# ubiegnąć / ubiec



## Wiatrak

Hello everybody!

I have been trying to learn Polish for one year now, and I must say that it is not an easy language to learn for non-slavic speaking people. But never say die

Maybe one of you can help me with (part of) the translation of a song.

(From Łukasz Zagrobelny - Nieprawda)

Może gdybym wtedy zawrócił
Może ubiegłbym los
Nigdy Ciebie z rąk nie wypuścił

My try at translation is:

Maybe if I had returned then,
Maybe I could have prevented fate,
Never let you go from hands

Am I correct that 'ubiegłbym' comes from the verb 'ubiegnąć'? Does this mean prevent? And what about 'ubiec', is this a verb? I was under the impression that every Polish verb ended with 'ć'?


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## volkonsky

'ubieglbym' is the conditional form of 'ubiec' and means 'run away'. (So in this case I suppose it means something like 'to escape/prevent fate')  Ubiec is the perfective form of ubiegac, there are a number of Polish verbs that differ from the usual ć-ending.


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## Wiatrak

Thanks volkonsky. This shows that inductive logic sometimes leads to wrong conclusions. I suppose there are no rules for verbs ending on 'c' instead of 'ć'.


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## volkonsky

Sorry, there was an error in my last post - ubiec is the perfective form of ubiegać. Ubiegnąć is an alternative form of ubiec. They're conjugated the same way. (ubiegnę, ubiegniesz)


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## BezierCurve

Just wanted to note that "ubiec"/"ubiegnąć" has a slightly diffrent meaning from "to run away", which would be "zbiec" (alt.: "uciec", "ujść").

"Ubiec kogoś/coś" means to act faster than sb/sth in achieving a particular goal or preventing something from happening, just like Wiatrak had translated it for the first time:

"Chciałem umówić się z Moniką, ale Andrzej mnie ubiegł." 
> "I wanted to date Monika, but Andrzej was faster."

"Chciałem ubiec swój los, ale pozwoliłem na to, że odeszłaś."
> "I wanted to prevent the fate [from happening], but I let you go."

Other (perfective) verbs constructed with the stem "biec" (to run):

dobiec [do] (to get somewhere - running),
pobiec [do] (to have run somewhere),
podbiec [do] (to run close to),
przebiec (run through, run across),
przybiec [do] (to arrive somewhere - running),
wybiec [z] (run out from),
nabiec [do] (to leak into),
nadbiec (to come running suddenly),
odbiec [od] (to run away from),
obiec (to run around sth),
zabiec (to run in sb's way),
wbiec [do] (to run into), 
rozbiec [się - reflex.] (to have a running start or to disperse (about a crowd)).

PS. In case you run across another meaning of "ubiec" - to pass - usually about a period of time. Hence "ubiegły rok" = "last year" ("the year that has just passed").


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## Thomas1

An alternative translation of 'ubiegać/ubiec kogoś' may be 'beat someone to it/the punch'.
Apart from the meanings of 'ubiec' given by Bezier, it can also mean 'run', but it's not used often in this meaning.


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## Wiatrak

Maybe another possibility is to 'outrun'. In this case: 'ubiec los' would become 'to outrun fate'.


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## kknd

Thomas1 said:


> An alternative translation of 'ubiec kogoś' may be 'beat someone to it/the punch'.
> Apart from the meanings of 'ubiec' given by Bezier, it can also mean 'run', but it's not used often in this meaning.



_ubiec kogoś_?! pierwsze słyszę... a nie _ubić kogoś_?


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## Thomas1

I would say that it has a bit different connotation, it is more like 'prześcignąć'. Their connotation is purely contected to motion, and it gushes out. You could have used 'prześcignąć' in the original, but it wouldn't sound that natural as 'ubiegać', which, in the original sentence, doesn't have this connotation.


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## Thomas1

kknd said:


> _ubiec kogoś_?! pierwsze słyszę... a nie _ubić kogoś_?


To beat someone to it/to the punch oznacza ubiec kogos. Ubić kogoś to beat someone to death.


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## kknd

this must be slang, regional or somewhat local; see sjp.


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## Thomas1

Kknd, I'm not sure we follow each other. I thought you were asking about the English expressions. Anyway, the meaning of 'ubiec' we are talking about is the first in the entry you linked to, it is by all means standard, or am I missing something?


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## BezierCurve

> Apart from the meanings of 'ubiec' given by Bezier, it can also mean 'run',


Indeed! I've missed that one. It's pretty close to "przebiec" in terms of the length ('Przebiegłem/ubiegłem 10 km.').

