Word
Nauczyciel mówi dzisiaj po angielsku.
Meaning
The teacher is speaking English today.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Nauczyciel mówi dzisiaj po angielsku.
dzisiaj
today
nauczyciel
teacher
mówić
to speak
po angielsku
in English
Questions & Answers about Nauczyciel mówi dzisiaj po angielsku.
Why is it mówi if the English translation says "is speaking"? Doesn't Polish have an "-ing" form?
Polish only has one present tense! The word mówi can mean both "speaks" and "is speaking". You figure out which one makes sense from the context. Here, the word dzisiaj (today) makes "is speaking" the more natural English translation.
Why do we say po angielsku instead of just angielski for "English"?
When you talk about speaking, writing, or reading in a language, Polish uses the word po plus a special form of the language adjective ending in -u. It literally means something like "in the English way". So, to say "to speak English", you always say mówić po angielsku.
Does the word nauczyciel refer to a male or a female teacher?
Nauczyciel is a male teacher. If you wanted to talk about a female teacher, you would use the feminine version of the word, which is nauczycielka.
Could I put dzisiaj (today) at the very beginning or end of the sentence?
Yes! Polish word order is quite flexible. You could easily say Dzisiaj nauczyciel mówi po angielsku or Nauczyciel mówi po angielsku dzisiaj. Putting it in the middle like we did here is just a very natural, neutral way to say it.