# Describing yourself and others



## Mushypea

Czesc

Could anyone tell me please how to describe myself and others in Polish?
For example

I have long/short brown/blonde hair
I am average height/ short / tall
I have blue/ green/ brown eyes

The same for describing what other people look like.

Hope you can help

Dziekuje

Mushypea


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## dn88

Hello Mushypea,

I have long/short brown/blonde hair - Mam długie/krótkie brązowe/blond włosy.
 I am average height/short/tall - Jestem przeciętnego *średniego* wzrostu/niski/wysoki (or "niska/wysoka"; if the person speaking is a woman)
 I have blue/green/brown eyes - Mam niebieskie/zielone/brązowe oczy

He has... - On ma...
He is... short/tall - On jest... niski/wysoki

She has... - Ona ma...
She is... short/tall - Ona jest... niska/wysoka

Hope that helps a bit. But please feel free to ask if you have any doubts. .

EDIT: "average" also means "średni" but in your example it rather should be translated as "przeciętny". Otherwise it would mean "middle height". Sorry for being imprecise.


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## Thomas1

dn88 said:


> Hello Mushypea,
> 
> I have long/short brown/blonde hair - Mam długie/krótkie brązowe/blond włosy.
> I am average height/short/tall - Jestem przeciętnego wzrostu/niski/wysoki (or "niska/wysoka"; if the person speaking is a woman)
> I have blue/green/brown eyes - Mam niebieskie/zielone/brązowe oczy
> 
> He has... - On ma...
> He is... short/tall - On jest... niski/wysoki
> 
> She has... - Ona ma...
> She is... short/tall - Ona jest... niska/wysoka
> 
> Hope that helps a bit. But please feel free to ask if you have any doubts. .
> 
> EDIT: "average" also means "średni" but in your example it rather should be translated as "przeciętny". Otherwise it would mean "middle height". Sorry for being imprecise.


I'd say exactly all the way round:
_Jestem średniego wzrostu_, but not _Jestem przeciętnego wzrostu._ _Przeciętny _means _average _in the sense mediocre, ordinary, common. ... curious to know if it's just my idiosyncrasy.


Tom


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## dn88

Thomas1 said:


> I'd say exactly all the way round:
> _Jestem średniego wzrostu_, but not _Jestem przeciętnego wzrostu._ _Przeciętny _means _average _in the sense mediocre, ordinary, common. ... curious to know if it's just my idiosyncrasy.
> 
> 
> Tom



Hello Tom,

In my eyes, "average height" is not equivalent to "middle height". You can even be about 2 metres, and be "average height" at the same time, provided that other people are equally tall as you are. To me, if someone is of "middle height", he is not very tall but also not short. The same in Polish.


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## Thomas1

dn88 said:


> Hello Tom,
> 
> In my eyes, "average height" is not equivalent to "middle height". You can even be about 2 metres, and be "average height" at the same time, provided that other people are equally tall as you are. To me, if someone is of "middle height", he is not very tall but also not short. The same in Polish.


Hm...
I don't know if I'd use _middle height_ while descibing myslef, I'd go rather for _I'm of average height_, but then again I'm a Polish native speaker. I, when someone says _I' m of average height,_ instinctively think of them as of being somewhere in the middle of the height scale.

In your case it is a little bit different as the situation is not the same and you employed different than usually used norms, you describe someone from, say, a group of people who are considered to be tall (in comparision to that "mainstream"). So, when you accept the someone in this group is, say, 1.90 is rather short and one of 2.10 is tall then you are of average height too. I'd not use _przeciętny _in cases of this type too since the connotations of this word are rather pejorative and I can make out the description that someone is not very tall, in fact. To me your interpretation is, of course perhaps possible, but requires additional context to be well-grounded.



Tom


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## dn88

Thomas1 said:


> I'd not use _przeciętny _in cases of this type too since the connotations of this word are rather pejorative and I can make out the description that someone is not very tall, in fact.



Let's see:

On jest przeciętnego wzrostu. - looks neutral, may sound pejorative if used ironically. Maybe I just wanted to be too "literal" .

PS: I'm curious to find out what differences native speakers of English can see between "average height" and "middle height". Maybe I'll ask them.