KKND, you might try searching the forums, there's been a thread on those idiomatic expressions used by Thomas above.


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## Wiatrak

That is interesting BezierCurve! So depending on the distance you ran, you would have to use a different verb. Is that true?


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## BezierCurve

What I meant was it's close in _meaning_, not the distance (sorry about the confussion!). Both of them can be used in connection with the distance you ran.

Note: the actual meaning of "ubiec" when it comes to running is "to manage to run [for a distance]", while "przebiec" simply means that you ran that distance:

"Ledwo ubiegłem wczoraj dwa okrążenia stadionu, taki byłem słaby."
> "I hardly managed to make two rounds around the stadium yesterday - I was that weak".

and 

"Przebiegłem wczoraj dwa okrążenia stadionu."
> "I made two rounds around the stadium yesterday".

Of course, you could swap them in these sentences and they'd be fine, but due to the slight difference in meaning that's how you can expect them to be used.

I wrote "in terms of the length" because "przebiec" can also mean to run across something ("Przebiegłem przez środek stadionu.").


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## kknd

my bad! excuses!


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## bibax

> This shows that inductive logic sometimes leads to wrong conclusions. I suppose there are no rules for verbs ending on 'c' instead of 'ć'.


There is a rule.

The verbs having the root/stem ending -g- or -k- have the infinitive ending -c instead of -ć.

For example:

mogę: mó*c* (from Protoslavic *mo*gt*i)
biegę: biec
piekę: pie*c* (from Protoslavic *pe*kt*i)
ciekę: ciec
...


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## BezierCurve

> biegę: biec


In this particular case additional transformation applies: biegnę.


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## bibax

Strictly, -bieg*n*ę is from -bieg*n*ąć.


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## BezierCurve

You're right. It's just that "biegę" is no longer in use which made me instantly think of it as an exception.


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## Wiatrak

Thanks bibax and BezierCurve, I am learning a lot here.


 And I also found this thread nr. 305120, which covers some of the same issues. I guess I should have searched the forum earlier!


 But there is still one thing bothering me: what do you mean by alternative forms of a verb? Like Volkonsky said ubiec is an alternative form of ubiegnąć. Why should there be two forms of one verb? Are they exactly the same, or is one form more often used in practice?


 For example, are these sentences the same:


_"Nie chcę biec w deszczu."_
_"Nie chcę biegnąć w deszczu."_


 Or to use the example of BezierCurve:


 "Chciałem ubiec swój los, ale pozwoliłem na to, że odeszłaś."
 "Chciałem ubiegnąć swój los, ale pozwoliłem na to, że odeszłaś."


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## Thomas1

It means that they have two forms which are equally correct and have the same meaning. However, in practical usage sometimes both are employed or one may be preferred. In your first example, they work both to me (I've been turning them in my heand and have confused myself as to which one I'd've chosen). In your second example, it's definitely 'ubiec' which dominates in practical usage.


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## kknd

i hope this is correct, but as far as i remember _ubiec_ can be used more in abstract settings, where _ubiegnąć_ is more connected to space-time relationships.


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## Thomas1

Is there any source/credible sample of this usage?


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## Ben Jamin

volkonsky said:


> 'ubieglbym' is the conditional form of 'ubiec' and means 'run away'. (So in this case I suppose it means something like 'to escape/prevent fate') Ubiec is the perfective form of ubiegac, there are a number of Polish verbs that differ from the usual ć-ending.


 "Ubiec" means "avoid", not "run away". Run away is zbiec, uciec, umknąć.


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## Ben Jamin

kknd said:


> i hope this is correct, but as far as i remember _ubiec_ can be used more in abstract settings, where _ubiegnąć_ is more connected to space-time relationships.


Can you give any quotations? I have never heard or read the word _ubiegnąć._


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## BezierCurve

> "Ubiec" means "avoid", not "run away". Run away is zbiec, uciec, umknąć.



Yeah, why bother and read other posts...

As for_ ubiegnąć_ - it's a legitimate verb.


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## Old Raft

Wiatrak said:


> Maybe one of you can help me with (part of) the translation of a song.
> 
> Może gdybym wtedy zawrócił
> Może ubiegłbym los
> Nigdy Ciebie z rąk nie wypuścił



For what it's worth, here's my stab at a translation:

Maybe if I'd turned back then 
I might have forestalled fate 
And never let go of you/And never lost hold on you


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## kknd

it seems those were my personal feelings about words: here're polish dictionary entries.


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