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2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)
2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)
2.1.3. Case (nouns and prepositions)
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers
1. Post-edition at Unbabel
At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:
- Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
- Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
- Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.
We also have Smartcheck, which is an application that checks the grammar, morphology, orthography and style of the translations while being edited. By using a large set of rules, Smartcheck flags words or groups of words that may present some kind of issue.
Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.
2. Grammar
2.1. Agreement
2.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)
The verb and its subject must conform in terms of the number and gender.
Example
Source text: Marek returned home.
✘ Marek wróciły do domu.
✓ Marek wrócił do domu.
When the subject contains coordinated objects of various genders (e.g. masculine and feminine), the masculine is the prevailing gender, and the verb has to conform to it.
Example
Source text: Marek and Ewa returned home.
✘ Marek i Ewa wróciły do domu.
✓ Marek i Ewa wrócili do domu.
A typical Polish verb has the subject in the nominative form and the complement in the accusative form. When passive voice is created, the object becomes the subject.
Examples
Source text: A neighbor bought a new car.
✓ Sąsiad kupił nowy samochód. (active voice)
Source text: The car was bought by a neighbor.
✓ Samochód został kupiony przez sąsiada. (passive voice)
The constructions of passive voice are more complicated, so they occur less frequently and usually in a formal style. But sometimes, the characteristics of the nominative and accusative forms make it impossible to distinguish the subject from the object in active voice. Then, use passive voice.
Example
Source text: The pipes were pierced by children.
✘ Dzieci przebiły rury.
✓ Dzieci zostały przebite przez rury.
✓ Rury zostały przebite przez dzieci.
A verb with a complement in the accusative form in a negative construction changes the case of its complement to genitive.
Examples
Source text: A neighbor bought a new car.
✓ Sąsiad kupił nowy samochód. (accusative)
Source text: A neighbor didn’t buy a new car.
✓ Sąsiad nie kupił nowego samochodu. (genitive)
For the first and second persons of the Polish verb, it is characteristic that the endings of the past tense express simultaneously the gender and can be separated from the verb. This phenomenon is rare in contemporary Polish. Thanks to these endings, it is possible to leave the pronouns ja, ty, my and wy in the position of the subject freely.
Example
Source text: We have worked on this translation for a long time.
✓ Długo pracowaliśmy nad tym tłumaczeniem.
✓ Długośmy pracowali nad tym tłumaczeniem.
The same happens with the forms of a conditional created with the ending -by. The mobility of this ending is also present in contemporary texts
Example
Source text: We could talk about that for a long time.
✓ Długo moglibyśmy o tym mówić.
✓ Długo byśmy mogli mówić o tym.
There are two ways to create future tense in Polish: perfective verbs have simple forms, and imperfective verbs have forms created by using the auxiliary verb być. In a compound form, a verb can express a gender or have the infinitive form. Both options are equally correct.
Example
Source text: Tomorrow, I will go to work by car.
✓ Jutro będę jechał / będę jechać do pracy samochodem
✓ Jutro pojadę do pracy samochodem.
Too-precise translation of the grammatical category of tense may cause an error in the target text.
Example
Source text: Our team has been working on the solution to this problem and we’ll let you know as soon as they fix it.
✘ Nasz zespół pracował nad rozwiązaniem tego problemu, poinformujemy Cię, gdy tylko go naprawią.
✓ Nasz zespół pracuje nad rozwiązaniem tego problemu, poinformujemy Cię, gdy tylko go naprawią.
Make sure that the translation uses the appropriate verb aspect. In Polish, the aspect is a lexical category, whereas in English it is expressed by means of grammatical constructions. This causes frequent errors in machine translations.
Example
Source text: When you call make sure to have your ID document ready that you used to sign up.
✘ Kiedy zadzwonisz, upewnij się, że masz przygotowany dokument tożsamości, którego użyłeś do rejestracji.
✓ Kiedy będziesz dzwonił, upewnij się, że masz przygotowany dokument tożsamości, którego użyłeś do rejestracji.
2.1.2. Gender and number (nouns and adjectives)
Some nouns (so-called plural tantum) in Polish do not have singular forms, and are always combined with a verb and an adjective in the plural form, even if in a given context we refer to a single object. These include expressions such as drzwi, okulary, sanki, and skrzypce. These nouns are not combined with ordinary numerals but only with collective numerals.
Example
Source text: I bought four doors at the DIY store.
✘ Kupiłem w markecie budowlanym cztery drzwi.
✓ Kupiłem w markecie budowlanym czworo drzwi.
2.1.3. Case (nouns and prepositions)
There are seven cases in Polish. A case is a category of nouns, adjectives, some numerals and pronouns. A case exponent is the appropriate inflectional ending and in some situations also the position in a sentence.
- Nominative
Nominative (kto? co?) is the case of the subject in a Polish sentence.
Examples
Source text: Marek entered the store.
✓ Marek wszedł do sklepu.
Source text: Express trains do not stop at all stations.
✓ Pociągi pospieszne nie zatrzymują się na wszystkich stacjach.
