Mieszkanie
The things in a flat that you only need to name when one of them stops working.
gniazdko
noun · neuter
- EN
- power socket
- RU
- розетка
Nie ma gniazdka przy łóżku.
There's no socket by the bed.
A diminutive of gniazdo, a nest. Poles also say kontakt for the same thing, which is its own trap.
kontakt
noun · masculine
- EN
- light switch; socket; contact
- RU
- выключатель; контакт
Kontakt jest po lewej od drzwi.
The switch is to the left of the door.
In a flat it means the switch or the socket, not a person you know. Ask for somebody's kontakt and you will be pointed at a wall.
żarówka
noun · feminine
- EN
- light bulb
- RU
- лампочка
Przepaliła się żarówka w kuchni.
The bulb in the kitchen has blown.
From żarzyć się, to glow. Przepalić się is the verb for a bulb going — nothing else in the flat uses it.
kaloryfer
noun · masculine
- EN
- radiator
- RU
- батарея
Kaloryfery są jeszcze zimne.
The radiators are still cold.
Russian calls it a battery; Polish took the French calorifere. Neither language chose the same route.
parapet
noun · masculine
- EN
- windowsill
- RU
- подоконник
Postaw kwiaty na parapecie.
Put the flowers on the windowsill.
Russian builds the word from 'under the window'; Polish borrowed the architectural parapet. No overlap to lean on.
przedpokój
noun · masculine
- EN
- hallway, entrance hall
- RU
- прихожая
Zostaw buty w przedpokoju.
Leave your shoes in the hall.
Literally 'before-the-room'. Shoes come off there, and in a Polish flat that is not optional.
pralka
noun · feminine
- EN
- washing machine
- RU
- стиральная машина
Pralka znowu się zepsuła.
The washing machine has broken again.
From prać, to wash clothes. Polish keeps prać for laundry and myć for washing bodies and dishes — one verb will not cover both.
suszarka
noun · feminine
- EN
- hairdryer; drying rack
- RU
- фен; сушилка
Suszarka do włosów jest w łazience.
The hairdryer is in the bathroom.
Both machines, told apart by do + genitive: suszarka do włosów, suszarka do prania. That naming pattern again.
zlew
noun · masculine
- EN
- kitchen sink
- RU
- раковина (на кухне)
W zlewie leżą brudne naczynia.
There are dirty dishes in the sink.
The kitchen one. The bathroom basin is umywalka, and Poles do not use the two interchangeably.
kran
noun · masculine
- EN
- tap
- RU
- кран
Zakręć kran, kapie.
Turn the tap off, it's dripping.
Zakręcić is to turn off, odkręcić to turn on — literally to twist shut and twist open. The pair works for taps, jars and bottles.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten