# change planes (transit)



## questin

Hi there!
How could I say, when checking-in, that I'm are flying to London but *"I have to change plane at Bejing"*? (in order to ask for sending the luggage directly to London).
I have found "międzylądowanie", but apparently it means a plane stop, no a plane change.
Thanks in advance!


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## Ben Jamin

‘Zmiana samolotu’ or ‘przesiadka’.


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## Thawt

Hello,

I am sorry but really checking dictionary instead of opening a new thread would not cause any harm and in fact it would turn out to be much faster for your getting answered. "I have to change plane (...)" translated word for word into polish is idiomatic and in common use.


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## LilianaB

I think_ lecę do Londynu z przesiadką w Pekinie (muszę się przesiąść w Pekinie) _sounds much more idiomatic, and better form the stylistic point of view. I personally would never use _zmienić_ in Polish. Yes, some people speak this way -- this is true, but it does not really sound as smooth. It is acceptable, though, I imagine.


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## dreamlike

I wouldn't be so sure about "Muszę zmienić samolot" being commonly used, Thawt. I and people I know would be far more likely to say "muszę się przesiąść w Pekinie" or "Mam przesiadkę w Pekinie", as suggested by Liliana. 
Also, that's the very aim of this forum -- to ask questions, however silly they may be (and it's not the case here) -- so I find your remark completely inappropriate.


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## questin

Dear Thawt,
When your are not native speaker, you hardly know if a sentence is correct if you hadn't heard it before from some native.
Besides... I not only looked for the words in the dictionary, but checked in google.pl with quotes eg. "muszę zmienić samolot" and did not get ANY results (check it by yourself).
I do not think that your duty is to judge the questions -moderators work on it- but to help people with them.
Thank you anyway and specially to those who really helped.
I pick "Muszę się przesiąść w Pekinie".


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## Ben Jamin

To Thawt:
Your post was completely unnecessary.  Nobody  intended  to offend you by asking this question. Besides, the question was not about a single word.
If you don’t like a question just don’t answer.

To Questin:
Don’t apologize and don’t be sorry. You did not break any rules. You are welcome to ask any question you wish.


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## kknd

Thawt said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am sorry but really checking dictionary instead of opening a new thread would not cause any harm and in fact it would turn out to be much faster for your getting answered. "I have to change plane (...)" translated word for word into polish is idiomatic and in common use.


and a word from me: this observation would be fine if one could somehow know or had a way to properly judge that he/she should translate word for word or that a phrase is idiomatic (it's quite easy to guess by googling that phrase is fairly common). cheers!


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## Thawt

Hello Everyone,
wow what a riot- did you light your torches already?

Seriously- by threads like this polish part of wordreference will never be any close to all English forum.

dreamlike- please, "I have to change plane.." it can't be any simpler "Musze zmienic samolot.." and don't even confuse our guy here by saying it's not in use or something.

The 2nd thing is that I can't stop wondering why would you even think I felt offended by questin's post. I just suggested this is not what this forum is all about and that it would have been way faster for him to simply check it on dictionary. 

I am not fighting anyone here I accept the way you handle "issues" (although calling translating the easiest words should never earn being called an issue) and of cours questin you are free to ask even more and I am sure that many guys here that love to shine and be always on top will come in handy within seconds, for sure faster then scrolling through an on-line dictionary.

Good luck!


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## kirahvi

Thawt: 
The problem with your suggestion to find the corresponding words in a dictionary is that often the word to word translation is not acceptable. It's impossible for a non-native to know when a this approach applies and when it doesn't.


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## Ben Jamin

Thawt said:


> Hello Everyone,
> wow what a riot- did you light your torches already?
> 
> Seriously- by threads like this polish part of wordreference will never be any close to all English forum.
> 
> dreamlike- please, "I have to change plane.." it can't be any simpler "Musze zmienic samolot.." and don't even confuse our guy here by saying it's not in use or something.
> 
> The 2nd thing is that I can't stop wondering why would you even think I felt offended by questin's post. I just suggested this is not what this forum is all about and that it would have been way faster for him to simply check it on dictionary.
> 
> I am not fighting anyone here I accept the way you handle "issues" (although calling translating the easiest words should never earn being called an issue) and of cours questin you are free to ask even more and I am sure that many guys here that love to shine and be always on top will come in handy within seconds, for sure faster then scrolling through an on-line dictionary.
> 
> Good luck!


Do not phantasise about riots and the like, and don’t overreact. Your post was just unnecessary. Most of the users don't need such posts.


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## dreamlike

I will allow myself to refer only to the substantial bit of your post regarding the 'issue' (even if you think it's too big a word) at hand, Thawht, because the remainder of it is an utter nonsense. 

No, _'muszę zmienić samolot'_ is not the usual way of conveying the idea of _'changing planes/transit flights'_, at least in my experience. 
I suppose that within the suitable context I would take it to mean '_I have to change plane',_ but other than that it connotes to me the idea of buying a new plane, just like one would say_ 'Muszę zmienić samochód' - 'I have to buy a new car'._


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## LilianaB

Thawt said:


> Hello Everyone,
> wow what a riot- did you light your torches already?
> 
> Seriously- by threads like this polish part of wordreference will never be any close to all English forum.
> 
> dreamlike- please, "I have to change plane.." it can't be any simpler "Musze zmienic samolot.." and don't even confuse our guy here by saying it's not in use or something.
> 
> The 2nd thing is that I can't stop wondering why would you even think I felt offended by questin's post. I just suggested this is not what this forum is all about and that it would have been way faster for him to simply check it on dictionary.
> 
> I am not fighting anyone here I accept the way you handle "issues" (although calling translating the easiest words should never earn being called an issue) and of cours questin you are free to ask even more and I am sure that many guys here that love to shine and be always on top will come in handy within seconds, for sure faster then scrolling through an on-line dictionary.
> 
> Good luck!




I disagree: _Muszę zmienić samolot_ is very poor style -- extremely colloquial calque from English.(or another Germanic language). Some people speak like that, as I said before, but I doubt you could use it in writing -- in a newspaper article, for example, although everything is possible in some papers.


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## dreamlike

Quite apart from the fact that it's poor style, it can be easily misunderstood, which renders it useless.


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## radosna

Thawt, 

I agree with dreamlike & LilianaB that "Muszę zmienić samolot" is a poor choice -- and I can speak from experience.  I think dreamlike's point that it can be easily misunderstood and it conjures up images of changing planes as some would change cars or (perhaps tires).  I fly back and forth from Europe to the States twice a year and because of my lack of more sophisticated Polish vocabulary, I used this simple phrase (a direct translation from English). I can remember this phrase being received with slightly amused looks. Yes, my listeners could in context understand what I meant, but it was clearly not a colloquial nor ideal choice of phrasing.  Most Poles tend to be very gracious with those of us who are foreigners who seek to communicate in Polish.  But it doesn't take a genius to recognize when you've said something that is not a very Polish way of expressing an idea.  

Have you actually ever tried using this phrase in real life? 

I also add my voice to many others in saying that your remarks such as "it can't be any simpler than..." and to simply check a dictionary were not only unnecessary but also debatable as well as condescending.


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