- Genitive
Genitive (kogo? czego?) is a multifunctional case in Polish. It must be noted that genitive appears with negated verbs (for more details, see section ‘a. Tense, mood, aspect, person’). With some verbs, changing accusative to genitive in the complement causes the appearance of the meaning 'a little'.
Examples
Source text: Marek bought carrots.
✓ Marek kupił marchewki. (accusative)
Source text: Marek bought some carrots.
✓ Marek kupił marchewek. (genitive; ‘trochę marchewek’)
- Dative
Dative (komu? czemu?) is the case in which an indirect object is expressed in a Polish sentence. It mainly describes someone/something that gets something. Dative is combined with the prepositions ku, dzięki, wbrew, przeciw(ko).
Example
Source text: Marek gives carrots to Piotr.
✓ Marek daje marchewki Piotrowi.
- Accusative
Accusative (kogo? co?) is the case in which a direct object (object of activity) is expressed in a Polish sentence.
Example
Source text: Marek gives carrots to Piotr.
✓ Marek daje marchewki Piotrowi.
A direct object in the accusative form can be recognized by the fact that in passive voice it becomes a subject in the nominative form (for more details, see section ‘a. Tense, mood, aspect, person’).
- Instrumental
Instrumental (z kim? z czym?) is the case for expressing the tool of an action or how an action is done. It is also used with the prepositions z, nad, pod, przed, za, (po)między.
Example
Source text: Marek drove the nail into the board with a hammer.
✓ Marek wbił gwóźdź w deskę młotkiem.
The instrumental can be also a part of the predicate. However, if the predicative expression is only an adjective, the appropriate case is the nominative.
Examples
Source text: Marek is a famous writer.
✓ Marek jest znanym pisarzem.
Source text: Marek is famous.
✘ Marek jest znanym.
✓ Marek jest znany.
- Locative
Locative (o kim? o czym?) is the grammatical case that indicates the location of an action described by a verb. This is the only Polish case that occurs only with the prepositions na, w, o, po, przy.
Examples
Source text: Children play football on the field.
✓ Dzieci grają w piłkę na boisku.
Source text: Marek buys carrots in the store.
✓ Marek kupuje marchewki w sklepie.
- Vocative
Vocative is the form used to address the recipient directly. The vocative form is not combined with other constituents of the sentence, and it must be separated from them with commas. In the informal register, vocative forms are replaced by forms of nominative, but in the formal register one must use vocative. Vocative is also obligatory in connection with the expressions pan, pani.
Examples
Source text: Marek, I am asking you for more patience.
✓ Marek, proszę Cię jeszcze o chwilę cierpliwości. (only informal register)
✓ Marku, proszę Cię jeszcze o chwilę cierpliwości.
Source text: Mr. Marek, I am asking you for more patience.
✘ Panie Marek, proszę Pana o jeszcze chwilę cierpliwości.
✓ Panie Marku, proszę Pana o jeszcze chwilę cierpliwości.
You may also find some illustrative examples in section ‘Punctuation in greetings and closings’.
2.2. Prepositions
A literal translation of English prepositions may result in errors in the target text.
Example
Source text: Your router isn't close to anything that may send out radio waves.
✘ Twój router nie jest blisko do czegokolwiek, co może wysyłać fale radiowe.
✓ Twój router nie znajduje się blisko urządzenia, które może emitować fale radiowe.
A frequent error is an incorrect notation of expressions with a preposition.
Example
✘ napewno, na prawdę
✓ na pewno, naprawdę
Some verbs and adjectives are combined with different prepositions, keeping the same meaning (czekać na kogoś and czekać za kimś). Be careful not to use connections that are too colloquial.
Examples
Source text: Many thanks to all.
✘ Bardzo dziękuję dla wszystkich uczestników.
✓ Bardzo dziękuję wszystkim uczestnikom.
Source text: We do not have to wait for the courier.
✘ Nie musimy czekać za kurierem.
✓ Nie musimy czekać na kuriera.
2.3. Pronouns
That is not needed to follow the English sentence structure by constantly repeating the pronouns.
Examples
Source text: You need to go to the supermarket to buy apples.
✘ Ty musisz iść do supermarketu kupić jabłka.
✓ Musisz iść do supermarketu kupić jabłka.
Source text: I agree that you’re right.
✘ Ja zgadzam się, że ty masz rację.
✓ Zgadzam się, że masz rację.
2.4. Verbs
Some forms (other than infinitive) of Polish verbs are impersonal (you can not specify the subject in them).
Examples
Source text: The payment order was already made yesterday.
✓ Zlecenie wypłaty zrealizowano już wczoraj.
Source text: Payment orders are executed every Friday.
✓ Zlecenia wypłaty realizuje się w każdy piątek.
These forms may be useful while creating polite expressions in formal register.
A common mistake in texts translated into Polish is to use one complement for two verbs (usually linked by a conjunction). Two verbs can have a common complement only if the form of complement suits the syntactic requirements of both verbs.
