# kojarzyć/kojarzyć się



## westhartford

Hello everyone,

I would like to know if there's any remarkable difference between those two words. I find them fairly confusing to be honest. 

I study Polish and the word ''skojarzenie'' keeps on coming up in my student's book, as in: jakie skojarzenia maja panstwo ze slowem...?I would translate that as what thoughts does .... bring about?Could anybody tell me what other situations this word would be used in? I actually looked it up in a polish dictionary and I saw laczenie as a possible synonim, but I would use that word, eg, talking about trains. Jest szybkie łączenie między Krakowem i Warszawą. Could you use skojarzenie instead? It actually sounds rather odd to me though, but I might be wrong. Anyway, I'm used to hearing: kojarzysz tego mężczyznę? in the sense of ''czy kiedyś wcześniej go widziałeś?". Could you use the verb kojarzyc sie instead? If not, when would you use it?

Thanks!


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## Kos

Hi Westhartford! 

This verb also used to cause trouble for me sometimes. Whenever I see it, I usually translate it as "to associate/remind". I once asked a Pole, if there was any difference between the forms "kojarzę tego mężczyznę z...." _(I associate this man with...)_ and "ten mężczyzna kojarzy mi się z...." _(This man reminds me of..) *Literal word-for-word translation (This man is associated to me with...)_ and he told me that there really wasn't a significant difference. He said you can basically use both phrases interchangeably, but "kojarzyć się" has more emphasis. In the examples above, you can replace "ten mężczyzna/tego mężczyznę" with something else if you wish.   
As for the case of using "kojarzyć" instead of "widzieć", I don't know. Hopefully a native speaker can help you with that. I'm guessing that it wouldn't make much sense to say "Czy kiedyś wcześniej go kojarzyłeś." 

*This is just another way to think of it in a sense of a word-for-word translation from English.

Hope this helps
-Kos


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## Ben Jamin

Kos said:


> Hi Westhartford!
> 
> I once asked a Pole, if there was any difference between the forms "kojarzę tego mężczyznę z...." _(I associate this man with...)_ and "ten mężczyzna kojarzy mi się z...." _(This man reminds me of..) _


 
There is a certain difference between the two expressions, used in this context, even if they basically convey the same meaning:
The first expression is active, and the speaker is a subject. The speaker undertakes a mental action of associating. The second is passive, the object (this man) is grammatically active.

The real difference in the two ways of using the word *kojarzyć* is, however, when yoy change the context: 
*Kojarzyć* may mean "to arrange a marriage or a business partnership", to associate two (or more) people. *Kojarzyć *(in colloquial usage) may also mean "to understand": "teraz kojarzę!".


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## westhartford

but like...if you ran into someone you are 100& sure you've seen sometime before, could you say: Oh, kojarzę go...ale akurat nie pamiętam kto to. Można tak powiedzieć, czy raczej nie? I don't think in that situation you'd say ''I associate this man'', but ''this man looks familiar to me''. Zgadzacie się? Am I right whatsoever? xD


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## MMaeve

You can translate "skojarzenie" as 'association' but you couldn't translate a frase with "skojarzenie" word by word from Polish to English.

For example: 'What comes to your mind, when someone says <holidays>?' 

Z czym kojarzą ci się wakacje? or Jakie skojarzenia wywołuje słowo "wakacje"?
Wakacje kojarzą mi się ze słońcem i plażą. (sounds more natural to me)
Wakacje kojarzę ze słońcem i plażą. (I used it more often when I have to write something, it kind of feels more formal.)

As you can see, it doesn't make much difference in meaning. As for other meanings of this verb, I can't think of any... At least not the ones that are commonly used.


You can also use "kojarzyć" as "to know (sb)". It is very common, but only(!) in familiar language.

Kojarzę tego chłopaka. 'I know this guy'
Skąd? (Skąd go kojarzysz?) 'Where do you know him from?'
Chodził ze mną na angielski. 'We had English classes together.'

Kojarzysz tą aktorkę?
Kojarzę ją z telewizji.