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## candy-man

Thomas1 said:


> Hm...
> I don't know* if I used*(*or if I had used*)/*whether* *I would use(deal!)*_middle height_ while descibing myslef, I'd go rather for _I'm of average height_, but then again I'm a Polish native speaker. I, when someone says _I' m of average height,_ instinctively think of them as of being somewhere in the middle of the height scale.
> 
> In your case it is a little bit different as the situation is not the same and you employed different than usually used norms, you describe someone from, say, a group of people who are considered to be tall (in comparision to that "mainstream"). So, when you accept *that *someone in this group is, say, 1.90 is rather short and one of 2.10 is tall then you are of average height too. I'd not use _przeciętny _in cases of this type too since the connotations of this word are rather pejorative and I can make out the description that someone is not very tall, in fact. To me your interpretation is, of course perhaps possible, but requires additional context to be well-grounded.
> 
> 
> 
> Tom


Do not take me for rude or conceited,I did not mean to be like this  *you can correct me as well. (I'd be grateful)*
 My guess is that the adjective 'average' in this case is applied well and I see no point in disputing over that. It holds water in the context.


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## dn88

candy-man said:


> Do not take me for rude or conceited,I did not mean to be like this  *you can correct me as well. (I'd be grateful)*
> My guess is that the adjective 'average' in this case is applied well and I see no point in disputing over that. It holds water in the context.



The real point is that we need the most precise Polish translation possible of "average" in this context. Now I can state it's "średni".


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## candy-man

I know what the point is,actually. If I didn't, I would not have said that I agree with you ;-) The opinions of you both are totally right. The thing is that you cannot focus on figuring out the exact translation of the word.
Now, as you say the word is intrinsically understood   in many ways.
The 1# meaning is średni and the 2# one is przeciętny.

1/Billy is *average *at maths( she might be doing well but she's not outstanding).
2/Her height is *average*(she's not the tallest girl among a certain group of people.)



Does it help?


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## dn88

You really don't have to explain the difference concerning the whole variety of meanings that "average" can acquire  in English, we're talking about Polish . Having said that all, I can sense a subtle difference between "średni" and "przeciętny" (not its pejorative connotations) in this context (height). But maybe only I discern it, no one else. My first interpretation in #2 was "średni", however, after staring at this word for a while, a shadow of doubt crept into my mind. The result was, as you can see, that I replaced "średni" with "przeciętny" shortly afterwards. Apparently I was mistaken about that. My apologies.


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## Thomas1

candy-man said:


> I know what the point is,actually. If I didn't, I would not have said that I agree with you ;-) The opinions of you both are totally right. The thing is that you cannot focus on figuring out the exact translation of the word.
> Now, as you say the word is intrinsically understood in many ways.
> The 1# meaning is średni and the 2# one is przeciętny.
> 
> 1/Billy is *average *at maths( she might be doing well but she's not outstanding).
> 2/Her height is *average*(she's not the tallest girl among a certain group of people.)
> 
> 
> 
> Does it help?


Well, not quite. The point is that dn88 says said that _przeciętny_ could be used as a translation of _I'm (of) average height._ whereas to me it doesn't work. You've changed the sentences, here's what the original looks like:
_



I am average height

Click to expand...

_which, to me, translates as
_Jestem średniego wzrostu._
I wouldn't ever use _Jestem przeciętnego wzrostu.._
Let's not delve into the whole range of meanings of _average_ as it's pointless here--the context is clear-cut.

Tom

PS:





candy-man said:


> Do not take me for rude or conceited,I did not mean to be like this  *you can correct me as well. (I'd be grateful)*
> My guess is that the adjective 'average' in this case is applied well and I see no point in disputing over that. It holds water in the context.


Thanks (if you have a look at my signature you'll see that I actually want to be corrected; although, I am not really convinced that this is what my sentence should look like... My gut feeling tells me something different.  Open to suggestions, anyway. However, the _of_ and _that_ ones are surely well-founded ).
PS2: I got your first posts exactly the way dn88 did.


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## candy-man

Actually, I dunno what you exactly referred to- I'm not convinced(...
),but it's not possible to say *if I would...
*
g'night ;-)


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## tom_in_bahia

Well, I don't think I've ever heard an English speaker say middle height...I think we would say "medium-height". I, personally speaking, don't think I would make that much of a distinction between medium-height and average height.

I would think, just by numbers, that if you took the heights of every person in the world and averaged them, it would probably be close to the middle of the two extremes, give or take a millimeter. But, I don't know how Polish would deal with this as far as the underlying significance of one versus the other, but just from this discussion, I would say it is more idiosyncratic than dialectal.