Example:
Source text: We are not able to view/access the metatags.
✘ Nie jesteśmy w stanie wyświetlić/uzyskać dostępu do metatagów.
✓ Nie jesteśmy w stanie wyświetlić metatagów ani uzyskać do nich dostępu.
3. Orthography
3.1. Abbreviations
In Polish, a dot is placed after the abbreviations if they do not end with the last letter of the shortened word. It should be noted that inflectional endings in a given context should be also taken into account.
Examples
Source text: Today's lecture will be led by Prof. Kowalski.
✘ Dzisiejszy wykład poprowadzi prof Kowalski.
✓ Dzisiejszy wykład poprowadzi prof. Kowalski. (profesor)
Source text: For today's meeting I invited dr. Nowak.
✘ Na dzisiejsze spotkanie zaprosiłem dr Nowaka.
✓ Na dzisiejsze spotkanie zaprosiłem dr. Nowaka. (doktora)
If an abbreviation ends with the last letter of the shortened word, do not use a dot.
Example
Source text: Today's lecture will be led by Dr. Nowak.
✘ Dzisiejszy wykład poprowadzi dr. Nowak.
✓ Dzisiejszy wykład poprowadzi dr Nowak. (doktor)
Do not use a dot also with abbreviations of Polish monetary units (but only Polish ones - note: the euro currency in Polish does not have an abbreviation), abbreviations of measurement units and abbreviations of high numbers. In each of these cases, the abbreviation must always be written with a whitespace between the numerical value and the abbreviation.
Examples
Source text: It will cost PLN 135.15, but I can give you a 10% discount.
✘ To będzie kosztować 135zł. i 15gr., ale mogę dać jeszcze 10 % rabatu.
✓ To będzie kosztować 135 zł i 15 gr, ale mogę dać jeszcze 10% rabatu.
Source text: Over 3 hours do we need to drive these 200 km to Warsaw.
✓ Ponad 3 godz. potrzebujemy na przejechanie tych 200 km do Warszawy.
Source text: A new house near Warsaw can cost up to PLN 5 million.
✓ Nowy dom pod Warszawą może kosztować nawet 5 mln zł.
3.2. Apostrophes
An apostrophe in Polish texts is used to denote an inflectional ending, when some part of an inflectional basic word of foreign origin is not pronounced. It is a mistake to add an apostrophe before each ending added to a foreign name.
Example
Source text: I saw new photos of Steve Hackett on Facebook.
✘ Widziałem na Facebook’u nowe zdjęcia Steve’a Hackett’a.
✓ Widziałem na Facebooku nowe zdjęcia Steve’a Hacketta.
An apostrophe should also be preserved in foreign words, in which it originally appears.
Example
Source text: Steven O'Brien is the new rhythm'n'blues star.
✓ Steven O’Brien to nowa gwiazda rhythm'n'bluesa.
3.3. Capitalization
We write a capital letter at the beginning of each sentence.
Example
Source text: Each sentence begins with a capital letter. Remember that. Always.
✘ każde zdanie rozpoczyna się wielką literą. pamiętaj o tym. zawsze.
✓ Każde zdanie rozpoczyna się wielką literą. Pamiętaj o tym. Zawsze.
All proper names are always written with a capital letter.
Examples
Source text: Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw.
✘ Pałac kultury i nauki w Warszawie.
✓ Pałac Kultury i Nauki w Warszawie.
Source text: Statue of Liberty in New York.
✘ Statua wolności w Nowym Jorku.
✓ Statua Wolności w Nowym Jorku.
In titles of books, only the first word is written with a capital letter; in titles of newspapers and magazines, all words except conjunctions and prepositions are written with a capital letter. Titles are written in quotes.
Example
Source text: "Polish-Bulgarian Confrontative Grammar","Gazeta Wyborcza"
✘ „Gramatyka Konfrontatywna Polsko-Bułgarska”, „Gazeta wyborcza”
✓ „Gramatyka konfrontatywna polsko-bułgarska”, „Gazeta Wyborcza”
The names of degrees, academic and job titles, etc. are written in lowercase.
Example
Source text: Contact our marketing specialist.
✘ Skontaktuj się z naszym Specjalistą ds. Marketingu.
✓ Skontaktuj się z naszym specjalistą ds. marketingu.
The capital letter appears exceptionally within words that are proper names or belong to the proper names.
Examples
Source text: Adobe PageMaker
✘ Adobe Pagemaker
✓ Adobe PageMaker
Source text: iPhone
✘ Iphone
✓ iPhone
We also write the names of holidays with a capital letter.
Examples
Source text: Mother’s Day
✘ dzień matki
✓ Dzień Matki
Source text: New Year
✘ Nowy rok
✓ Nowy Rok
Source text: Christmas
✘ Boże narodzenie
✓ Boże Narodzenie
Source text: Easter
✘ wielkanoc
✓ Wielkanoc
It should be noted that the names of various objects (e.g. titles of games or books, names of institutions) and some other words (like adjectives derived from names of countries and continents) are sometimes differently written in English and Polish. When translating names into Polish, the use of uppercase and lowercase letters must first follow the client's instructions, and, only then, the general rules of the Polish language.
