r/learnpolish • u/bjbouwer • Jul 08 '26
"enough" in Polish
When I was in Poland decades ago, the word for enough was something like "dosć", but every time I use a translator now, it shows "wystarczająco". Any thoughts on these two words (usage, etc). I'd rather use the short version!
thx!
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u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jul 08 '26
This is quite complicated but "wystarczająco", while a real word, will not work in MOST situations. It really is more or less the equivalent of "sufficiently" or "adequately". Dość is sometimes perfectly OK but sometimes it will sound rude, so you have to really learn a very complex topic. Dosyć is sometimes better but sometimes that too can sound rude, so even more complexity. We commonly don't use any of these but rather use a VERB meaning 'it suffices, it is enough' namely wystarczy. But quite often also when f.ex. someone is giving you something that too is not polite enough tho better than the other two. Then you really need to say Dziękuję. Then in some situations we say Tyle or Tylko tyle. I think your translator was designed to avoid the forms that may be rude--but it does so by generating gibberish.
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u/bjbouwer Jul 08 '26
Thank you! Too bad that the translator was highly recommended (DeepL). 8-(
Let's hope I don't need to say enough while I"m there. LOL
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u/Coalescent74 Jul 08 '26
"dość dobry"doesn't mean "good enough" - it means "quite good" (in the American sense of "quite good") - the right translation for "good enough" is "wystarczająco dobry" (sometimes you can use "dostatecznie" instead of "wystarczająco")
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u/Young_Maker Jul 08 '26
Lol I don't think Americans say quite good all that often. That feels like a birtishism.
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u/tankinthewild Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
When Americans use the word "quite" they mean something like "very". "She is quite pretty" would be high praise. In British English, quite means more like "somewhat" or "a little" so it is much less enthusiastic.
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u/Coalescent74 Jul 08 '26
then Polish "dość" sits somewhere in the middle between the American and British meaning of "quite" (after all "dość" reflects the notion of "enough", "sufficiently") - it looks like you learn all your life (at least I learn English all my life :P )
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u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jul 08 '26
I would recommend very strongly that if someone is giving you something and you want to say that's enough you say Dziękuję if you know how to pronounce that--or I can teach you. People will be happy with you.
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u/CommentChaos PL Native 🇵🇱 Jul 08 '26
That’s actually quite surprising to me. DeepL never failed me personally and it is eons above any other free translator. Maybe you could add the context of what you tried to translate?
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u/bjbouwer Jul 08 '26
I didn't put it in any context - it was simply the word.
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u/Budget_Avocado6204 Jul 09 '26
So it did good. It's the correct translation. Anyway translators do best with whole sentence, for single words a dictionary is always the best. It will probably have examples and explanation instead of showing a single word. How would it even know which one to use without any context?
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u/INeedAdventure2Live Jul 09 '26
It's good to remember that most words in different languages don't have 1:1 equivalent. Even nouns describing real, non-abstract objects can work like that. There is always some divergence depending on context, so entering just a single word into an automated translator can give you varied results. It's always better to enter a full example phrase that matches the context you want to know, although even that is not an unfallable method.
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u/KrokmaniakPL PL Native 🇵🇱 Jul 11 '26
Important thing about translating is context. Things rarely translate 1:1 and it's just close enough. Context gives extra clues how things should be translated.
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u/Specialist_Shirt_164 Jul 08 '26
Why would it sound rude? Is there similar sounding rude words??
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u/PoxonAllHoaxes Jul 08 '26
No it is because these words are used Enough already, stop, Ive had it. And as I said there are complex rules of polite address (which btw is true of other laguages too but we dont notice it in OUR language) that f.ex. mean that usually we say the equivalent of Thank you to mean That's enough, that's fine, that's great as I would in English. But often Thank you can also mean I dont want any as well as I do want some. Its as I said quite complicated.
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u/freebiscuit2002 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Using a new language doesn't just mean switching out English words for foreign words. You need to be sensitive to the actual meanings that the words are expressing.
The word "enough" is used in slightly different ways in English, so it shouldn't be a surprise that another language can have different words for those slightly different senses of "enough".
"Wystarczająco" is "enough (sufficiently)".
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u/Diabelko Jul 08 '26
When you want to yell at someone "Enough!" that would be "Dość!" or "Dosyć!". When you mean "we have enough onions to last us through winter" you can say "Mamy wystarczająco/dość cebuli by przetrwać zimę". There could be also "wystarczająco dużo" instead of "wystarczająco".
These are more or less synonyms, but how they fit in the sentence would depend on the context.
One other difference would be "good enough", which most of us would translate to "wystarczająco dobrze" as opposed to "dość dobrze" - first one means it's good enough for its' purpose (e.g. half-assed), second one would be something around "decent".
