Julian Tuwim grammar

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captain1

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Hello, I have a question: what is the meaning of the Line that is highlighted?

Tuwim’s feelings about his Jewishness were ambivalent and assumed a variety of forms. In a 1924 interview, the poet told Nasz Przegląd (no. 6): “I am a Polonized Jew, that is, a Jew-Pole, and I don’t care what people say about it. I was raised in Polish culture; instinctively, guided by a sincere impulse, I would say subconsciously, I have become attached with all my soul to Polishness.” He added that assimilation was the only logical solution to the Jewish question in Poland but the antisemitism poisoning Polish society caused him not to believe in it.


Does the meaning is that the solution(assimilation) that Julian Tuwim thought to be the only solution for the Jewish question was denied by him because Tuwim believed that the poisoning due to the Anti-Semitism didn't allow to solve the question?

I have a problem in understanding the sentence, because I think that there is a missing word(between antisemitism and Polish), does it need to be: But the anti-Semitism that was poisoning the Polish society caused him not to believe in it? It looks like there is no any verb.



Thank you.
 
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captain1

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1. Do I understand the sentence correctly?(the meaning not the grammar)
2. So, can I omit the word "was" and than I get the same effect of was+ing? Do they have the same meanings?
In fact, is this the tense of progressive here?
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bhaisahab

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1. He thought that assimilation was the only answer but didn't believe it was possible because of the anti-semitism in Polish society.
2. No, you can't omit "was" unless you omit "that" as well, as in the original. No, it is not progressive. As Piscean has already told you "poisoning" is the present participle form of the verb.
 

captain1

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Sorry for writing the question again(about what is the "ing" here).
I had never heard about it before.

Where can I find an article about this principle?

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bhaisahab

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Type present participle into your favourite search engine.
 

captain1

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I have a question: Why not to use "The Polish society"?

Look about it :
Omission of Articles

Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

  • Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (unless you are referring to the population of the nation: "The Spanish are known for their warm hospitality.")


The Polish society its the same example like here, isn't it?
 
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BobK

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  • Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

    Names of languages and nationalities [omission: when used as nouns that refer to the people as a whole]: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (unless you are referring to the population of the nation: "The Spanish are known for their warm hospitality.")
These aren't right:

  • [STRIKE]The[/STRIKE] Spanish people enjoy music.
  • In the airport queue, [^ the] Spanish were asked to wait.

b

PS In fact, 'Spanish' can be a bit tricky, as - unusually* in English - there is a noun meaning 'Spanish person', though it's not widely used now - because, historically, it was an insult (marked with the -ard suffix used in words sucx as b*stard, drunkard, dullard... (though by no means all -ard words are like this: pollard, custard, bollard... etc). So 'The Spanish are friendly' means the same as 'Spaniards are friendly'.

*And I don't buy 'Brit' as a counter-example. In fact, I think that may have a similar history as a political insult (or, if not insulting, at least depreciative). I first heard it in the mouths of Irish Republicans, speaking in Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles.
 
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bhaisahab

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No, it isn't the same. We say: Polish society: British society; Israeli society etcetera.
But, we say: The British Society for the Advancement of Human Rights, for example.
 

captain1

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Thank you. So can I use "The Polish society"? I saw an explanation about using "the":
Talking about unique things - Some things in the world are unique, and we use "the":
The sun
The earth
The moon


The Polish society isn't unique? I am saying it because there is no another Polish society. Just one. There are no two Israeli societies, just the people in Israel is called "Israeli society".

By the way, What is the difference between society and people? They have the same idea of being unique.
 
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BobK

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If there was an association called 'The Polish Society' (one of many such societies), and you meant that, you could write 'the Polish Society'. But if you mean Polish people in general, it's 'Polish society'.

Don't over-apply these 'rules'. It says 'Some things'; the 'rule' you gave in #8 also used 'Some'.

b
 

Tdol

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derstanding the sentence, because I think that there is a missing word(between antisemitism and Polish), does it need to be: But the anti-Semitism that was poisoning the Polish society caused him not to believe in it? It looks like there is no any verb.

Not necessarily- he believed in anti-Semitism, but felt that he couldn't believe in it any more because it was so prevalent in Polish society.
 

captain1

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Can someone pleases write me this in another sentence?
One might even say that Tuwim was the last poet to achieve wide popularity since the poetry of the post-war years.

Is the meaning that Tuwim after the war was the last to get "popularity with consensus"?

And what is the meaning of last here, "The only poet?"
 
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Matthew Wai

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I think a number of poets achieved wide popularity and Tuwim was the last one of them.
 

captain1

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There is no possible to say that the meaning of last is "the only"?
The full sentence is:
One might even say that Tuwim was the last poet to achieve wide popularity since the poetry of the post-war years, with the exception of Konstanty's poems, has been too esoteric to appeal to the general public.
 

MikeNewYork

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No "last" cannot mean "only".
 

captain1

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So, what do you think this sentence says?(with the full context)
And I have another question: By this sentence his popularity was created after the war?
 
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Matthew Wai

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I think his popularity was achieved before the war because the poetry of the post-war years has not been appealing to the general public.
 

captain1

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Hello, I have another question, this Is the last question about Tuwim and than I will lock the thread.
What is the meaning here of stature?
As an émigré he was the first Pole of stature on the North American continent to declare his support of the Soviet Union.
Thanks.
 
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