Example
Source text: Polish is rarely taught in European countries.
✘ W krajach Europejskich rzadko uczy się Polskiego.
✓ W krajach europejskich rzadko uczy się polskiego.
3.4. Compounds
Compounds in Polish are most often combinations of two adjectives (e.g. a numeral and an adjective) or an adjective and a noun. Adjectives composed of segments describing different features are written together. The second segment is meaningful, the first one clarifies that meaning.
Examples
Source text: dark green leaf
✘ ciemno-zielony liść
✓ ciemnozielony liść
Source text: south-eastern dialect
✘ południowo-polski dialekt
✓ południowopolski dialekt
Source text: Roman Catholic church
✘ kościół rzymsko-katolicki
✓ kościół rzymskokatolicki
Adjectives composed of two or more segments describing the same feature are spelled with a hyphen.
Examples
Source text: Polish-English dictionary
✘ słownik polskoangielski
✓ słownik polsko-angielski
Source text: white-red flag
✘ flaga białoczerwona
✓ flaga biało-czerwona
Source text: Polish-German-French conference
✘ konferencja polskoniemieckofrancuska
✓ konferencja polsko-niemiecko-francuska
3.5. Diacritics
It is imperative to keep diacritics in all letters characteristic for the Polish alphabet. In the case of foreign words written in Latin letters based on the Latin alphabet, it is recommended to keep the diacritics from the target languages.
Example
✓ Müller, Cinecittà, Beneš, Erdoğan
However, it is also acceptable to adapt the foreign spelling to the Polish alphabet.
Example
✓ Mueller, Cinecitta, Benesz, Erdogan
3.6. Foreign words
If single words from one language appear in the text in another language (e.g. Latin phrases in English), these words should be left untranslated. In a Polish text, a foreign word (but not a proper name) should be saved with the original spelling, and in italics. You can also match the spelling to the Polish alphabet and not use italics. These are rather quotes which are not used in such cases.
Examples
Source text: I live vis-a-vis a church.
✓ Mieszkam vis-à-vis kościoła.
Source text: The specific demands of de lege ferenda must be formulated.
✓ Trzeba sformułować konkretne postulaty de lege ferenda.
3.7. Numerals
Regarding numerals format (written in numbers or words), you must always respect the source text: if they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated to the target language.
However, the verbal notation of numbers above 10 is rarely used in Polish, and verbal notation of numbers above 20 (and less than 1000) is used very rarely.
While in English, commas are used to separate groups of hundreds, thousands etc. in large numbers, in Polish we do not use any punctuation marks (we can use whitespaces instead).
Example
✘ 123,456
✓ 123456
✓ 123 456
In English, we use a dot to indicate the decimal place; in Polish, we must do it with a comma.
Example
✘ 456.78
✓ 456,78
Pay attention to English word “billions”.
Example
Source text: We buy food for billions of zlotys abroad each year.
✘ Każdego roku kupujemy za granicą żywność za biliony złotych.
✓ Każdego roku kupujemy za granicą żywność za miliardy złotych.
3.8. Symbols
The correct use of the symbol % (percent) is limited to the position after the number written in digits. It is placed after this number without a whitespace.
Example
Source text: We expect a 15% increase in wages.
✘ Oczekujmy wzrostu płac o 15 %.
✘ Oczekujmy wzrostu płac o piętnaście %.
✓ Oczekujemy wzrostu płac o 15%.
In Polish, the sign § (paragraph) is used primarily in legal texts in the designations of parts of the article in acts, regulations, etc. The sign § is put only before the number written in digits. We always put a whitespace between § and a number.
Example
Source text: § 12. The change in the regulations comes into force after 14 days from the date of delivery of its new wording on a durable medium.
✘ §12. Zmiana w regulaminie wchodzi w życie po upływie 14 dni od dnia dostarczenia jego nowego brzmienia na trwałym nośniku.
✓ § 12. Zmiana w regulaminie wchodzi w życie po upływie 14 dni od dnia dostarczenia jego nowego brzmienia na trwałym nośniku.
4. Punctuation
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
- Comma
Very often punctuation marks are not used properly. This problem mainly affects commas. Generally, in Polish a compound sentence should contain as many commas as there are verbs in it, minus one. In English texts, in compound sentences the commas are used less frequently; therefore, the lack of a comma in a specific place of the source text does not mean that it should not be used in the translation (and vice versa).
Examples
Source text: I think that you can take what you want.
✘ Myślę że możesz wziąć co chcesz.
✓ Myślę, że możesz wziąć, co chcesz.
Source text: In the meantime, we are sorry for the inconveniences caused.
✘ Tymczasem, przykro nam z powodu zaistniałych niedogodności.
✓ Tymczasem przykro nam z powodu zaistniałych niedogodności.
Additionally, it should be remembered that a dependent clause is separated by a comma from both sides, if it is woven into the main clause.
