# czy najadłęś się?



## LeTasmanien

A native speaker put this question to me after lunch; 'czy najadłęś się?'
She said it was a past tense form of the verb najeść and the meaning is 'Did you get enough to eat?'

But Google translate draws a blank with this expression. Is there a typing error perhaps?
Whether or not, it would be great if someone could shed some light on this polish expression and it's translation
Thanks
Phil.


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## NotNow

Yes, there is a typo.  The word is _najadłeś się_.  The e doesn't have a "tail."

I hope this helps.


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## LeTasmanien

NotNow said:


> Yes, there is a typo.  The word is _najadłeś się_.  The e doesn't have a "tail."
> 
> I hope this helps.



Thanks NotNow.
Yes I did manage hold the Alt key down over three characters to produce 'najadłęś' which is nonsense of course! 
Apologies readers.
However I did key the correct text into Google Translate which as I said drew a blank
Any other suggestions?


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## NotNow

Yes.  Don't use Google Translate.  It's unreliable and often just plain wrong.


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## LeTasmanien

NotNow said:


> Yes.  Don't use Google Translate.  It's unreliable and often just plain wrong.



Yes agreed Google Translate can lose the plot on occasion. It's a very useful and convenient tool nonetheless though should be used with cautious interpretation.

Are there any better online translators available?


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## NotNow

You'll have to wait for others to reply because I don't trust any of them.  But Google is sometimes helpful to check how a word is used.  If you would have done a search on _najadłęś się_, you may have found the correct spelling, but even search results can be misleading.


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## Szkot

The dictionary form is najeść się, meaning, according to my dictionary, eat one's fill.  Najadłeś się is a past tense form.  To me it is not quite the same as Did you get enough to eat?, but close.


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## LeTasmanien

Szkot said:


> The dictionary form is najeść się, meaning, according to my dictionary, eat one's fill.  Najadłeś się is a past tense form.  To me it is not quite the same as Did you get enough to eat?, but close.



Thanks Szkot.
I get it now.


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## wolfbm1

Hi LeTasmanien.

The meaning of the prefix 'na' often has the meaning of 'full', 'a lot', 'plenty' or 'up', e.g.:
nakręcić (zegar) - wind up (the clock)
napełnić - fill up
namachać się -  to get through a lot of work
nałykać się - to get one's mouth full
nałapać (ryb) - to catch plenty (of fish)

I entered "najeść się" into Google Translate and I got "eat a great quantity."

I also entered "Zapytała czy najadłem się" and I got "She asked if I ate a."

The Google translation is not adequate and can be misleading, but if you know the context it can give you a hint.

If my wife asked me "Czy najadłeś się?" I could answer: "(Tak.) Mam już dosyć.", "Tak. Nawet bardzo.", "Tak. Dziękuje." or "(Nie.) Poproszę trochę więcej kurczaka." 

I hope it helps.


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## LeTasmanien

Hi Wolfbm1

Thanks very much fo this helpful answer. 
The notes on the more general meaning of the prefix 'na' are very useful and will be good to have a range of responses ready for next time the question is asked


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## Ben Jamin

wolfbm1 said:


> Hi LeTasmanien.
> 
> The meaning of the prefix 'na' often has the meaning of 'full', 'a lot', 'plenty' or 'up', e.g.:
> nakręcić (zegar) - wind up (the clock)
> napełnić - fill up
> namachać się -  to get through a lot of work
> nałykać się - to get one's mouth full
> nałapać (ryb) - to catch plenty (of fish)
> 
> I entered "najeść się" into Google Translate and I got "eat a great quantity."
> 
> I also entered "Zapytała czy najadłem się" and I got "She asked if I ate a."
> 
> The Google translation is not adequate and can be misleading, but if you know the context it can give you a hint.
> 
> If my wife asked me "Czy najadłeś się?" I could answer: "(Tak.) Mam już dosyć.", "Tak. Nawet bardzo.", "Tak. Dziękuje." or "(Nie.) Poproszę trochę więcej kurczaka."
> 
> I hope it helps.


It's not quite so.
The prefix "na" does not say anything about the amount of stuff involved. It is a marker of fulfillment. 

The correct translation of 'czy najadłeś się?' is "have you eaten enough to fill your stomach/to feel satisfied".

Google Translate is useless with highly inflected languages like Polish. You have a chance of about 1% that a Polish prefixed verb will be translated correctly.


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## Ben Jamin

Results of Google translation


Polish
English “translation”
Percent of correctness
czy najadłeś się
najeść się
napić się
powbijać
dopasować
nadpić
rozwalić
przepisać
wyrodzić się

or najadłeś up
eat a great quantity
to drink
powbijać
match
nadpić
blow
rewrite
give birth
0
50
50
0
40
0
0
50
0


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## LeTasmanien

Ben Jamin said:


> It's not quite so.
> The prefix "na" does not say anything about the amount of stuff involved. It is a marker of fulfillment.
> 
> The correct translation of 'czy najadłeś się?' is "have you eaten enough to fill your stomach/to feel satisfied".
> 
> Google Translate is useless with highly inflected languages like Polish. You have a chance of about 1% that a Polish prefixed verb will be translated correctly.



Hi Ben Jamin.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Speaking as a learner of the language I like the sort of response that Wolfbm1 gave. It immediately conveyed the meaning resolving my confusion and added some useful background material. Job done!

I disagree strongly that Google Translate is "useless". For me it has proved to a very useful resource in learning Polish. When you have used it as much I have one gets a sense of where it might be misleading/incorrect from time to time and in those situations seek f.urther advice. (Which is actually how this thread came about).
If anyone knows of a better online translator  of phrases and bigger blocks of text I would be interested to check it out?


Your figure of 1% is clearly wrong, even by the figures you quoted yourself.


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## wolfbm1

Ben Jamin said:


> The correct translation of 'czy najadłeś się?' is "have you eaten enough to fill your stomach/to feel satisfied".


I like the words enough and satisfied.


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## wolfbm1

I think Google Translate is quite useful. Without it I wouldn't be able to buy things on Turkish online auction sites. I don't think there is a better translation tool on the Internet.
I find this site quite interesting. I also like the programmes of Jerzy Bralczyk (Google: bralczyk przedrostki), but they will probably be difficult for you.


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## Ben Jamin

LeTasmanien said:


> Hi Ben Jamin.
> Thanks for your thoughts on this.
> 
> Speaking as a learner of the language I like the sort of response that Wolfbm1 gave. It immediately conveyed the meaning resolving my confusion and added some useful background material. Job done!
> 
> I disagree strongly that Google Translate is "useless". For me it has proved to a very useful resource in learning Polish. When you have used it as much I have one gets a sense of where it might be misleading/incorrect from time to time and in those situations seek f.urther advice. (Which is actually how this thread came about).
> If anyone knows of a better online translator  of phrases and bigger blocks of text I would be interested to check it out?
> 
> 
> Your figure of 1% is clearly wrong, even by the figures you quoted yourself.


Well, the figures can be inaccurate, and my example was just to show that in most cases Google translate is not good for translation from or to Polish. You can be left completely clueless while attempting to translate *a single word or phrase*. In such cases, an ordinary on line bilingual dictionary is infinitely better.

It can be, however, useful, if you want to get an impression of what the text is about, if you are aware of the limitations of the tool. You will seldom get more than 50% correctness.

You can also use GT as an auxiliary tool for translation if you know both languages well enough, and want to save typing time.


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## wolfbm1

I think it is worth mentioning that the question "czy najadłeś się" is rather informal and direct.

A similar question is: "czy chcesz dokładkę" which means "do you want some more."


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