Other Slavic equivalents of Polish "przecież"

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polskajason

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English - American
There is a Polish word przecież that doesn't have a neat English equivalent.

  • Pada deszcz, a przecież rano było pogodnie. (It's raining, and yet this morning it was clear)
  • Dlaczego nie pijesz? Przecież chce Ci się pić. (Why aren't you drinking? After all, you're thirsty.)
  • Mogę przestać pić kiedy chcę. - No, przecież. (I can stop drinking when I want. - Sure, you can (sarcastically))
  • Dlaczego się nie uczysz do sprawdzianu? Przecież uczę się cały tydzień. (Why aren't you studying for your test? - But I've studied all week.)
Is there a more direct equivalent in other Slavic languages? Or is this word more or less an exception?
 
    • I think "ведь" is the closest equivalent you can find in Russian. However, you can't use it in the third example, and it should be accompanied by some other particles in the second and fourth one.
     
    I dont think there's a one word equivalent in Serbian...

    In the 1st sentence, I wouldn't add anything - pada kiša, a jutros je bilo lepo vreme....

    In the 2nd sentence I'd use "ipak"

    In the 3rd I'd maybe say "of course" ("naravno" or "kako da ne" perhaps)

    And in the 4th, I guess "ali" (but).
     
    I was born in Poland .., but sometimes i have to admit I'm forgetting my native language...:cool:

    partykuła mająca nawiązywać do danej sytuacji, wypowiedzi i podważyć jej prawdziwość, słuszność.

    przecież «partykuła wprowadzająca sąd polemiczny w stosunku do wypowiedzianego wcześniej, podkreślająca, że jego prawdziwość jest dla mówiącego oczywista,
    np. Pana przecież obowiązuje jakaś etyka zawodowa.

    przecież the partical introducing the polemic court in relation to the previously said, stressing that his truth is obvious to speaking,
     
    Włoskipolak 72 said:
    Do exist '' czy '' in Czech , Slovak and other Slavic languages ?

    Czy chcesz oglądać telewizję?
    Click to expand...
    In Slovak yes, but in standard language the Slovak "či" corresponds rather to the English "if" in contexts like e.g. "Neviem, či chceš pozerať televíziu." (= I don't know if you want to watch television).
     
    Włoskipolak 72 said:
    Do exist '' czy '' in Czech , Slovak and other Slavic languages ?

    Czy chcesz oglądać telewizję?
    Click to expand...

    In Slovenian we can say ali or just a colloquially. Ali usually means or and a usually means but.

    The most formal way to ask a question is just to put the verb at the beginning and add rising intonation at the end.
     
    Włoskipolak 72 said:
    Do exist '' czy '' in Czech , Slovak and other Slavic languages ?

    Czy chcesz oglądać telewizję?
    Click to expand...
    In BCS it's "li" and appears as the 2nd word in the sentence/clause.

    Croatian: Hoćeš li gledati televiziju? / Serbian: Da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju?
    Croatian: Ne znam hoćeš li gledati televiziju. / Serbian: Ne znam da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju.
     
    polskajason said:
    In BCS it's "li" and appears as the 2nd word in the sentence/clause.
    Click to expand...
    As an interesting side note, I can add that the particle li has been attested in Polish since the 14th century, and had the same function as in BCS.
    Examples:
    „Oczy smutne podnoszę na wszystkie strony, upatrując, ktoli się mnie użałuje” (Jan Kochanowski 1530-1584);
    „Znaszli ten kraj, gdzie cytryna dojrzewa” (Adam Mickiewicz 1798-1855);
    „Przystąp, ktokolwiek jesteś wróg li czy przyjaciel” (Zygmunt Krasiński 1812-1859).

    The suspicion that it is a Russianism caused its disappearance. Unjustly, because it is a Proto-Slavic heritage.
    -li was preserved in the following words: czyli (czy li), albo (formerly: a-li-bo), jeśli (formerly: jest li).
     
    Last edited:
    karaluszek said:
    As an interesting side note, I can add that the particle li has been attested in Polish since the 14th century, and had the same function as in BCS.
    Examples:
    „Oczy smutne podnoszę na wszystkie strony, upatrując, ktoli się mnie użałuje” (Jan Kochanowski 1530-1584);
    „Znaszli ten kraj, gdzie cytryna dojrzewa” (Adam Mickiewicz 1798-1855);
    „Przystąp, ktokolwiek jesteś wróg li czy przyjaciel” (Zygmunt Krasiński 1812-1859).

    The suspicion that it is a Russianism caused its disappearance. Unjustly, because it is an Proto-Slavic heritage.
    -li was preserved in the following words: czyli (czy li), albo (formerly: a-li-bo), jeśli (formerly: jest li).
    Click to expand...
    In very bookish and sophisticated texts you can still meet an expression li tylko which means prawdopodobnie tylko and expresses some doubts of their authors, e.g. Jest to przeszkoda li tylko formalna i zapewne usuwalna.
     
    polskajason said:
    In BCS it's "li" and appears as the 2nd word in the sentence/clause.

    Croatian: Hoćeš li gledati televiziju? / Serbian: Da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju?
    Croatian: Ne znam hoćeš li gledati televiziju. / Serbian: Ne znam da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju.
    Click to expand...
    Please note that the 'Croatian' version is perfectly normal, correct in Standard Serbian, and used in Serbia.
    I would never say 'da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju', it is just too long and here in Vojvodina (Northern Serbia) we actually prefer the infinitive.
     
    Last edited:
    Милан said:
    Please note that the 'Croatian' version is perfectly normal, correct in Standard Serbian, and used in Serbia.
    I would never said 'da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju', it is just too long and here in Vojvodina (Northern Serbia) we actually prefer the infinitive.
    Click to expand...
    Sure, they aren't clean linguistic/dialectical lines, esp in the north. In fact I recently saw a video of a tour of Subotica, and the national theater sign said pozorište in Cyrillic, but kazalište in Latin.
     
    polskajason said:
    Sure, they aren't clean linguistic/dialectical lines, esp in the north. In fact I recently saw a video of a tour of Subotica, and the national theater sign said pozorište in Cyrillic, but kazalište in Latin.
    Click to expand...
    That's because kazalište is a Croatian word. Croatian is one of the official languages of Subotica along with Serbian, Hungarian, and Bunjevac.
     
    Милан said:
    Please note that the 'Croatian' version is perfectly normal, correct in Standard Serbian, and used in Serbia.
    I would never say 'da li hoćeš da gledaš televiziju', it is just too long and here in Vojvodina (Northern Serbia) we actually prefer the infinitive.
    Click to expand...
    In Banat we'd actually never use infinitive in such sentences, so I believe it's more of a Bačka thing rather than a Vojvodina thing.
    I'd say if speaking informally/colloquially " 'oćeś da gledaš TV? "
     
    Panceltic said:
    In Slovenian we can say ali or just a colloquially. Ali usually means or and a usually means but.

    The most formal way to ask a question is just to put the verb at the beginning and add rising intonation at the end.
    Click to expand...
    I always regarded the ali version to be the most formal and the a version as being used in western Slovenia (west of Slovenska Bistrica and especially central Slovenia), since what you describe as the most formal way (putting the verb at the beginning and adding a rising intonation at the end) is very typical for dialects/informal speech of northeastern Slovenia (Maribor, Ptuj, Murska Sobota or, well, the Podravje and Pomurje regions). :p
     
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