Example
Source text: The man I met yesterday came up to me.
✘ Mężczyzna, którego poznałam wczoraj podszedł do mnie.
✓ Mężczyzna, którego poznałam wczoraj, podszedł do mnie.
In turn, a comma does not appear before dependent clauses introduced by the conjunctions i, lub, oraz, albo, ani.
Example
Source text: The man came up to me and introduced himself.
✘ Mężczyzna podszedł do mnie, i przedstawił się.
✓ Mężczyzna podszedł do mnie i przedstawił się.
A comma is also used in enumeration of nouns or features of an object.
Example
Source text: Paweł, Marek and Piotrek went to Warsaw.
✓ Paweł, Marek i Piotrek pojechali do Warszawy.
- Colon
In Polish, a colon is most often used in three situations. First of all, it introduces enumerations.
Example
Source text: To complete the order, we need a completed order form, a copy of the ID card and confirmation of payment.
✓ Do zrealizowania zlecenia potrzebujemy: wypełnionego formularza zlecenia, kopii dowodu osobistego i potwierdzenia zrealizowania płatności.
Secondly, a colon announces somebody's statement. After the colon, the quoted statement begins with a capital letter.
Example
Source text: We are interested in this fragment of your statement: The payment was made yesterday by bank transfer.
✓ Interesuje nas ten fragment Pańskiej wypowiedzi: Płatność została zrealizowana wczoraj przelewem bankowym.
Finally, a colon is also used in notations of time.
Example
Source text: We made the transfer yesterday at 16.00.
✓ Przelew wykonaliśmy wczoraj o godz. 16:00.
- Semicolon
A semicolon is a separating mark that is weaker than a dot (does not close a sentence), but stronger than a comma (separates only equivalent parts of a sentence).
Example
Source text: We made the transfer yesterday at 16:00, it was a condition for starting the service.
✓ Przelew wykonaliśmy wczoraj o godz. 16:00; było to warunkiem uruchomienia usługi.
A semicolon is also used in enumerations in which sub-items begin with a small letter.
Example
Source text: To complete the order, we need:
- completed order form;
- a copy of your ID card;
- confirmation of payment.
✓ Do zrealizowania zlecenia potrzebujemy:
- wypełnionego formularza zlecenia;
- kopii dowodu osobistego;
- potwierdzenia zrealizowania płatności.
- Period (dot, full stop)
A period is placed at the end of the indicative sentence and in some abbreviations (as described in the ‘abbreviations’ section).
- Exclamation mark
An exclamation mark is put at the end of a sentence in the declarative mode. Such a sentence may express an order, a request, a wish, etc.
Example
Source text: Give me this book!
✓ Podaj mi tę książkę!
- Question mark
A question mark is put at the end of a sentence, which expresses a question.
Example
Source text: When will this order be completed?
✓ Kiedy zostanie zrealizowane to zlecenie?
You can use two or even three question marks to express very strong surprise. This is possible only in the informal register.
Example
Source text: How many times do I have to ask you for it?
✓ Ile jeszcze razy mam Cię o to prosić???
- Hyphen
A hyphen is used to combine words, e.g. in compound adjectives and double surnames. In such combinations, there is never a space between the connected words and the hyphen.
Example
Source text: Ms. Kowalska-Nowak has a green and beige dress today.
✘ Pani Kowalska - Nowak ma dzisiaj zielono - beżową sukienkę.
✓ Pani Kowalska-Nowak ma dzisiaj zielono-beżową sukienkę.
- En dash
An en dash is a horizontal line longer than a hyphen, but shorter than an em dash, which is used primarily in notations of numerical ranges. In such combinations, there is never a space between the connected numbers and en dash. A hyphen can also be used there.
Example
Source text: It happened between 1995-1997
✘ Działo się to w latach 1995 – 1997.
✓ Działo się to w latach 1995–1997.
- Em dash
An em dash is used primarily to extract inclusions in the main sentence. An em dash is always written with spaces on both sides.
Example
Source text: Confirmation of the transfer - as we mentioned earlier - should be sent as soon as possible.
✘ Potwierdzenie przelewu—tak jak wspominaliśmy o tym wcześniej—należy przesłać możliwie szybko.
✓ Potwierdzenie przelewu — tak jak wspominaliśmy o tym wcześniej — należy przesłać możliwie szybko.
It is not necessary to distinguish an em and en dash in Polish texts. However, it is a serious mistake not to distinguish a hyphen and a dash.
- Quotation marks
Quotation marks include titles of books, films, etc. and words used in a text in the figurative sense and short quotes. In a diligent Polish text, the opening quotation mark is the bottom one, and the closing quotation mark is the upper one.
Example
Source text: And then he said, "You are not my son."
✘ I wtedy powiedział: ”Nie jesteś moim synem”.
✓ I wtedy powiedział: „Nie jesteś moim synem”.
- Brackets
In Polish texts, round brackets are used. There is no space between the words inside the brackets and bracket marks.