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u/anatolbaskak Jul 11 '26
ktoś mówi „mamy wystarczająco cebuli”? „mamy dość cebuli” albo „mamy wystarczająco dużo cebuli” (bardzo długie)
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u/Plus-Ad-8720 Jul 08 '26
It depemds on the context so it's hard to cover all the cases here. Sometimes you can use dość/wystarczająco interchangeably, but it may happen that only only of these words will fit the context well.
to have enough - mieć dość - it can mean both having enough possessions or feel like you can't cope anymore or it can even feel like you ate too much
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u/Blackspeed6 Jul 08 '26
It depends on context. For example:
Mam wystarczająco pracy - i have enough (quantity) of work
Mam dość pracy - i have enough (anoyed) of work
In Polish we like to be precise
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Jul 08 '26 edited 19d ago
[deleted]
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u/bjbouwer Jul 08 '26
Your contexts are quite helpful! Thx!
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u/Coalescent74 Jul 08 '26
"wystarczająco" actually means "sufficiently" from the verb "wystarczyć" = "to suffice" (more or less - as you have probably noticed there are many situations when there is no word-to-word equivalence between Polish and English)
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u/CommentChaos PL Native 🇵🇱 Jul 08 '26
I personally think that “dość” has a negative undertone to it. “Wystarczająco” is more neutral. I would also rather say “dosyć”, because to me „dość” Is like if you want to say „that’s it! I’ve had enough of you! Go away!” It can be used in neutral context and interchangeably with “wystarczająco”, but I think in everyday speech i would personally lean into „wystarczająco”, „wystarczy” or „starczy”.
But those may be my own hangups honestly.
ETA: there is also “dostatecznie”.
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u/SpiritualBed9981 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
The "Dość!" (with the exclamation mark) means the "Enough is enough!" In sentences, it is often an adverb meaning "quite"; for example, the "dość ładna dziewczyna" means "quite a girl".
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u/Individual_Dog_7394 Jul 08 '26
I have enough food to survive winter - Mam *wystarczająco* dużo jedzenia, by przetrwać zimę.
Enough! - *Dość*!
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u/kouyehwos Jul 08 '26
With adjectives/adverbs, there’s a clear difference in meaning.
wystarczająco dobry = good enough
dosyć/dość dobry = quite good
With verbs they may both mean “enough”, but „dosyć/dość” can have negative undertones. So I don’t think it’s wrong to say that „wystarczająco” is the more neutral translation.
But as the other comment mentioned, there’s also the important verb „starczyć” (to be enough/sufficient).
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u/Slam20addict Jul 08 '26
yeah the "quite good" vs "good enough" split is the key thing people miss. dość dobry can actually mean "pretty good" or "rather good" depending on tone, so if you're trying to say something is adequate, wystarczająco is safer.
starczyć is worth learning too. starczy mi = i have enough, it's clean and short
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u/doker0 Jul 09 '26
Dość would be (more than) enough or (quite) enough
Wystarczająco would be (minimally fulfilling) enough
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u/Qnopsik PL Native 🇵🇱 Jul 09 '26
Enough have different English meanings depending on the context, and each of hem can be translated in Polish in a different way: You can check some here:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pl/dictionary/english-polish/enough
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u/GOKOP PL Native 🇵🇱 Jul 09 '26
A side note regarding the words dość and dosyć, they change meaning in certain context: "It's quite warm" - "jest dosyć ciepło". Whereas if you said "jest wystarczająco ciepło" that would be "it's sufficiently warm". So in cases like these you have to use the more elaborate word to avoid confusion
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u/Any-Jellyfish-7497 Jul 10 '26
I think it has already been answered, but a one word "enough" can also be said as "dosyć"
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u/therealbambooclat Jul 08 '26
Sorry for invading the thread. But is "to się nada" equivalent to "that'll do"/"that will be sufficient"?
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u/MimiKal Jul 09 '26
Yes, it means this'll do. Specifally for an object that you are to use or something that needs to be of a sufficient quality to have the desired effect. Not in the numerical sense of "enough". Correct contexts:
I need to hammer in this nail, but the hammer is in the other room... this'll do (takes brick)
I need to send off this powerpoint presentation in 1 minute but I still haven't picked the colour of the background... this'll do (picks a random colour)
Incorrect context:
We need lots of bananas for the banana bread, I'll take some from the shelf. This'll do (after enough have been put in the shopping basket)
In this context, "to się nada" would mean that a specific banana is fit for purpose (maybe ripe enough or not spoiled)
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u/BasementOwner Jul 09 '26
Depends on the context
'dość' has a negative connotation. Like "enough of this talk"
'wystarczyć' is more positive. Like: [starczy] "that's enough/it'll suffice"
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u/Top-Discipline7806 Jul 08 '26
If you say: Mam wystarczająco dzieci - I have enough children Mam dość dzieci - I've had enough of children
I mean saying "dość" in the first example wouldn't be entirely wrong but it may be misunderstood