# As many



## oetzi

Hi polish friends!
Could anyone please help me translate the term "as many" (italian: "altrettanti"), such as, e.g. in the sentence "I will repay you with *as many* gifts" ?
Dziękuję bardzo


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## Thomas1

Hello, Oetzi,

You could say: Odwdzięczę Ci się taką samą liczbą prezentów. but it doesn't sound stylistically the best.

I am afraid there is no one way to translate it into Polish, and one has to do it on a case by case basis.


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## frus

how about "tyle samo" ? 
though in the given example "I will repay you with *as many* gifts" you'd have to change the sentence a bit, for example "Odwdzięczę się dając ci *tyle samo* prezentów" (literally "I will repay you by giving you as many gifts")


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## oetzi

Actually, I had found "tyle samo", but I was puzzled since it didn't seem an adjective to me, and I didn't know how to decline it ... Anyway, if you use it, it must be correct .
How about this variation: ".... aby   odpłacać się ci z tyle samo prezentami" ? Is it correct?
Thanks again


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## frus

oetzi said:


> How about this variation: ".... aby   odpłacać się ci z tyle samo prezentami" ? Is it correct?



Almost  in this case you'd have to decline "tyle samo" - it would be in instrumental case I guess, so "tyloma samymi". So "...aby odpłacać się ci tyloma samymi prezentami".


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## oetzi

Oh, so *it can* be declined, after all ... 
Dziękuję bardzo, frus, i dobranoc.


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## Thomas1

"...aby odpłacać się ci tyloma samymi prezentami".
I am not being fussy or picky, but the phrase sounds really ungainly. If I had to really use the equivalent of the English sentence, I would recommend Frus's first suggestion.


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## oetzi

Well Thomas, I'll agree with you about the awkwardness of the sentence  ... As a matter of fact, I was firstly interested in its correctness, but now I can try and look if I can rearrange it somehow to make it look (and sound) better.
The original sentence is slightly different, and it is in Italian, so I have to translate it twice ... which not always yields the best results!
The original sounds like "*I'll do my best to repay you with as many gifts*". 
My first try was "*zrobię co można** aby **odpłacać** się ci z [as many]  **prezentami*", and since the gifts we are talking about here are not material ones, I'd prefer to build the sentence without using the verb "give". 
So, where does this take us to?


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## kknd

Maybe _odwdzięczę ci się tą samą liczbą prezentów_ would be more natural? (_odpłacę_ gives me impression of a threat and _liczbą_ not _ilością_ because 'gifts' are countable.)


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## frus

kknd said:


> Maybe _odwdzięczę ci się tą samą liczbą prezentów_ would be more natural?




definietely sounds better from the stylistic poin of view  although doesn't sound good to me cause it as if emphasize the fact that I'll rapay *with the same number of gifts*, which doesn't suit the context of "odwdzięczę" cause I suppose it doesn't matter how many *exactly* those gifts would be. 
Especially if Oetzi says:



oetzi said:


> since the gifts we are talking about here are not material ones



how about just omitting the bit with gifts and saying just:
"Postaram się odwdzięczyć się tym samym" or "Zrobię co mogę żeby odwdzięczyć się tym samym"? 
sounds good stylistically, is used quite often by natives and I think everybody would have the sense that it is about those "gifts" that were "given" previously by the other preson (whatever nature they are).


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## oetzi

Now that was a really useful discussion! I think in the end I will adopt the last solution suggested by Frus, which fits best my original intentions, but I wish to thank you all for helping me understand a lot of new things ... I am at the very beginning of my study on Polish, so every little bit of knowledge is essential. 
Hope to meet you all again on WR!
Dobrego dnia


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## Thomas1

frus said:


> [...]
> "Postaram się odwdzięczyć się tym samym"


I think the się's are too close to each other and that corrupts the sentence. You could omit the second się to make the sentence better.




> or "Zrobię co mogę żeby odwdzięczyć się tym samym"?[...]


This sentence sounds much better; *I* would add the indirect object though: "Zrobię co mogę, żeby odwdzięczyć Ci się tym samym".

Having said that, why not use a simple: Na pewno Ci się odwdzięczę. or even: Odwdzięczę (Ci) się.?


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## oetzi

Yes, I must admit I simply overlooked the lack of the object in the second sentence (which is the one I have chosen), and I think that using it can only be a good thing .
As for using a more concise expression, let me say that it wouldn't fit with the rest of the story (which of course I haven't disclosed) from a stylistic point of view, and .... well, allow me to leave a touch of romanticism, will you?   
Thanks a lot again
Dobranoc
Ennio


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