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## dn88

tom_in_bahia said:


> Well, I don't think I've ever heard an English speaker say middle height...I think we would say "medium-height". I, personally speaking, don't think I would make that much of a distinction between medium-height and average height.
> 
> I would think, just by numbers, that if you took the heights of every person in the world and averaged them, it would probably be close to the middle of the two extremes, give or take a millimeter. But, I don't know how Polish would deal with this as far as the underlying significance of one versus the other, but just from this discussion, I would say it is more idiosyncratic than dialectal.



Yes, I've already learned that "middle height" is a bit dated expression. Now I'm wondering how I could have used "middle" instead of "medium"... Actually I meant "medium" at the moment of writing #2. There's a tremendous difference between them. Thanks tom_in_bahia.


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## dn88

candy-man said:


> Actually, I dunno what you exactly referred to- I'm not convinced(...
> ),but it's not possible to say *if I would...
> *
> g'night ;-)



(Off-topic)

Of course it's possible to say that, and Tom used it correctly in his post.

"I don't know if I'd use..." - "if" acts here as "whether", it's not a conditional clause or something else;  "I don't know whether I would use..." is perfectly fine.

No offence meant, really, you can point out my errors as well .

All the best,

dn88


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## Mushypea

Thank you for your help   I read in my dictionary sredni and przecietny and I couldnt make up my mind which was correct either! I have found a BBC web page that is specifically for teaching English to Polish speakers and ther is a small list of Polish words next to it. And I was pleased to find out that the word for describing yourself as someone of medium height is sredni! As im only in the beginning stages of learning Polish, just learning basic phrases, I havent really started on the grammer, can you tell me why it is sredniego and not just sredni?

Dziekuje bardzo 

Mushypea


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## dn88

Mushypea said:


> Thank you for your help   I read in my dictionary sredni and przecietny and I couldnt make up my mind which was correct either! I have found a BBC web page that is specifically for teaching English to Polish speakers and ther is a small list of Polish words next to it. And I was pleased to find out that the word for describing yourself as someone of medium height is sredni! As im only in the beginning stages of learning Polish, just learning basic phrases, I havent really started on the grammer, can you tell me why it is sredniego and not just sredni?
> 
> Dziekuje bardzo
> 
> Mushypea



You're really welcome .

I'll try to explain why it is "średniego", not "średni". Namely, it's due to declension. In Polish we decline adjectives as well as nouns (I should say together with nouns), which can be seen in this example. Here "średniego" is in the genitive case.

nominative - średni wzrost
*genitive - średniego wzrostu*
dative - średniemu wzrostowi
accusative - średni wzrost
instrumental - średnim wrostem
locative - średnim wzroście
vocative - średni wzroście

If you really wanted to use "średni", you'd have to say something like: "Mam średni wzrost", however, that sounds a bit awkward (although you would be understood). I don't know how to explain it well to you, but please don't feel discouraged from learning Polish .


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## Jana337

I think "I am of medium height" conveys the idea of the genitive to English speakers.


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## dn88

Jana337 said:


> I think "I am of medium height" conveys the idea of the genitive to English speakers.



Yes, I think so too. The part "of medium" acts here as the genitive case of the Polish adjective "średni". That said, "of medium" is equivalent to "średniego". Hope that we've helped.


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## Mushypea

Thank you for trying to explain it to me dn88  Im still a bit confused about all the different cases but Im sure I will understand eventually! 
I noticed that for brown hair 'brazowe' was used. Do you have to change the endings for colours as well? I guessing that if its plural you add on an -e but if  I was talking about what someone was wearing : 

Byl ubrany niebieskim sweter   

Would that be ok? I hope you dont mind, it just that I have two phrasebooks, in one it says niebieski and the other niebieskim ( and for brown it's brazowym)and i'm never sure which is correct!

Dziekuje

Mushypea


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## dn88

Mushypea said:


> Thank you for trying to explain it to me dn88  Im still a bit confused about all the different cases but Im sure I will understand eventually!
> I noticed that for brown hair 'brazowe' was used. Do you have to change the endings for colours as well? I guessing that if its plural you add on an -e but if  I was talking about what someone was wearing :
> 
> Byl ubrany niebieskim sweter
> 
> Would that be ok? I hope you dont mind, it just that I have two phrasebooks, in one it says niebieski and the other niebieskim ( and for brown it's brazowym)and i'm never sure which is correct!
> 
> Dziekuje
> 
> Mushypea



Hi 

In this context colors are adjectives as well, so we have to change the endings.

