# způsob, jak ...



## JGIC

I'm interested in the construction "způsob, jak [verb]..." in the following sentence.

Zostření geopolitických krizí – od Sýrie do Lýbie – nutí mezinárodní společenství přehodnotit sankce, vyhlášené vůči Rusku kvůli Ukrajině, což bude* způsob, jak „získat *nejvlivnějšího diplomatického hráče“ v osobě ruského prezidenta Vladimíra Putina, píše americká agentura Bloomberg.

Google translates "způsob, jak *získat*" ... as "a way to *get*".  Thus, the whole sentence translates (according to Google) as:

Sharpen geopolitical crises - from Syria to Libya - forcing the international community to rethink the sanctions announced against Russia for Ukraine, which is* a way to "get* the most influential diplomatic player" in the person of Russian President Vladimir Putin says the US agency Bloomberg.

I've never seen this construction before, and it strikes me as both interesting and quite useful.  My specific questions are:

Is this a standard construction?
Is it commonly used?  Is it commonly used in speech / in writing?  Does it sound formal vs. informal?
Are there any alternate ways to express the same meaning, (especially if this construction has a formal connotation) 
Can I say for example:  "To je způsob, jak vyřešit ten problem" meaning "That's a way to resolve the problem"


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## Mori.cze

Hi
1. Yes, it is standard, and
2. yes, it is common in both formal and informal speech.
3. There are always other ways; in this case, though, nothing as idiomatic as this comes to my mind. You can say _takhle_ or _tímhle způsobem_, but neither fully covers the usage of _To je způsob, jak..._
4. Yes, perfect (the only tiny flaw is the missing accent in _probl*é*m_)


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## JGIC

Ah thank you


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## Enquiring Mind

Hi JGIC, just to add that in your context "to get" is not good here for "získat", because the meaning is not at all clear. It can have several meanings as you can see in the WR dictionary here. In your sentence, the sense is "to win over XYZ" or "to get XYZ on their side" or "to get the support of XYZ" or "to engage XYZ". Unfortunately I can't find the Bloomberg article to be absolutely sure of any subtlety or nuance in their intended meaning here.

As Mori.cze says, ".. způsob, jak .." is very handy and common for rendering the English "*way to* + *inf*" or "*way  of* + <verb>*ing, *as in the following examples:
Geniálně jednoduchý způsob, jak oddělit žloutek od bílku - an ingeniously simply way to separate / of separating an egg.
Vláda hledá způsob, jak přidat penzistům na důchodech ... the government is looking for a way to increase / of increasing pensions ...
Nejlepší způsob, jak se naučit česky. The best way to learn / of learning Czech.


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## JGIC

Thanks for the additional info!


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