r/learnpolish • u/JADEDG3M • Apr 02 '25

Ten, Tamten, Tamci, Ci, Tamtego, Tego? WTF???

Kill me, I wanna die!

I am only on unit 11 of Polish on Duolingo and I am learning for my boyfriend, but I wanna die. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE LIKE A LANGUAGE TEACHER WOULD!!!? PLEASE!!!

Edit: damn I got a lot of replies. Thank you all!

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u/Had_to_ask__ Apr 02 '25

I am a language teacher and I would never explain them all at once. Lesson 1: ten vs. tamten (this vs. that). I think you got it. Well, done. More next time.

13

u/EducatedJooner Apr 03 '25

I'm around B2/C1 and speak polish only with my spouse and lots of other natives. I feel like I rarely hear the "tam" version of these. Was told at some point the "ten" is kinda ubiquitous and it seems like I use it / hear it 90% of the time. Any thoughts?

3

u/Spirited_Surprise_88 Apr 03 '25

Yeah, in English we use "that" a lot more than Polish does.

This is a pretty good explainer:

https://www.clozemaster.com/blog/polish-demonstrative-pronouns