I am working through the polish lessons and I came across the word “Po” I don’t understand what the meaning of it is. “Po prostu chcę wiedzieć.” I know what this sentence is saying, but I do not understand what “Po” means.
Hi Kelsie. The word “po” can mean at, for, after etc.
I notice that in trying to LingQ the word “po” in this lesson, the dictionary kept on creating the phrase “po prostu” and translating it, but not the individual word “po”. I went to the Vocabulary section here at LingQ and entered the word “po” using the Import Vocabulary tab at the top right . Here is what I got from the Angool dictionary, one of the dictionaries available for you to use for Polish.
po
after, past, next to
~ co (dlaczego) why
~ chwili after a while
~ czasie behind time
~ części partly
~ czwarte fourthly
~ czym then
~ domowemu casually
~ drodze (z/do) en route (from/to), on the way
~ drugie second, secondly
~ drugiej stronie across
dziesięć ~ drugiej ten past two
jeden ~ drugim one after the other
~ jednej sztuce piece by piece
~ kawałku piecemeal
~ kilka by ones and twos
~ kolacji after supper
~ kolei in sequence, in succession, in turn, one at a time
~ koleżeńsku comradely
~ królewsku queenly
~ kryjomu on the sly
~ którym następuje followed by
~ ludzku humanly
~ kimś after somebody
~ pewnym czasie after a while, afterwards
~ pierwsze firstly
podróżować ~… to travel around…
~ południu in the afternoon, p.m.
~ prostu simply
~ przyjacielsku comradely
~ raz pierwszy for the first time
~ sąsiedzku next door
~ trzecie thirdly
~ twarzy (bić) across the face
~ wsze czasy in/for perpetuity
~ za tym moreover
~ zachodzie słońca after dark
zadzwonić ~ taksówkę to call for a taxi
zaraz ~ shortly after
pierwszy ~ next to
ie okresu kwarantanny after the expiry of the quarantine period
prep +miejscownik 1. (w przestrzeni) on
along
in: ~ trawie on the grass
~ ulicy along the street
~ sklepach round the shops
~ górach in the mountains
~ niebie in the sky
~ szynach on rails
wchodzić/schodzić ~ schodach to go up/down the stairs
chodzić ~ pokoju to pace the room
głaskać ~ włosach to stroke sb’s hair
~ drugiej stronie on the other side. 2. (w czasie) after: ~ chwili after a while
~ godzinie/latach an hour/years later
~ południu in the afternoon
~ obiedzie/pracy after dinner/work
pięć ~ drugiej five past two
~ przybyciu on arrival
~ wszystkim all over. 3. (o miarze) : daj im ~ jabłku give them an apple each
dostaliśmy ~ 10 funtów we got ten pounds each
~ niskiej cenie at low prices. 4. (o poprzednim miejscu) : butelka ~ piwie beer bottle.5. (o dziedziczeniu) from: ma talent ~ matce he gets his talent from his mother
spadek ~ babci inheritance from one’s grandmother. 6. (o kolejności) after: pierwszy ~ Bogu next to God
jeden ~ drugim one after another
~ kawałku piece by piece. 7. (rozpoznanie) by: rozpoznać kogoś ~ głosie to recognize sb by his voice.+biernik 1. (granica) to
up to: ~ pas w wodzie up to the waist in water
śniegu było ~ kolana the snow was knee-deep
zakochany ~ uszy head over heels in love. 2. (cel) for: pójść ~ coś to go and get sth
~ co? what for?
~ to, żeby in order (to, that) .+celownik ~ polsku in Polish
mówić ~ polsku to speak Polish
powiedz coś ~ angielsku say something in English
~ cichu quietly
~ imieniu by first name
prep after
past
zaraz po obie-
LIKE
WHEN
ALONG
ABOUT
DOWN
FOR
NEXT TO
UPON
after
apiece
over
post
Hi Kelsie. “Po …” in this context just means in a certain way “po + prostu (simple)” = simply, “po + cichu (quiet)” = quietly. It doesn’t always work that way, but there are just some expressions that you will need to learn that work like that:) Good luck.
How I know the preposition ‘po’ can be used besides the meanings of ‘after, alobng, from, ntill, in order to’ just as a first part in some adverbial expressions: po prostu, po polsku, po perwsze etc.
I would translate this phrase into English as: I just would like to see (someone).
Ah ok I see, thanks so much for the explanation! 