Learn 15 must-know family words
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| Hello everyone. My name is Marzena. Welcome to Top Polish words. Today, we will learn 15 Must Know Family Words. Are you ready? |
| 1. Rodzina “family” |
| You may know another word which is very similar to Rodzina, rodzić “to give birth to.” rodzić or another one urodziny “birthday” So it’s all related to giving birth, to birthday, all that stuff. That’s because Rodzina, that’s the “family” is actually you know, a group of people that are connected with birth. That’s why Rodzina. Very similar to rodzić rodzina, “family.” |
| For example, you can say, |
| Masz bardzo dużą rodzinę. “You have a very large family.” |
| Masz bardzo dużą rodzinę. And having a large family in Poland is actually pretty common having two, three, four kids. My aunt has like three daughters, three sons, six kids total. I myself I am an only child but I guess it is very common to have at least two kids in Poland. |
| 2. Ojciec “father” |
| Mój ojciec jest architektem. “My father is an architect.” Which is actually true about my father. Mój ojciec jest architektem. |
| In some languages, you have different words for father when you use it with others and then when you use it with your dad and so on. In Poland, not really ojciec. To your dad, you probably wouldn’t say ojciec or ojcze. You will say – so you wouldn’t say father. You would say “dad.” And “dad” in Polish, it’s tato. Easy? So that kids can pronounce it too. Tato. |
| 3. Mąż “husband” |
| For example, you can say, |
| Podobno jej mąż jest policjantem. “Apparently, her husband is a police officer.” |
| Podobno jej mąż jest policjantem. |
| 4. Syn “son” |
| So usually you will say syn but if it’s a small kid, you will rather use synek. So for smaller kids, synek. And you can for example say, |
| Mój synek ma już 10 lat. “My son is already 10 years old.” |
| 5. Brat “brother” |
| So for example, if you have only one brother, you can say, |
| Mam jednego starszego brata. “I have one older brother.” |
| Family in Poland is very important and of course, so is your brother or your sister and well, I myself I don’t have any but I know that people get really attached to their siblings and they visit them often. They talk off very often. So, in some countries, it’s not so common but in Poland, yes it is. |
| 6. Wujek “uncle” |
| You can say for example, |
| Wujek już z nami nie mieszka. “Uncle doesn’t live with us anymore.” |
| And funny thing about Polish uncles and aunts as well. So basically everybody around you is an uncle or an aunt. So for example, if my friend has a baby, she will refer to me because we are friends as an aunt. And for example, she will refer to my boyfriend as an uncle. And even though we are not really aunt and uncle because that’s the way it is in Poland. So every kid in Poland has like 100 aunts and 100 uncles. It is just the way we are keeping it very, very big family. |
| 7. Dziadek “Grandfather” |
| For example, if you do something stupid, you can probably hear your mom or your grandma saying, |
| Co by na to twój dziadek powiedział? “What would your grandfather say about this?” |
| 8. Teść “father-in-law” |
| Almost like cześć only a little bit different Teść. |
| So if you are the lucky one, you can say, |
| Mój teść nie jest taki najgorszy. “My father-in-law is not so bad.” |
| Mój teść nie jest taki najgorszy. |
| 9. Matka “mother” |
| But same as father, you will not say to your mom, mother. You will not say matka. They can feel offended even. You will say “mama.” So, when you are asking something, you can say, |
| Mamo, możemy iść jutro do zoo? “Mom, can we go to zoo tomorrow?” |
| 10. Córka “daughter” |
| And similar as syn or son, when he or she, he is little, you say synek and for córka you say córeczka. |
| You can for example say, |
| Mam dwie córeczki. Which basically means, “I have two daughters.” |
| 11. Siostra “sister” |
| Moja siostra pracuje w urzędzie miejskim. “My sister works at the town hall.” |
| 12. Żona “wife” |
| So you probably know the word ona, “she”, ona. So just add ż Żona. Ona, Żona, Żona, Żona. And you can ask for example, |
| Gdzie teraz jest twoja żona? “Where is your wife?” |
| 13. Teściowa “mother-in-law” |
| So father-in-law was once again Teść and here, we’ve got mother-in-law which is Teściowa. |
| Jedziemy jutro do teściowej. “We are going tomorrow to (visit) the mother-in-law and that can be very scary jutro. |
| Jutro jedziemy do teściowej. “We are going tomorrow to (visit) the mother-in-law. |
| 14. Babcia “grandmother” |
| A grandpa will be dziadek as well and grandmother or grandma is Babcia. And Polish grandmothers, oh my god, they can cook you like the whole fridge [0:06:38.6] and you will get stuffed and then you won’t be able to work anymore and then she will be asking, oh, are you okay? Are you sure you don’t want anymore? Like I have like this, this and this and this and then have yourself of this. And five minutes later, she will be serving you another meal. That’s basically what usually happens at every single Polish house. |
| For example, you can say, |
| Moja babcia skończyła wczoraj 80 lat. “My grandma turned 80 yesterday.” |
| 15. Ciocia “Aunt” |
| And as I already said, every single female around your kid will be this kid’s Ciocia. So like my friend, he has four years old daughter and she knows that I am her Ciocia although I am not a ciocia at all like we basically have known each other for like maybe only four years. It doesn’t matter. We don’t have any relationship, anything. But I am her Ciocia because that’s what we usually do. We call everybody around Ciocia or Wujek. |
| And for example, you can say, |
| Ciocia cię bardzo kocha. “Auntie loves you very much.” |
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