sobie sobie sobie sobie sobie

Why are there no threads on PF where anyone asks about this word?

How does it work?

For me, it is close to tobie, just referring to oneself instead.

Myśle o tobie (I am thinking of you)

Myślisz tylko o sobie (you only think about yourself).

Does it refer to the person in the verb like swoj/swoja/swoje does?

Can you give an example of what you mean please Osioł! It'd help.

Sobie is reflexive.

I don't need to give an example.


I'm ready to give it a tap on the knee with a small rubber mallet.

I can:

o sobie:

:)

I think that was given above :)

Quite often verbs have things like subjects and objects. If I were to say lubię, then I am the subject. If I say lubisz, then you are the subject. If a verb is accompanied by sobie, does that sobie thing refer to the subject?

"Zaraz zrobisz sobie krzywdę" - how would you translate that?

Maybe I wouldn't actually bother translating it.
You're not about to do me an injury, are you?

Ya, sob ya. as an example, of course.

not just yet...
;)


you are about to hurt yourself

It does refer to the verb's subject then. Has this word got anything to do with się? Does it appear in many bizarre and varied forms that I'm just not aware of yet?

I struggle with it all I mean I have not researched this because I'm hoping I will learn it on a Polish course but why is there:

Cię
Ciebie
Się
Ty
Sobie
Tobie
(and there is probably more!)

It confuses me.

You don't have to answer I'm just stating: It confuses me!

:D

... but after that little masochistic exercise, I still have unanswered questions. Less at the moment than cjjc, but I still need some more examples of sobie in different forms of usage.

Yeah I know I'm a pain and I kind hijacked the thread! :P

That's okay as long as someone actually gives me a little help with sobie.

się - just occurs after some verbs. Why? Because it just does. You should know by now:

uczyć - to teach
uczyć się - to teach oneself, ie. to learn

ty is just you (nominative case) as in ty jesteś: you are
tobie is just you (some other case, possibly locative) as in o tobie: about you (see o o osłach: about a donkey (great book, great film) or na osłach: on a donkey, etc. etc.)

Others you mentioned I either don't fully understand or just can't be bothered to try to explain at the moment!

SOBIE SOBIE SOBIE SOBIE
? ? ? ?

Yes, it is the same word just in the dative case - i.e. "to yourself".

Thanks for being the only person to give a decent answer.

That's still not quite everything though. How do I use it? Or rather, how should I use it?

Any time you want to construct a sentence with a reflexive that is also dative - such as:

give yourself a break - daj sobie spokój
they help each other [lit. they help to each other] - pomagają sobie

can't think of any other examples of the top of my head but hope that helps...


Should that not be o siebie?


Sorry - ignore me - am talking rubbish. Some words require siebie such as dla and now I am confusing myself...

Sam siebie is a more normal combination I'd say. Then again, nie jestem polakiem, więc...

myślisz tylko o sobie - all you think about is yourself

kupuję sobie - I am buying sth for myself
idę sobie - I am just walking somewhere
śpiewam sobie - I am just singing sth
kopię sobie - I am just digging/kicking sth

beware:
kupię sobie - I am going to buy sth for myself
pójdę sobie - I am going to go somewhere
zaśpiewam sobie - I am going to sing
wykopię/ zakopię/ pokopię sobie - I am going to dig out/in/ just dig

jestem w domu - I am at home
jestem u siebie w domu- I am at my home

about "się" - it generally points action YOU perform (sometimes to yourself)
myję się (I wash myself???? have no idea is it correct) , but "myję samochód" (I wash a car)
uczę się (I learn) but "uczę sąsiada" (I teach my neighbour)
boję się - I am scared

hmm, a bit complicated, if you are novice, dont bother about those details, you will understand it in future (or not).

Ah yes - there are those idiomatic uses as well!

I am interested in the literal translation of "tak sobie" which you may answer in response to jak się masz...
tak sobie = so, so = so myself?

I don't think there is a literal translation of that because it is purely idiomatic. Pretty much just means "so so".

Sobie is to swój, się and siebie as tobie is to twój and ciebie. Się is a shorter form of siebie, as well as being part of many reflexive and non-reflexive verbs.

Siebie is the genitive, used with verbs for (I believe) emphasis (instead of się), but primarily used with prepositions.

Mam coś dla siebie - I have something for myself
Idziecie obok siebie - They're walking side-by-side (beside each other)
Nie można zyć bez siebie - It's not possible to live without oneself
Nie można iść do siebie - It's not possible to walk toward oneself
Nie można iść od siebie - It's not possible to walk away from oneself

Beside the aforementioned dative 'for yourself' uses, sobie is the locative form of the same word, which is used with a limited number of other prepositions.

Mam w sobie wielki huragan - I have within me a great hurricane
Myślisz tylko o sobie - you think only of/about yourself
Zatrzymaj to przy sobie - keep this by/on yourself
Nie wolno mieć na sobie kombinezonu astronauty w szkole - you can't wear (have on yourself) a spacesuit at school

What about 'se'? It's obviously not official Polish but one Polish friend of mine is overusing this word in her written Polish. She knows it's not correct as she does it only while chatting online. I find it quite amusing when she says: 'ide se' or 'kupie se'. She says 'niet' instead of 'nie' too.

...and don't forget the Instrumental (narzędnik) Case either, n.pr.

Między SOBĄ.........
Marek

Exactly. Siebie and sobie (and sobą too) are different cases of the same word. They are used when the subjects do action on themselves.
Here's the declension:

M. (none, because object is never in nominative in Polish)
D. siebie (or się)
C. sobie
B. siebie (or się)
N. (z, ze) sobą
Mc. (o, na, w...) sobie
W. (none, as for nominative)

examples:

D.
Wysłał list do siebie.
He sent a letter to himself.

C.
Obciął sobie palec.
He cut his finger off.

B.

Rozpoznał siebie w lustrze.
He recognised himself in the mirror.

N.

Rozmawiał sam ze sobą.
He talked to himself.

Mc.

Opowiedział o sobie.
The told about himself.

EDIT:

In D and B siebie is used when emphasized. Otherwise się is more natural.
But if a preposition is put before D then it must be siebie (not się) - as in the example above.

Cinek