Hybrid imperative forms in Polish: Problems of translations into German and English

Abstract

The article deals with the grammatical constructions expressing the imperative in Polish with particular focus on the variations used in spoken language. Colloquial Polish often uses structures which could be described as verb + pan/pani! They can be used for any perfective as well as imperfective verb. One of the most popular phrases according to this pattern is the phrase daj pan/pani spokój! Phrasemes of this type are used mostly in slang and are characterised by brevity. The research material consists of two different databases: the National Corpus of Polish as well as the online translator Reverso Context. The article presents a number of difficulties experienced by German and English translators. It also shows why the process of translation is a balancing act between remaining true to the original content on the one hand, and creating a translation complying the requirements of the medium for which the translation is being made, on the other hand.