Questions & Answers about Mam krótkowzroczność.
Why does Polish use mam here? In English I’d usually say I’m nearsighted, not I have nearsightedness.
Polish often uses mieć (to have) for illnesses, conditions, and medical problems.
So:
- Mam krótkowzroczność = I have myopia / nearsightedness
This is completely correct.
Polish can also use an adjective:
- Jestem krótkowzroczny — if the speaker is male
- Jestem krótkowzroczna — if the speaker is female
That version is often more everyday and feels closer to English I’m nearsighted.
What case is krótkowzroczność in?
It is in the accusative, because mieć normally takes a direct object in the accusative:
- Mam co? → krótkowzroczność
The useful thing to notice is that this noun looks the same in the nominative and accusative, so there is no visible ending change here.
Why doesn’t krótkowzroczność change form after mam?
Because many feminine nouns of this type keep the same form in the nominative and accusative singular.
So:
- nominative: krótkowzroczność
- accusative: krótkowzroczność
Even though the case changes grammatically, the spelling stays the same.
Do I need to say ja at the start?
No. In Polish, subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb already tells you the person.
- Mam krótkowzroczność = normal
- Ja mam krótkowzroczność = possible, but emphatic
You would usually add ja only for contrast or emphasis, for example:
- Ja mam krótkowzroczność, ale on nie ma.
I have myopia, but he doesn’t.
Does this sentence change depending on whether the speaker is male or female?
Is Mam krótkowzroczność natural Polish?
Yes, it is correct and natural, especially in a medical or explanatory context.
That said, in everyday speech some people may more often say:
- Jestem krótkowzroczny / krótkowzroczna
- Źle widzę z daleka — I don’t see well at a distance
- Mam wadę wzroku — I have a vision defect
So Mam krótkowzroczność is fine, but it can sound a little more clinical than the simplest everyday phrasing.
How do I pronounce krótkowzroczność?
A rough English-friendly approximation is:
kroot-koh-VZROCH-noshch
A few helpful sound notes:
- ó sounds like u in Polish, so krót- sounds like kroot
- rz sounds roughly like the s in measure
- cz sounds like ch in chop
- ść at the end is a soft consonant cluster, roughly shch
The stress is on the second-to-last syllable, which here is wzrocz:
krót-ko-WZROCZ-ność
And the whole sentence is roughly:
mam kroot-koh-VZROCH-noshch
Is there a way to remember the word krótkowzroczność?
Yes. It is related to the idea of short-sightedness.
You can connect it with:
- krótki = short
- wzrok = sight / eyesight
Also, the ending -ość often makes an abstract noun, similar to English -ness.
So you can think of krótkowzroczność as something like:
- short-sighted-ness
That makes it easier to remember.
Why is there no word for a or the here?
Because Polish does not use articles like English a / an / the.
So Polish simply says:
- Mam krótkowzroczność
not something like Mam a krótkowzroczność or Mam the krótkowzroczność.
The meaning is understood from context.
How would I say I don’t have myopia?
Can krótkowzroczny also mean short-sighted in the figurative English sense?
Yes, it can.
So depending on context:
- literal: eye-related short-sighted / myopic
- figurative: short-sighted, meaning lacking foresight
However, the noun krótkowzroczność in a sentence like Mam krótkowzroczność is understood literally as the medical eye condition.
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