Czemu jesteś taki beznadziejny? (Sentence Note & Question)

  • beznadziejny aj = hopeless, forlorn, abysmal, useless (at doing s.t.). av beznadziejnie
  • The Eng CM trans = ‘Why are you so awful?’ This question in isolation in English suggests that the person being questioned is an awful person, full stop, e.g. awful behaviour/personality, general impoliteness etc.
  • Does the Polish ‘‘beznadziejny’’ suggest that the person is hopeless/useless or awful at doing something specific? If so, the English translation would need further qualification e.g. ‘Why are you so awful (e.g. at playing chess)’?
  • Should the Eng trans simply be ‘Why are you so hopeless/useless (i.e. generally a useless person)’? Is that the sentiment of the question? Thanks!

Agreed, the current translation could be better.

“Beznadziejny” does indeed suggest that the person is hopeless or useless, but not that they’re being impolite or cruel (as “awful” does).

So you’re right that “Why are you so hopeless?” would work better as the English translation.

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Many thanks, I’ll report it next time around.