# tylko / az



## Gochna

Hi guys.

I am a native speaker of Polish and I would like to translate this couple of sentences into English, French or Spanish, but I can't find the proper way:

Mimo wysilku, zdobyl tylko srebrny medal. ( Even though he put lots of effort, he only got the silver medal / A pesar de sus esfuerzos, solo gano la medalla de plata / Malgré ses efforts, il a seulement gagné la medaille d'argent. )

This one stays clear I think. My question is: I want to say that the silver medal is great, like you're the second best all over the world. In Polish I would say:

To nie jest "tylko" srebrny medal, ale "az" srebrny medal. ( It's not "only" the silver medal, but "as much as" silver medal../ .. )

What do you say? I am not convinced to my English version, but can't think of anything better.

Thanks in advance!

Gochna


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## mietagosia

Hey Gochna! I came up with an identical translation right after reading the sentence in Polish, so I guess the English version is correct. 

As to Spanish, I'd say:

No es SOLO medalla de plata, es HASTA medalla de plata!

I'm not sure about how I'd say "aż" in French though...


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## jazyk

The Spanish translation doesn't work. Maybe you could say (but it's not literal): No es solo una medalla de plata, es la medalla de plata. But this isn't the best option. Hopefully somebody will come up with something better.


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## TarisWerewolf

If I got the gist of the Polish sentence right, in French I would say "Ce n'est pas juste UNE médaille d'argent, c'est LA médaille d'argent!"


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## Gochna

Thanks guys.

The idea of using defining pronouns sounds right too me. I was thinking that there existed some kind of special conjunction though. Thank you  all!


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## sirix

Just a thought: you might want to change first english translation into something starting with "Despite the efforts,..." or "Despite his efforts,...".

Concerning the second sentence, I doubt the definite article is a way to go. I think your original translation might be just as much as   you can do.


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## Gochna

Sirix,

Starting with "despite" the sentence surely souns a lots better  By definite article that could do the trick I ment "la" in French and Spanish. In English "as much as"  stays as the only option.

Thanks for your help though!


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## elroy

_As much as _would not be idiomatic in that sentence.  And I don't agree with the definite-article "solution" for French and Spanish, as it changes the meaning.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's an easy way to translate the Polish sentence into any of those languages.

In English, you could say either _It's not "just" a silver medal!_ or _It's a whole silver medal! _but using both in the same sentence would sound strange.  I should also point out that the latter could be interpreted as sarcastic.


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## Aerio

Perhaps...

Despite his efforts, he only attained the silver medal.
Despite his efforts, he only achieved the silver medal.

That's what I understood from the _az_ question.
I'm not sure if that's exactly what you requested though! 

By the way, 
_
I am not convinced to my English version, but can't think of anything better._
I am not convinced  of my English version...


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