(On) był ubrany w niebieski sweter. (accusative)

literally: He was dressed in a blue sweater.

"brązowym" and "niebieskim" are either instrumental or locative.

You know, the ending of an adjective also depends on the gender of a noun it precedes, that is:

sweter (masculine), hence "niebiesk*i *sweter"
bluzka (feminine), hence "niebiesk*a *bluzka"
pióro (neuter), hence "niebiesk*ie *pióro"

Does it help a bit?


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## Mushypea

Yes, it has helped! Thank you 

Mushypea


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## Thomas1

Just to add a thought:


> Would that be ok? I hope you dont mind, it just that I have two phrasebooks, in one it says niebieski and the other niebieskim ( and for brown it's brazowym)and i'm never sure which is correct!


As far as I can tell we wouldn't use _niebieskim/brązowym_ with the verb _ubierać_.
And out of sheer curiosity if they are used with this verb in your phrasebook, could you please provide a sample sentence?

As for your guessing about the _e_ ending in the plural you're right:
_Miał na sobie niebieskie dżinsy._
_Założył niebieskie buty._


Tom


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## Mushypea

Czesc

One of the phrasebooks i'm using at the moment is from Berlitz. There wasnt any verb used as such. It was in the colour section: Im looking or something in black, green, red etc..

Szukam czegos w kolorze...
czarnym
zielonym
czerwonym

Is it correct to say it this way, if you are not asking for anything in particular like a shirt or jacket?
 Which verbs could I use to describe what someone is wearing/dressed in? I have seen a number of verbs in the dictionary and i'm not sure when to use them. I know that Byc ubranym is to be dressed in, but  I thought I used that to describe what someone was wearing in the past, is that right? Whats the difference between them? What does zalozyl mean? 

Ubierac sie w
Byc ubranym
Miec na sobie
Wycierac sie

I've tried to have a go myself at writing something! I think i'm using the right verb:

He is wearing black trousers and a white shirt

(On) ma na sobie czarne spodnie i biala koszula


Mushypea


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## Thomas1

Mushypea said:


> Czesc
> 
> One of the phrasebooks i'm using at the moment is from Berlitz. There wasnt any verb used as such. It was in the colour section: Im looking or something in black, green, red etc..
> 
> Szukam czegos w kolorze...
> czarnym
> zielonym
> czerwonym
> 
> Is it correct to say it this way, if you are not asking for anything in particular like a shirt or jacket?


Yes, in that case it is very good Polish.
You could also say _On był ubrany w sweter w kolorze czarnym._ but it sounds stuffy and there are not many occasions when you'd want to use this wording.



Mushypea said:


> Which verbs could I use to describe what someone is wearing/dressed in? I have seen a number of verbs in the dictionary and i'm not sure when to use them. I know that Byc ubranym is to be dressed in, but I thought I used that to describe what someone was wearing in the past, is that right? Whats the difference between them? What does zalozyl mean?
> 
> Ubierac sie w
> Byc ubranym
> Miec na sobie
> Wycierac sie
> 
> I've tried to have a go myself at writing something! I think i'm using the right verb:
> 
> He is wearing black trousers and a white shirt
> 
> (On) ma na sobie czarne spodnie i biala koszula
> 
> 
> Mushypea


Your sentence is perfect, I am only adding the diacritical marks to it:
(On) ma na sobie czarne spodnie i białą koszulę.
Another common way to say this:
Włożył czarne spodnie i białą koszulę.
Ubrał się w czarne spodnie i białą koszulę.


As for _być ubranym_ I think it can be used in the present too, but on the other hand you indeed use it most often to describe one's apparel in the past.
_Jest ubrany w czarne spodnie i białą koszulę._

You also added _wycierać się_, it isn't used in the sense you mean. _Wycierać się _means to wear (thin/a hole) but in the sense of becoming weaker/thinner because of using/being old.

Tom


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## dn88

Mushypea said:


> [...] What does zalozyl mean? [...]



"założyć" means "to put on"

"założył" is the past tense of "założyć" and it goes with masculine nouns.

"(On) założył niebieskie buty" - "He put on blue shoes"


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## Mushypea

Thank you, I wondered what zalozyl meant  I think i've got the hang of  it now!


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