Example
Source text: He said (and he knows his stuff) that Polish punctuation is simple.
✘ Powiedział ( a on zna się na rzeczy ), że polska interpunkcja jest prosta.
✓ Powiedział (a on zna się na rzeczy), że polska interpunkcja jest prosta.
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
Between the greeting and the proper name, you always have to put a comma and, at the end of the whole sentence, you have to put an exclamation mark.
Example
Source text: Hello Anna! Hi Adam!
✘ Witaj Anno! Cześć Adamie!
✓ Witaj, Anno! Cześć, Adamie!
You can use a comma instead of an exclamation mark, but if you apply this solution, the first word in the next verse after the whole greeting formula should be written in lower case.
Example
Source text: Hello, Anna,
Thank you for your notification.
✘ Witaj, Anno,
Dziękujemy za Twoje zgłoszenie.
✓ Witaj, Anno,
dziękujemy za Twoje zgłoszenie.
Names should be in the form of a vocative. Forms with nominative are grammatically correct, but inappropriate.
Example
✘ Witaj, Anna! Cześć, Adam!
✓ Witaj, Anno! Cześć, Adamie!
After the closing formula there should be a comma (not an exclamation mark).
Example
✘ Z poważaniem!
✓ Z poważaniem,
Exception: you can use an exclamation mark after the formula (serdecznie) pozdrawiam.
5. Register
5.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers
Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It shows how our clients address their customers and contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.
We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices, since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.
Both these registers are also divided into formal and informal, as shown below.
5.2. Formal Register
It should be remembered that, in Polish, we can speak of the formal register and the very formal register. The differences relate mainly to vocabulary and are shown in the table below.
Formal (and very formal) texts use more complicated grammatical structures, like impersonal verb forms and subjunctive.
Example
Source text: Please let us know. Please, inform us. If you would prefer.
✓ Należy nas poinformować. Proszę nas poinformować. Jeśli woleliby Państwo.
Very important is the way of constructing the imperative in official language, especially in very formal register, because wrong imperative form can destroy the good impression.
Example
Source text: If you have any more questions, please call us.
✘ Zadzwoń do nas, jeśli masz jeszcze jakieś pytania.
✓ Jeśli ma Pan jeszcze jakieś pytania, proszę do nas zadzwonić.
It is worth paying special attention to English ‘you’, which in an official text can be replaced by an impersonal, passive and polite forms, e.g: Pan, Pani, Państwo, etc .
Pay attention to translation of common polite phrases, especially greetings and closings. Avoid excessive literalness and show some flexibility. ‘How are you?’ in many contexts is not one of the polite greetings in Poland. It is similarly with the translated expression ‘Do not hesitate to...’.
Important note: using as a greeting, Witam! is strictly forbidden in both formal and informal registers.
For the natural wording of the translated text, it is sometimes better to omit some expression included in it than to translate the source text precisely. However, this principle applies to polite formulas rather than to substantive and important parts of texts.
Example
Source text: Thank you for reaching out to us with this issue.
✘ Dziękujemy za skontaktowanie się z nami w tej sprawie.
✓ Dziękujemy za skontaktowanie się z nami.
|
Category |
Formal |
Very formal |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
ty, wy (usually omitted) |
Pan, Pani, Państwo |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
2nd |
3rd |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
Twój, Twoja, Twoje Wasz, Wasza, Wasze |
Pana, Pani, Państwa |
Grammatical |
|
Greetings |
Witaj! Dzień dobry! Drogi kliencie! |
Szanowny Panie! Szanowna Pani! Szanowni Państwo! |
Lexical |
|
Closings |
Pozdrawiam, Serdecznie pozdrawiam, Łączę pozdrowienia |
Z poważaniem, Z wyrazami szacunku, Łączę wyrazy szacunku |
Lexical |
5.3. Informal Register
It should be remembered that in Polish we can also speak of the informal register and the very informal register. The differences relate mainly to vocabulary, and are shown in the table below. The very informal register cannot be used in communication with clients.
An informal text uses a direct and even colloquial language with simplified forms, while an official text is distinguished by a rich and sophisticated lexicon. In an informal text, such conjunctions as aczkolwiek; zarówno…, jak i…; iż should be avoided. The same rule applies to multiword constructions, which can be replaced by one word.
Example
Source text: We will do it.
✘ To zostanie przez nas zrobione.
✓ Zrobimy to.
It is worth paying special attention to English ‘you’, which in an informal text should be translated as ty, but it must be remembered that in Polish texts the pronouns ja and ty are usually omitted.
|
Category |
Informal |
Very informal |
Type of Register |
|
Personal pronouns |
ty, wy (usually omitted) |
ty, wy (usually omitted) |
Grammatical |
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb) |
2nd |
2nd |
Grammatical |
|
Possessive pronouns |
Twój, Twoja, Twoje Wasz, Wasza, Wasze |
Twój, Twoja, Twoje Wasz, Wasza, Wasze |
Grammatical |
|
Greetings |
Witaj! Dzień dobry! |
Cześć! Hej! |
Lexical |
|
Closings |
Pozdrawiam, Serdecznie pozdrawiam, Łączę pozdrowienia |
Pozdrawiam, Trzymaj się, Do miłego |
Lexical |
6. Localization challenges
6.1. Proper nouns
Proper nouns refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands, events, etc. As foreign proper nouns are concerned, languages may adopt different rules regarding whether they should be translated or kept in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your languages rules for all different types of proper nouns listed below. However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes these types of units, you should always apply the glossary items.
