografią. DWÓCH bo DWOJE. A za "Moim osobistym" polonistka też by mnie objechała :).
Właśnie napisałem artykuł o tym, że ortografia jest trudniejsza dla native speakerów danego języka:
http://www.linguatrek.com/blog/2011/09/is-spelling-easier-for-non-native...
Jak o tym sądzisz? :-)
Pozdrawiam,
David.
"Co o tym sądzisz?" or "Co sądzisz?"/"Jak sądzisz?" (rare)
And I think that you are quite right.
"Jak o tym sądzisz?" - powinno być tak jak w angielskim "CO o tym sądzisz? / WHAT do You think?"
Bardzo dobrze się czyta Twojego bloga i Twój polski ! :) Pozdrawiam.
Dzięki za poprawkę. :-)
Many of polish people do this mistake: I have a right.
Correct: I am a right.
If I did mistake please correct me ;)
Almost correct! :-) It should be: I am right. (Without the "a")
Thanks for sharing! I had forgotten about this mistake.
Regards,
David.
Because our polish word "mieć" (have in english) ... In polish we say "Mam rację" - that is a reason of our mistakes ;)
Hello!
Is it correct to say "I had forgotten"? I thought that Past Perfect is used when we do something after doing something in the past :) Isn't correct "I have forgotten" in that particural example?
Both can be correct, it depends on what the speaker means. "I have forgotten" means that it concerns something that is relavant NOW (ie. I still can't remember now). "I had forgotten" means that it concerns something that was relavant in the past (ie. I had forgotten but now I remember).
Hope that helps!
Regards,
David.
Actually you made mistake twice. When you wrote "do this mistake" and "If I did mistake" (see first example in article) :-)
Am I right this time?
Some polish ppl think that plural form of hair is hairs..
Ah, yeah, I had forgotten about that mistake too. Thanks for sharing! Regards, David.
Hi!
Plural for hair is hairs - one hair, two hairs etc. But when we're talking about collection of hair that's still hair.
Wait. Hairs IS a proper plural for a hair! It's just that "the whole hairy thing we have on our heads" is called with the uncountable, singular-like form.
This is a hair.
These are two hairs.
I have black hair.
Yes, yes, you are correct! However, the appropriate use of "hairs" is relatively uncommon. Probably women use it the most to talk about "stray hairs" (individual hairs that aren't in the place where they should be).
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