Word
Z jednej strony chcę jechać, z drugiej strony nie mam pieniędzy.
Meaning
On the one hand I want to go, on the other hand I have no money.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Z jednej strony chcę jechać, z drugiej strony nie mam pieniędzy.
mieć
to have
nie
no / not
chcieć
to want
jechać
to travel
Questions & Answers about Z jednej strony chcę jechać, z drugiej strony nie mam pieniędzy.
Why do we use z for 'on' in 'on the one hand'?
In Polish, the idiom translates literally as 'from one side' (z jednej strony) and 'from the second side' (z drugiej strony). The preposition z meaning 'from' requires the genitive case here, which is why the feminine noun strona (side) changes to strony.
Why does Polish use drugiej (second) instead of a word for 'other'?
When contrasting two things in this specific idiom, Polish logically counts them: 'from one side' and 'from the second side'. So, druga (second) changes to its genitive form drugiej to match the case required by the preposition z.
Could I use iść instead of jechać if I just mean 'I want to go'?
In Polish, you must specify how you are going. iść strictly means to go on foot, while jechać means to go by a vehicle. Since the speaker is worried about not having money for it, this implies a trip or a journey, so jechać is the natural choice.
Why is pieniędzy used here instead of the basic word pieniądze?