# Spend money on



## stelingo

How would I translate on when using the verb wydawać/wydać pieniądze. I am guessing na? 

Examples

She likes spending money on clothes.
Lubi wydać pieniądze na ubrania.

He spends all his money on his girlfriend.
Wydawa wszystkie swoje pieniądze na przyjaciółkę.

Thanks in advance.


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## Drejfus

Hi,

your'e right -> spend money on = wydawać pieniądze na...(here put a noun)/ wydawać oszczędności (savings) na...(here put a noun)/ wydawać kasę na...(informal)
like always in translation, the word you would use depends on the context



> He spends all his money on his girlfriend.
> Wydawa wszystkie swoje pieniądze na przyjaciółkę.


Should be:
Wydaje wszystkie swoje pieniądze na przyjaciółkę/dziewczynę (girlfriend in the meaning of she-partner)


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## dreamlike

Yes, the preposition we use in Polish is 'na'. There are a couple of issues with your sentences, though: 

She likes spending money on clothes. = Lubi *wydawać *pieniądze na ubrania.
He spends all his money on his girlfriend. = *Wydaje *wszystkie swoje pieniądze na _*dziewczynę.*

_cross-posted with Drejfus, with whom I agree.


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## stelingo

Isn't wydaje perfective? Why do I need to use the perfective verb rather than the imperfective?


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## dreamlike

The perfective of 'wydawać' is 'wydał' (3rd person singular). 'Wydaje' describes a habitual action.


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## Drejfus

in this example "wydaje" is a correct form, "wydawa" does not exist in Polish; if I understand correctly that perfective=dokonany, "wydaje" is imperfective; the action is not finished, it's in progress

"wydał" would be perfective and in the same time a past for of "wydawać"


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## stelingo

Thanks. I need to refresh my memory on the conjugation of dawać and dać.


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## Ben Jamin

Actually both "wydać" and "wydawać" are perfective verbs when used in past tense, but "wydać" means to spend everything at once, while "wydawać"  suggests a repetitive action, "he used to spend money".
All verbs in present tense have in principle imperfective meaning, as the action (or a series of actions) is not finished yet.
Both "wydać" and "wydawać" have the same present tense form "wydaje", so it is impossible to differentiate between them.
The sentence "Lubi wydać pieniądze na ubrania." is not grammatically or phraseologically wrong, it may be used, but in a special meaning, for example: Whenever he gets money, he likes to *spend it all at the same time* on clothes. - "Lubi *wydać *pieniądze na ubrania gdy tylko dostanie wypłatę". So *wydać = **spend it all at the same time, *in this case.


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## stelingo

Repetitive actions such as 'he used to spend' are expressed by imperfective verbs, according to all the grammar books I possess on Polish, Czech and Russian. This is the first time I have seen the explanation that you put forward Ben Jamin.


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## Agiii

stelingo said:


> Repetitive actions such as 'he used to spend' are expressed by imperfective verbs, according to all the grammar books I possess on Polish, Czech and Russian. This is the first time I have seen the explanation that you put forward Ben Jamin.



I think your book is correct: _wydawać _is imperfective. Maybe Ben Jamin interpreted _wydawać _as a perfective verb because of the prefix wy- at the beginning. But his explanation on when either of the words is used is totally correct.


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## jasio

dreamlike said:


> The perfective of 'wydawać' is 'wydał' (3rd  person singular). 'Wydaje' describes a habitual action.



The perfective of 'wydawać' is 'wydać', where both are infinitives. 




stelingo said:


> Isn't wydaje perfective? Why do I need to use the perfective verb rather than the imperfective?



'Wydaje' (3rd person singulare present tense of 'wydawać') is in fact *imperfective*. You must not use perfective aspect in this context for at least two reasons:
* you refer to a habitual rather than a one-time action,
* you want to use present tense, while as you know, perfective verbs as a rule don't form present tense.


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## jasio

Drejfus said:


> "wydał" would be perfective and in the same time a past for of "wydawać"



"Wydał" is a past tense of a perfective (dokonany) verb "wydać". The past tense of an imperfective (niedokonany) verb "wydawać" is "wydawał". 

Examples:
"On wydał wszystkie swoje pieniądze" - "He has spent all of his money"
"Zawsze wydawał pensję w pierwszych dniach miesiąca" - "He always spent his salary in the first days of [every] month"


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## dreamlike

You have a point, Jasio.  The technical side of some of the aspects of Polish grammar is sometimes a mystery to me. I can easily get confused with this whole 'perfective/imperfective' thing.


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## jasio

Dreamlike, that's why some people claim that the Polish language is so difficult, that one should note in his/her CV any level of proficiency.


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## Ben Jamin

All Polish verbs are classified in two groups: perfective and imperfective. Actually the meaning of an imperfective verb in the past tense can be: imperfective proper (action being in progress, not completed: właśnie wydawał pieniądze, trzymał je w ręku) or repetitive (iterative, when the same action was completed many times in the past (wydawał pieniądze zawsze gdy je miał). The latter is gramatically imperfective, but logically perfective, and that is the reason why it is so difficult to explain. Many native speakers don't understand the distinction between the logical and grammatical aspect, and because of that have a problem explaining the problem to foreigners learning Polish. The same happens in other Slavic languages. The other problem is that the Slavic languages often use perfective verbs even if logically you would expect the imperfective, and vice versa, which makes things even more complicated.


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