• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “to that extent” or “enough”, used to indicate a sufficient degree — similar to “enough” or “sufficiently” in English. ‘Jest na tyle zmęczony, że nie może mówić’ means “He is tired enough that he can’t speak.” Often followed by ‘żeby’ (so that / in order to) to express a consequence or purpose.

  Vocabulary

  • na — to/for (preposition)
  • tyle — that much, that many, enough (accusative of 'tyle')

  Grammar note

  'Na tyle' is an adverbial phrase of degree. It typically introduces a degree clause with 'żeby' + infinitive or a 'że' + indicative clause. Compare 'na tyle … żeby' with the English 'enough … to'. 'Tyle' is an indeclinable pronoun/numeral in this fixed phrase.

  Cultural context

  Extremely frequent in both spoken and written Polish. It signals that a threshold has been reached. Its counterpart 'o tyle' expresses 'by that much' (extent of change). Neutral register; used in all contexts from casual chat to formal writing.

  Beginner

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