{"id":360,"date":"2017-10-23T22:33:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T22:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/?p=360"},"modified":"2021-11-23T12:18:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T12:18:59","slug":"polish-possessive-pronouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/polish-possessive-pronouns\/","title":{"rendered":"The No-Nonsense Guide to Polish Possessive Pronouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The purpose of possessive pronouns<\/strong> \u2013 like my<\/i><\/strong>, your<\/i><\/strong>, and their <\/i><\/strong>in English \u2013 is indicating possession<\/strong> or ownership<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It may be useful to think of possessive pronouns as a cross between <\/span>adjectives<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>personal pronouns<\/span><\/a>. First, they attach to other parts of speech in order to describe them<\/strong>, just like adjectives do \u2013 <\/span>good friend<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>my friend<\/span><\/i> are really similar in terms of structure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Second, they are used to refer to an entity without explicitly naming it<\/strong> \u2013 <\/span>his friend<\/span><\/i> can mean <\/span>Tom\u2019s friend<\/span><\/i>, similarly to how <\/span>he<\/span><\/i> can mean <\/span>Tom<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The analogy to adjectives will prove particularly helpful when learning their declension patterns in Polish. But first, let’s get the simple things out of the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Polish possessive pronouns: the basics<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"PronounIn Polish, unlike in English, there is no distinction between possessive pronouns attached to nouns and those standing independent of nouns<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, <\/span>my<\/strong> <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>mine<\/i><\/strong> both translate into <\/span>m\u00f3j<\/i><\/b>; <\/span>your <\/i><\/strong>and <\/span>yours <\/i><\/strong>both<\/span> translate into <\/span>tw\u00f3j<\/i><\/b>, and so on.<\/span><\/p>\n

M\u00f3j<\/i><\/strong> pies jest m\u0105drzejszy ni\u017c <\/span><\/i>tw\u00f3j<\/i><\/strong>. <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>My<\/strong> dog is smarter than <\/span>yours<\/strong>.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

M\u00f3j<\/i><\/strong> jest m\u0105drzejszy ni\u017c tw\u00f3j<\/strong>. <\/span><\/i>(\u201c<\/span>Mine<\/strong> is smarter than yours<\/strong>.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Polish does, however, distinguish between second person pronouns in the singular and the plural (English lumps them together into <\/span>your<\/i><\/strong>). When you use <\/span>tw\u00f3j<\/i><\/b>, it\u2019s always clear that you\u2019re referring to a single person<\/strong>. Likewise, <\/span>wasz<\/i><\/b> will always refer to more than one person<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The possessive form <\/span>jego <\/i><\/b>is shared between the masculine and neuter pronoun. Pretty straightforward.<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing that might not be so obvious from the point of view of an English speaker is that you can leave out\u00a0<\/strong>the pronoun altogether when the possessive relationship is more or less obvious<\/strong>. Most often, this happens when talking about body parts, personal possessions, and relationships:<\/span><\/p>\n

Daj mi r\u0119k\u0119<\/span><\/i>. (\u201cGive me <\/span>your<\/strong> hand.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Zgubi\u0142am klucze<\/span><\/i>. (\u201cI lost <\/span>my<\/strong> keys.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Tom poszed\u0142 do sklepu z mam\u0105<\/span><\/i>. (\u201cTom went to the store with <\/span>his<\/strong> mom.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\n

Number and gender of Polish possessive pronouns<\/b><\/h2>\n

Every time we use a possessive pronoun, we can distinguish between two separate entities, with one of them (let\u2019s call it the<\/span> owner<\/b>) owning the other one (which we\u2019ll call the <\/span>owned object<\/b>). Of course, the relationship is not always strictly about ownership \u2013 though you might refer to a group of people as \u201cmy friends\u201d, you don\u2019t really <\/span>own<\/span><\/i> them in any literal sense. <\/span><\/p>\n

You see, the forms listed in the table at the beginning of the previous section are the most basic forms of Polish possessive pronouns. While they cover all the possible owners (from 1st person singular to 3rd person plural), they do not account for all kinds of potential owned objects.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owned objects are usually nouns, and as such, they have their own <\/span>number<\/b> and <\/span>gender<\/b>. Thus, <\/span>the number and gender of the owned object must be reflected in the possessive pronoun<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>singular masculine<\/b> pronoun <\/span>m\u00f3j<\/i><\/b> will be a perfect fit if we want to describe the word <\/span>syn<\/span><\/i> (\u201cson\u201d), but it cannot be used together with the noun <\/span>c\u00f3rka<\/span><\/i> (\u201cdaughter\u201d) \u2013 in this case, you\u2019ll have to use the <\/span>singular feminine<\/b> form <\/span>moja<\/i><\/b>. Likewise, if we\u2019re referring to the word <\/span>dzieci <\/span><\/i>(\u201cchildren\u201d), we need to use the <\/span>plural non-masculine<\/b> pronoun <\/span>moje<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is what you end up with if you add the number and gender of the owned object to the equation:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pronoun<\/p>\n

You\u2019re probably happy to see that<\/span> third person possessive pronouns jej<\/i>, jego<\/i>, and ich<\/i> all have fixed forms<\/strong>. Regardless of the number and gender of the owned object and their role in the sentence, they will always stay <\/span>jej<\/i><\/b>, <\/span>jego<\/i><\/b>, and <\/span>ich<\/i><\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is quite easy to mix up the role of the owner and the owned object in shaping the form of first and second person pronouns. This is why you should keep these two simple rules in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n