# Pić!



## elroy

Cześć,

A sentence from my book: _Oh, pić!...Czy mogę tu coś kupić?_

I assume from the context that _Pić!_ is a way to say "I'm really thirsty!"  Am I right?  

If so, is it common to do this with other infinitives?  If you were really hungry, would you say "Oh, jeść!"?

If not, what could it mean here?

Dziękuję.


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## iwi

Yes, you are right, although it's not really common to say it in that way

Instead of '_Oh, pić_!' we usually say '(_Ale) chce mi się pić (jeść _etc.)' or 'A_le jestem spragniony, głodny'_ etc.


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## Thomas1

Yeah, _pić/jeść/spać/ mi się chce_ or its alterations are far more common in my neck of the woods. _pić, jeść_ sound as if a kid who can't speak Polish well enough yet were asking for a drink/food. 

You can sometimes come acrosss _mi się chce _used with a noun if you crave something, e.g.: _truskawek mi się chce_ because you haven't eaten them for a long time and you really like them.


Tom


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## vodevilja

I does mean this, but it's not common to say it this way. Normally, it would rather be "jestem spragniony" (literally - [I'm thirsty"], or better: "chce mi się pić" [I want to drink] or "napiłbym się czegoś" [I'd fancy to drink (something)].


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## dn88

I guess someone who is so exhausted that he can hardly speak is more likely to say just one key word "Pić!" rather than form a compound sentence.


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## cyanista

dn88 said:


> I guess someone who is so exhausted that he can hardly speak is more likely to say just one key word "Pić!" rather than form a compound sentence.



Right, I'm imagining someone who has spent a week in the desert without water or a wounded man lying on a stretcher. I seem to remember they are supposed to say "Thirst! (Thiiirst!)" or "Thirsty!" in English, is that right?

In the course of a normal conversation someone could surely mimic such a pitiable state to achieve a humorous effect, but it can't be that common. 

DISCLAIMER: Mind you, I don't speak Polish so I've based my assumptions on the previous posts and the corresponding expression in Russian.


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## Jana337

Yes, it sounds like crying for help. You can utter it in the company of our friends or family after you finally get back home on a sunny day, dehydrated and tired. It would be rather il-mannered otherwise. In Czech.


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## vodevilja

The really thirsty person wouldn't say "oh"  In this case it's rather a slightly pathetic exclamation.


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## beclija

Thomas1 said:


> _pić/jeść/spać/ mi się chce_


Could you also say something similar without the modal, i.e. _pije _(or whatever is 3rd person singular of pić)_mi się_? Because, guess what, that's what you would most likely say in Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian (pije mi se/пије ми се).


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## Thomas1

vodevilja said:


> The really thirsty person wouldn't say "oh"  In this case it's rather a slightly pathetic exclamation.


Regardless the exclamation, I can't imagine someone urging this while buying a beverage when in need for quenching one's thirst unless the one is an impatient five year-old.

Besides even the sentence alone doesn't sound fine to me.
_Czy mogę tu coś kupić?_
If you're in a store you surely can, but does it really help us get what we want? The sntence alone can be used in some contexts but separately it's a tad convoluted, and makes me want to drop the other shoe.

If you twisted my arm I'd incline to use it after some modification:
_Oh, pić!...Czy mogę tu kupić coś do picia?_
Although, it wouldn't be my first choice in such a context.





beclija said:


> Could you also say something similar without the modal, i.e. _pije _(or whatever is 3rd person singular of pić)_mi się_? Because, guess what, that's what you would most likely say in Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian (pije mi se/пије ми се).


No that's not plausible in Polish.

The full and correct form requires each part; does _pije mi se/пије ми се_ really mean _I want to drink_?

Tom


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## beclija

Thomas1 said:


> The full and correct form requires each part; does _pije mi se/пије ми се_ really mean _I want to drink_?
> 
> Tom


The good old translation problem. I wouldn't say that "I want to drink" is the best possible rendering of "pije mi se". You could of course also say "hoću/želim piti", but that's a different construction without the "to me" part. So maybe "I feel like drinking" is a better translation for "pije mi se"; also, "pije mi se" usually implies alcoholic drinks unless a direct object of "to drink" is specified, as in "pije mi se kava/kola/sok/čaj". 
Some possibly irrelevant google figures:
"pije mi se": 3240
"hoće mi se piti": 1
"piti mi se hoće": 0


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## elroy

Thanks to everyone for your contributions.  Very interesting.  I don't think there's something like this in English, at least not that I'm familiar with (I don't think we'd use "thirsty!" or "thirst!" this way, Cyanista).





Thomas1 said:


> _Oh, pić!...Czy mogę tu kupić coś do picia?_
> Although, it wouldn't be my first choice in such a context.


 What context? 

I didn't provide enough context for you to determine whether the sentence fits, did I?  That's because I was only interested in the "oh, pić!" part and not the sentence that follows.

The context is that a guy who has just moved into his dorm is thirsty and says this to his new roommate.  In English, the sentence would make a lot of sense and would sound completely natural: "Boy am I thirsty!  Can I get something to drink around here?".


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## Thomas1

elroy said:


> [...]
> What context?
> 
> I didn't provide enough context for you to determine whether the sentence fits, did I? That's because I was only interested in the "oh, pić!" part and not the sentence that follows.
> 
> The context is that a guy who has just moved into his dorm is thirsty and says this to his new roommate. In English, the sentence would make a lot of sense and would sound completely natural: "Boy am I thirsty! Can I get something to drink around here?".


The one I described in my previous post. 

Anyway, since you've given it now (and I feel compelled that I thought of asking for it  ) _Oh, pić!...Czy mogę tu coś kupić?_ I still think it sounds unnatural, esp. its beginning. 
If you begin it with _napiłbym się czegoś_ or (_Ale) chce mi się pić_ it will come across well. 



Tom


Footnote: I'd go even further and modify it a little:
_Ale mi się pić__ chce, można tu coś kupić?_ (the _czy mogę_ option sounds too formal to me--however, I'm looking forward to reading other comments from Polish speakers).


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