6.1.1. Persons
Names, surnames, pseudonyms of people, characters etc. remain untranslated in a Polish text. The exceptions are historical figures, and ancient and contemporary crowned heads.
Examples
Source text: George Washington was the first president of the Unites States.
✓ George Washington był pierwszym prezydentem Stanów Zjednoczonych.
✓ Jerzy Waszyngton był pierwszym prezydentem Stanów Zjednoczonych.
Source text: The Pope John Paul II met with Queen Elisabeth last week.
✓ Papież Jan Paweł II spotkał się w minionym tygodniu z królową Elżbietą.
6.1.2. Places
In order to properly translate geographical names, find the appropriate equivalent of a foreign geographical name in the KSGN publications — Commission on Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland (see ‘Useful Online Resources’ section). All names that have accepted Polish equivalents should always be translated.
6.1.3. Organizations
In Polish texts, names of international and local organizations should be translated.
Example
Source text: Dating back to 1636, Harvard University is the oldest university in the US and is regarded as one of the most prestigious in the world.
✘ Założony w 1636 Harvard University jest najstarszą uczelnią w US i jest uważany za jedną z najlepszych na świecie.
✓ Założony w 1636 Uniwersytet Harvarda jest najstarszą uczelnią w Stanach Zjednoczonych i jest uważany za jedną z najlepszych na świecie.
6.1.4. Brands and products
The Brands (e.g. Sony, Volkswagen) and the products (e.g. PlayStation, Golf) are kept untranslated in Polish texts. But you need to remember that these names can be written in lowercase when you write about products of a given brand.
Examples
Source text: Last year, a neighbor bought a new golf volkswagen.
✘ W ubiegłym roku sąsiad kupił nowego Volkswagena Golfa.
✓ W ubiegłym roku sąsiad kupił nowego volkswagena golfa.
Source text: Last year, Volkswagen introduced the new generation of Golf to the market.
✘ W ubiegłym roku volkswagen wprowadził na rynek nową generację golfa.
✓ W ubiegłym roku Volkswagen wprowadził na rynek nową generację Golfa.
6.1.5. Other entities
In particular, most of the proper names referring to works of art (books, movies, paintings, theater plays, etc.) should be translated. However, they cannot be literal. You always need to check what official Polish equivalent of the title is.
Example
Source text: Bruce Willis became a star after 1988s “Die Hard”.
✘ Bruce Willis stał się gwiazdą dzięki filmowi „Umieraj boleśnie” z 1988 r.
✓ Bruce Willis stał się gwiazdą dzięki filmowi „Szklana pułapka” z 1988 r.
6.2. Acronyms and initials
Acronyms should be translated sensibly and it should be always checked if they have their counterparts in Polish.
- UN (United Nations) à ONZ (Organizacja Narodów Zjednoczonych)
- CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) à TSUE (Trybunał Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej)
- UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) à UEFA (it is Unia Europejskich Związków Piłkarskich in Polish, but the original acronym is also used in this language)
6.3. Date format
In Polish, only the order dd.mm.yyyy (with dots as separators) is used.
Example
✘ 4/03/1980 r.
✓ 4.03.1980 r.
Mixed notations are also possible (with roman numbers or words, separated by whitespaces).
Examples
✘ 4.III.1980 r.
✓ 4 III 1980 r.
✘ 4 marzec 1980 r.
✓ 4 marca 1980 r.
When defining decades and centuries, follow these examples.
Examples
Source text: in the 1980s
✘ w latach 80-tych XX w.
✓ w latach 80. XX w.
Source text: in the early 1980s
✘ we wczesnych latach 80-tych XX w.
✓ na początku lat 80. XX w
Source text: in the mid 1980s
✘ w środkowych latach 80-tych XX w.
✓ w połowie lat 80. XX w.
Source text: in the late 1980s
✘ w późnych latach 80-tych XX w.
✓ pod koniec lat 80. XX w.
6.4. Time format
In the numerical notation of time, minutes can be written after a colon (more frequent) or after a period (less frequent). Most often, the hour is preceded by the abbreviation godz.
Example
✓ godz. 16:45
✓ godz. 16.45
No zeros shall be placed in front of a single digit indicating the hour.
Example
✘ godz. 06:45
✓ godz. 6:45
The hours should be written numerically without any additional marks after the digits.
Example
✘ Zadzwoń o 9. rano. Zadzwoń o 9-tej rano.
✓ Zadzwoń o 9 rano
6.5. Measures
Measures should always keep the format of the source text and should never be converted. You should only translate them when they have an equivalent term in your language.