"Teraz kojarzę!" as 'Now I remember' or 'Now I know what you mean' is also very colloquial.


westhartford,
Oczywiście, że możesz powiedzieć na przykład: "Kojarzę go, ale nie pamiętam, jak się nazywa." albo "Wygląda znajomo, kojarzę go skadś...  Ale zupełnie nie pamiętam, skąd mogę go znać." Takie wyrażenia są używane bardzo często 

I don't think "łączenie" is a good synonim for 'skojarzenie', to be honest... 
And if you're talking about trains, don't use 'skojarzenie', say "połączenie" (eng. connection) instead. ("połączenie na linii Warszawa-Kraków")

I truly hope i managed to clear a few things up for you


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## westhartford

thank you so much  Dziękuję bardzo za pomoc


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## Ben Jamin

westhartford said:


> thank you so much  Dziękuję bardzo za pomoc


 It is important to notice that using the word "kojarzyć" in the meaning _understand_ or _remember_, without the second element to associate with (_kojarzyć z_ ..., or _kojarzyć się z_ ...) is still not a standard language, but slang.


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## dn88

Ben Jamin said:


> It is important to notice that using the word "kojarzyć" in the meaning _understand_ or _remember_, without the second element to associate with (_kojarzyć z_ ..., or _kojarzyć się z_ ...) is still not a standard language, but slang.



I don't think I would ever use "kojarzyć" in the sense of "understand" without having any prior knowledge of the subject. To me, it almost exclusively means "remember" or "associate with something you already know (about)". So I guess it would be wise to discourage learners of Polish from carelessly using the word "kojarzyć" as a synonym for "rozumieć" (_understand_). Just my opinion.


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## westhartford

może tylko kiedy zorientujesz się, że nareszcie powiedzie Ci się coś zrozumieć?


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## BezierCurve

> So I guess it would be wise to discourage learners of Polish from carelessly using the word "kojarzyć" as a synonym for "rozumieć" (_understand_). Just my opinion.


 
You might. But then again: 

- they would have problems with understaning that colloquial use of "kojarzyć" (meaning "rozumieć")
- they would be totally lost with the even more colloquial "jarzyć", probably short for "kojarzyć".


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## dn88

BezierCurve said:


> You might. But then again:
> 
> - they would have problems with understaning that colloquial use of "kojarzyć" (meaning "rozumieć")
> - they would be totally lost with the even more colloquial "jarzyć", probably short for "kojarzyć".



Good point. I'm certainly familiar with the use of "jarzyć" as meaning "rozumieć". The word itself is very informal but I suppose it would be readily understood by most native speakers of Polish. Maybe it's just one of those cases in which the original word has 'slipped through the cracks of the language' in favor of its more modern counterpart.


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## Ben Jamin

dn88 said:


> Good point. I'm certainly familiar with the use of "jarzyć" as meaning "rozumieć". The word itself is very informal but I suppose it would be readily understood by most native speakers of Polish. Maybe it's just one of those cases in which the original word has 'slipped through the cracks of the language' in favor of its more modern counterpart.


 I practically do not speak with people speaking Polish slang (I spend a not more than couple of weeks per year in Poland) and my conversation partners are usually not youngsters, so I have never heard the word "jarzyć" in the meaning "rozumieć". For me it is an electrical bulb that "jarzy się" (glows).


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## kknd

That is just good to know.


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## cpuzey1

association, connotation...

....kojarzy mi się z..... I associate it with...


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## 0Patt0

dn88 said:


> Good point. I'm certainly familiar with the use of "jarzyć" as meaning "rozumieć".


And the funniest is, that "jarzyć się" doesn't directly mean "rozumieć", "kojarzyć", but in direct translate just "shine". We use this instead of "kojarzyć", but only in a colloquial speech.


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## Ben Jamin

0Patt0 said:


> And the funniest is, that "jarzyć się" doesn't directly mean "rozumieć", "kojarzyć", but in direct translate just "shine". *We use this instead of "kojarzyć", but only in a colloquial speech*.


In what age group? Never heard it from adult people.


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## 0Patt0

Ben Jamin said:


> In what age group? Never heard it from adult people.


It depends. Actually, you couldn't hear that, because it's old phrase, which isn't use often anymore. And if you would meet it, it's probably you'll hear it from adult, because it was using when ppl around 30 were teenagers.


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## arturolczykowski

Yeah, something like 25 years ago I used to say: Jarzysz? - Do you understand?


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