# I can't feel my hand



## mamma_aiuto

Cześć,

Which verb for "to feel" do you use in "I can't feel my hand?"
Nie mogę .... moję rękę?
(and have I got cases right...?)

Dziękuję!


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## Thomas1

A literal translation would be: _Ja nie mogę czuć mojej ręki. _It doesn't sound idiomatic or make much sense in Polish though. 
We could say something like: _Nie czuję ręki. _(for instance, someone who's had an accident, might say it). In this case we usually don't use the equivalent of English "can" --"móc"-- or of the possessive adjective "my" --"mój". The grammatical case required in the sentence is the genitive (which is conditioned by negation). In an affirmative sentence we will use the accusative: _Czuję rękę._


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## bibax

Thomas1 said:


> In this case we usually don't use the equivalent ... of the possessive adjective "my" --"mój".


Anyway Polish has to use the reflexive possessive *swój* in such or similar cases (Ja _verb_ swoją rękę). Right?

In Czech we often use a similar sentence with hands/legs in plural, esp. after physical exhaustion, muscle fatigue:

*Nie czuję rąk.*
*Nóg też nie czuję. *(I can't feel my legs as well.)


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## mamma_aiuto

bardzo dziękuję!


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## Thomas1

bibax said:


> Anyway Polish has to use the reflexive possessive *swój* in such or similar cases (Ja _verb_ swoją rękę). Right?


I can't tell without any concrete example, I'm afraid. In the case of the sentence in question, the first thing that came to my mind, and I believe the most natural, was _Nie czuję ręki._ The Polish sentence said in the context I talked about in my previous message is quite unlikely be interpreted "I can't feel another person's hand".



bibax said:


> In Czech we often use a similar sentence with hands/legs in plural, esp. after physical exhaustion, muscle fatigue:
> 
> *Nie czuję rąk.*
> *Nóg też nie czuję. *(I can't feel my legs as well.)


We do it Polish too, though much more often with legs to my experience. There's even a funny answer to "Nie czuję nóg." based on the possible double interpretation of "czuć" (_feel _or _smell_): "To powąchaj moje". This is, of course, colloquial Polish.


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## bibax

> I can't tell without any concrete example, I'm afraid. In the case of the sentence in question, the first thing that came to my mind, and I believe the most natural, was _Nie czuję ręki.
> __..._


I meant it generally, for any transitive verb. I thought that e.g. "I love my hand" cannot be translated _"Ja kocham *m**oją *rękę" _but _"Ja kocham *swoją *rękę"__.

_But now I have found out that _"kocham moj*ą* ..."_ is in fact much more frequent than _"kocham swoj*ą* ..."._ In Czech it is the other way around._
_


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## Thomas1

The form "swój" (and its variants) is the norm when the subject of the sentence is also the owner of the thing modified by "swój": _Kocham swoją rękę._ (also, we usually wouldn't use "ja"). If they are different we use "mój": _Weź moją torbę_. The rule isn't absolute, of course. There are some situations in which it's natural to use otherwise. Besides, many Polish people disregard the norm.


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## Ben Jamin

mamma_aiuto said:


> Cześć,
> 
> Which verb for "to feel" do you use in "I can't feel my hand?"
> Nie mogę .... moję rękę?
> (and have I got cases right...?)
> 
> Dziękuję!



The adding of the verb "can" in this context is typical for English, and is not used in most other langauges. 

The correct sentence in Polish is *"Nie czuję ręki" *(mojej/swojej is redundant, it is not usual to feel somebody other's hand)

"Nie *mogę *czuć ręki" would indicate that it is completely impossible to feel the hand because of some reason, as for example:   "Nie *mogę *czuć ręki, bo jej nie mam" (I can't feel my hand because I don't have it).


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## dreamlike

You could also say "Nie mam czucia w ręcę" / "Straciłem czucie w ręcę", with the two translating into English respectively as "I have no sensation in my hand" / "I lost sensation in my hand". For all intents and purposes, I'd probably just say "Nie czuję ręki", though.


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## jasio

dreamlike said:


> You could also say "Nie mam czucia w ręcę" / "Straciłem czucie w ręcę", with the two translating into English respectively as "I have no sensation in my hand" / "I lost sensation in my hand". For all intents and purposes, I'd probably just say "Nie czuję ręki", though.



You can say it indeed, but it means something completely different. 

Although "nie czuję ręki", "nie czuję rąk", "nie czuję nóg" can be used literally, typically they are used in figurative meanings to express that you are exhausted. On the other hand "nie mam czucia w ręce" has a literal (and rather medical!) meaning only, ot express that your sense of touch is not working properly - for any reason... it may have gone numb, it can be frozen, it can be a spine issue, etc.


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## dreamlike

jasio said:


> Although "nie czuję ręki", "nie czuję rąk", "nie czuję nóg" can be used literally, typically they are used in figurative meanings to express that you are exhausted.


I don't see how these two things are mutually exclusive. Also, I wouldn't expect anyone to use "nie czuję ręki" if that wasn't actually the case. I don't know if you have ever been extremely exhausted in your life, but you may indeed temporarily lose sensation in your limbs when you are, so I think there's no need to speak of figurative and literal meanings here.

_(Sorry for the late reply, I don't have much time for WRing these days). _


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