# Dziś niczym jutro wszystkim my.



## Angstschreeuw

Hi, I last encountered this sentence:

Dziś niczym jutro wszystkim my
How should I translate it?
I thought something like: Today we are nothing, but tomorrow we are everything. 
But without the verb 'być'

Z góry wam dziękuję


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## zaffy

Is this a line from a poem? This is not grammatical at all. Yes, you're translation is correct.


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## Ben Jamin

zaffy said:


> Is this a line from a poem? This is not grammatical at all. Yes, you're translation is correct.



The line is perfectly grammatical in Polish, but written in a style used today only in poetry.

The line is from the lyrics of _The Internationale_, the last line of the first stanza
_Ruszymy z posad bryłę świata,
Dziś niczem — jutro wszystkiem my!_

Litteral translation:
_We'll move the massive lump of the Earth from its foundations
Today we are nothing - tomorrow we'll be everything!_

Original text:
_Le monde va changer de base
Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout_

English litteral translation of the original text:
_The world is about to change its foundation
We are nothing, let us be all.
_
American English poetic translation:
_The earth shall rise on new foundations:
We have been nought, we shall be all!
_
Dutch text_:
De wereld steunt op nieuwe krachten,
Begeerte heeft ons aangeraakt!

_


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## grassy

I agree that in contemporary Polish this line sounds off and ungrammatical. In poetry everything is permitted, though.


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## Ben Jamin

grassy said:


> I agree that in contemporary Polish this line sounds off and ungrammatical. In poetry everything is permitted, though.


Have you ever studied Polish grammar?


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## grassy

Ben Jamin said:


> Have you ever studied Polish grammar?



Sure, and I stand by what I wrote. It's incorrect in contemporary Polish because the syntax is wrong and some words that shouldn't be left out are left out. However, if we're discussing poetry, then the labels 'correct/incorrect' make little sense because that's not what poetry is about.

By the way, no offence, but it says you've been living in Norway since 1982, so it seems like you may be a person who has lost touch with contemporary Polish.


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## Ben Jamin

grassy said:


> Sure, and I stand by what I wrote.


Can you give any references that confirm your view?



grassy said:


> By the way, no offence, but it says you've been living in Norway since 1982, so it seems like you may be a person who has lost touch with contemporary Polish.


Actually, your statement is almost offensive. You don't now anything about my contact with the Polish language.

The fact that people don't speak so, does not mean that a phrase is ungrammatical. This way of expression maybe not familiar to contemporary speakers, but it still doesn't mean that it is ungrammatical. This is a matter of style, not grammar.


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## grassy

Ben Jamin said:


> Can you give any references that confirm your view?



I can give you the exact reason why it's incorrect: in today's Polish you do not omit the verb and at the same time put the subject at the end of the clause. It sounds wrong and it is wrong, period.



Ben Jamin said:


> Actually, your statement is almost offensive. You don't know anything about my contact with the Polish language.
> 
> The fact that people don't speak so, does not mean that a phrase is ungrammatical. This way of expression maybe not may not be familiar to contemporary speakers, but it still doesn't mean that it is ungrammatical. This is a matter of style, not grammar.



In case you don't remember -- it was you who first questioned my competence by asking if I have ever studied Polish grammar. Do I sense some double standards here?


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