There is always a whitespace between the numeric value and the abbreviation of the measure unit. Usually, there is no dot after these kinds of abbreviation.
Example:
✘ Za 30km. skręć w lewo.
✓ Za 30 km skręć w lewo.
6.6. Currency
Currency values should be left as they are in the source text, only translating the currency.
Example
Source text: The final price is 80 dollars.
✓ Ostateczna cena wynosi 80 dolarów.
The currency symbols (€, $, £, etc.) are not used in Polish text.
Example:
Source text: The final price is €80.
✓ Ostateczna cena wynosi 80 euro.
The currency initials (USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.) mustn’t be translated, as they are a convention accepted worldwide. In Polish they should be placed after the value preceded by a whitespace.
Example
✓ Ostateczna cena wynosi 80 EUR.
We can change the currency only if it appears in an idiomatic sense.
Example:
Source text: He bought it for a couple of dollars.
✘ Kupił go za kilka dolarów.
✓ Kupił go za grosze.
7. Tricky cases
- Repetitions
Quite serious stylistic mistakes are clumsy repetitions of expressions. Sometimes, in order to avoid such an error, it is enough to replace the repeated word with its synonym, but it also happens that, for this purpose, you have to grammatically transform the whole sentence or a part of it.
Examples
Source text: We use these particular ratings for customer service training only, they only reflect on the way I have handled your inquiry.
✘ Używamy tych ocen tylko do szkolenia obsługi klienta, odzwierciedlają one tylko sposób, w jaki zajęłam się Twoim zgłoszeniem.
✓ Używamy tych ocen tylko do szkolenia obsługi klienta, odzwierciedlają one jedynie sposób, w jaki zajęłam się Twoim zgłoszeniem.
Source text: As you have paid for your order with a payment option that does not provide automatic refunds, we will have to make you a manual refund.
✘ Ponieważ zapłaciłaś za zamówienie za pomocą opcji płatności, która nie zapewnia automatycznego zwrotu pieniędzy, będziemy musieli dokonać ręcznego zwrotu pieniędzy.
✓ Ponieważ zapłaciłaś za zamówienie za pomocą opcji płatności, która nie zapewnia automatycznego zwrotu pieniędzy, będziemy musieli zwrócić Ci pieniądze ręcznie.
- Boundaries of sentences
If a sentence translated into Polish is too long and, therefore, sounds awkward, you should consider dividing it into two sentences.
Example
Source text: Please provide us with the below information and we will transfer the money back to your account and you will have the money in 3-5 business days.
✘ Podaj nam poniższe informacje, a pieniądze zostaną przekazane na Twoje konto i otrzymasz je w ciągu 3-5 dni roboczych.
✓ Podaj nam poniższe informacje, a pieniądze zostaną przekazane na Twoje konto. Otrzymasz je w ciągu 3-5 dni roboczych.
- Word order
The order of words of the sentence in the source language is often unnatural for the target language. In particular, it must be remembered that the natural sounding text of the Polish language cannot imitate the constant pattern of the English sentence (i.e., subject – predicate – complement).
Example
Source text: Our offers are always changing too so we wouldn't be able to say what will be available until the day you call.
✘ Nasze oferty wciąż się zmieniają, więc nie możemy powiedzieć, co będzie dostępne, aż do nadejścia dnia, w którym zadzwonisz.
✓ Również nasze oferty wciąż się zmieniają, więc nie jesteśmy w stanie przewidzieć, która z nich będzie nadal dostępna, kiedy do nas zadzwonisz.
8. Most frequent errors
- Overly literal translation
The text has been translated too literally, e.g. an idiomatic expression or an expression consisting of a series of nouns.
Example:
Source text: Our team would be more than happy to help you with that.
✘ Nasz zespół będzie bardziej niż szczęśliwy, aby pomóc Ci w tym.
✓ Nasz zespół chętnie Ci pomoże rozwiązać ten problem.
- Wrong lexical selection
An incorrect expression, which does not match the context or does not reflect the original meaning, was selected.
Example:
Source text: Our support line is open Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm.
✘ Nasza infolinia jest otwarta od poniedziałku do piątku od 8:00 do 17:00.
✓ Nasza infolinia jest czynna od poniedziałku do piątku od 8:00 do 17:00.
- Orthography
The most common spelling mistake in translations is the omission of diacritic signs (e.g. a instead of ą, e instead of ę). Very often, these errors are the result of an incorrect inflection in machine translation. Special attention should be paid to this type of errors, because they are easiest to overlook.
Example:
Source text: with the person you have talked to
✘ z osoba, z która rozmawiałeś
✓ z osobą, z którą rozmawiałeś
9. Useful online resources
Polish dictionaries with grammar and spelling guide
Polish dictionaries without grammar and spelling guide
Wielki słownik języka polskiego PAN
Słownik gramatyczny języka polskiego
Tool for testing style accessibility
Multilingual dictionaries
Lists of Polish geographic names of the world
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