Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
Note: the speakers in this conversation use informal Polish. |
Do you remember how Anna Kowalska asks, |
"Is this your family?" |
Czy to jest twoja rodzina? |
Let's start with rodzina, "family." Rodzina. Rodzina. |
In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Rodzina is feminine and singular — a fact which will determine the form of other words in the sentence. |
Before rodzina is twoja, "your." Twoja. Twoja. |
Twoja is feminine and singular to agree with rodzina. |
Together, twoja rodzina. "Your family." Twoja rodzina. |
Moving to the start of the sentence, czy to, literally, “Whether this…," but translating as, “This,” here. Czy to. |
First is czy, something like "whether," in this context. Czy. Czy. |
Note, there is no corresponding English translation here. |
Next is to, "this." To. To. |
Together it's czy to, "this." Czy to. |
Next is jest, "is," as in "this is..." Jest. Jest. |
Jest is from the verb być, meaning "to be." Być. |
All together, it’s Czy to jest twoja rodzina? “This is your family,” but translating as "Is this your family?" |
Czy to jest twoja rodzina? |
Note the rising intonation of the sentence to indicate that it’s a question. |
Czy to jest twoja rodzina? |
Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later. |
Let's take a closer look at the response. |
Do you remember how Ben says, |
"Yes. This is my family. My father, my mother, my sister, and me." |
Tak. To jest moja rodzina. Mój ojciec, moja matka, moja siostra i ja. |
This starts with the expression Tak, meaning "yes." Tak. Tak. |
It answers Anna’s yes-or-no question, "Is this your family?" |
Czy to jest twoja rodzina? |
After this, Ben points to the picture, and says, To jest moja rodzina. |
“This is my family.” |
Let’s start with rodzina, "family." Rodzina. |
Do you remember the gender and number of rodzina? |
Feminine and singular. |
Before this is moja. "My." Moja. |
Moja is feminine and singular to agree with rodzina. |
Moja rodzina, "my family." Moja rodzina. |
Moving to the start of the sentence, to, "this." To. |
Next is jest, "is." Jest. |
All together, it’s To jest moja rodzina. "This is my family." To jest moja rodzina. |
After this is mój ojciec, "my father." Mój ojciec. |
Let’s start with Ojciec, “father.” Ojciec. Ojciec. |
Ojciec is maculine and singular. |
Before this is Mój, "My." Mój. |
Mój is masculine and singular to agree with ojciec. |
Mój ojciec. |
Next is moja matka. "My mother." Moja matka. |
Let’s start with Matka, "mother." Matka. Matka. |
Matka is feminine and singular. |
Before this is moja. "My." |
Moja is feminine and singular to agree with matka. |
Moja matka. |
After this is moja siostra, "my sister." Moja siostra. |
Let’s start with Siostra, "sister." Siostra. Siostra. |
Siostra is feminine and singular. |
Before this is Moja. "My." |
Moja is feminine and singular to agree with siostra. |
Moja siostra. |
Next is i, "and." I. I. |
And last is ja, which translates as "me" in this context. Ja. Ja. |
All together, Tak. To jest moja rodzina. Mój ojciec, moja matka, moja siostra i ja. "This is my family. My father, my mother, my sister, and me." |
Tak. To jest moja rodzina. Mój ojciec, moja matka, moja siostra i ja. |
The pattern is |
To jest moja rodzina. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER i ja. |
This is my family. FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER, FAMILY MEMBER and me. |
To use this pattern, simply replace the {FAMILY MEMBER} placeholders with the members of your family. |
Note: this pattern requires a noun preceded by the corresponding adjectival possessive pronoun. |
Imagine your family members are your father, your mother, your brother and you. |
Brat is "brother." Brat. Brat. Brat is masculine and singular. Therefore, "my brother" is mój brat. Mój brat. |
Say |
"This is my family. My father, my mother, my brother, and me." |
Ready? |
To jest moja rodzina. Mój ojciec, moja matka, mój brat i ja. |
"This is my family. My father, my mother, my brother, and me." |
To jest moja rodzina. Mój ojciec, moja matka, mój brat i ja. |
Matka, “mother,” and ojciec, “father,” are formal terms for parents. In Polish, you may hear children and teenagers referring to parents using more casual language: mama "mom," and tata "dad." |
To jest moja rodzina. Mój tata, moja mama, mój brat i ja. |
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