Polish question> już teraz, teraz?

fluidistic

Hi,
I've seen "Już teraz", "teraz już" and "teraz". I understand that the order might not be important but I do not understand the difference between saying Już teraz and teraz.
When I use a translator, it translates teraz as "now", "już" as already. And "już teraz" as now.
So why would one use już teraz instead of simply teraz?

Borek

Tricky, especially when I will try to explain with my lack of knowledge of English tenses.

Czy Legia zostanie mistrzem Polski już teraz? - Will Legia become champions of Poland now? - it is obvious they will, it is just the question of whether it will happen now (say -after todays match), or perhaps a little bit later.

Boli cię głowa? Teraz już nie. - Do you have a headache? No longer - I had a headache few hours ago, now I am OK.

Teraz już pójdę. - I will go now. "Już pójdę" means basically the same.

To be honest I am not sure if I am not missing something important.

fluidistic

Thanks again Borek :D
So when something just happened or will happen soon, I can use już teraz.
Am I right in the following example:
If you ask me if I have a headache and I reply "teraz nie" it would mean "currently I do not have a headache".
?
Or if someone ask a woman if she has children and she's pregnant, she can answer "nie już" or "nie już teraz". Both are correct in this case, right?

Borek

Yes.

Geez, can't you ask for something that is more obvious? I have no problem with every single application, but generalization eludes me.

Neither is correct.

First of all - "nie już" is in the wrong order. In most cases in Polish order is not that important, but some phrases just don't sound right, this is one of them. Always "już nie".

Second - "już nie" and "teraz nie" are OK, first means "no longer", second "not now". Actually "już nie" doesn't differ much from "teraz juz nie" - the latter just adds some emphasis. All "już nie", "teraz nie" and "teraz już nie" are valid answers to the headache question. First and last are almost identical, "teraz nie" means "I don't have headache now, but I know I had or will have a headache".

Back to our pregnant friend.

- Are you pregnant?
- Tak. - yes I am
- Nie. - no
- Teraz nie. - I am not pregnant now but I was pregnant and/or who knows what future will bring
- Już nie (alternatively "Teraz już nie" - again, almost the same, just some emphasis added on the fact that we are talking about now) - I am no longer pregnant, I gave birth. But this one sounds like something she can jokingly say to a friend she has not seen for a long time (who even doesn't have to know she was pregnant in the meantime). More formal answer is just "Nie".

fluidistic

I must say I'm confused and I must study your last post.
About the hypothetical woman I was talking to, I would have asked if she already has children (not if she is/was pregant), seeing that she's pregnant. So she can reply "not yet but almost getting one" :)
In that case I can expect her to reply "juz nie" or "teraz juz nie". If she answers the latter, it means she's about to get her first child, so she's pregnant from more or less 8 months as a minimum. Does this sound better?

Borek

I am afraid my explanations can add to your confusion.

If you ask her if she has children she would either answer "jeszcze nie" - not yet, or just "tak" - yes I have. "not yet but almost getting one" would be "już prawie" ("prawie" meaning almost).

"Już" has four meanings - one is about time, three others are used for emphasis. "Już nie" - about headache - means headache was in the past. "Już prawie" - is just "prawie" with emphasis added.

fluidistic

Thanks a lot for all Borek. I'll try to grab all this.