Dwa vs. dwie in Polish

They were either males or their sex would be unknown. Now, look at these sentences and try to guess their gender:

1. Dwaj Polacy zginęli.
2. Dwie Polki zginęły.
3. Dwoje Polaków zginęło.

Good luck!

How is it that i'm quoting Lyzko and the system says I'm quoting Cinek?

Number one is mixed genders.
Number two is obviously females ONLY!
Number three is clearly (and collectively) MALES.

:-)

You have marked Lyzko's post but click into cinek's quote buttom

Actually you were... :) Dwa and dwójka are two separate words and you don't group their declensions together.

Actually, "Dwoje Polaków......" might easily included a (neutral) child in addition to another male:-)

You can laugh at Polish grammar etc. all you like, but at least Polish will never have a "It's spelled Raymond Luxury-Yacht, but it's pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove' " situation, haha :)

One of your guesses is correct. Try again.

Take no. one back, Stzrygusiu! It's (LIVING!!!) males, NOT mixed.
Sooorrryyyy!!!!

....But 'dwa' (never 'dwaj') rachunki, I presume, since "rachunek" is an INANIMATE masculine noun, correct?

right. And No.3 is mixed.


correct :)
"dwaj is for masculine personal, or whatever it's called.
Anyway, dwa psy - even though pies is animate, just like dwa rachunki. Dwa koty, dwa bociany.
dwaj panowie - "starsi panowie dwaj". Or "dwóch panów".

What's the difference between:
(a) Dwaj Polacy zginęli --- (b) Dwóch Polaków zginęło.

Or can we say:
(a) Dwa bociany odleciały --- (b) Dwóch bocianów odleciało?
(a) Dwa rachunki zginęły --- (b) Dwóch rachunków zginęło?

"Dwóch" is spoken or colloquial. It's also used in the genitive.

Dwaj przyjaciele......
Dwa koty......
Dwoje dzieci, mężczyzni

etc....

There's is no difference between 'dwaj mężczyźni pracowali na wysokości" and "dwóch mężczyzn pracowało na wysokości". Both are literal and colloquial forms, but the latter one is perhaps more popular than the former. Also, this latter phrase in the genetive can only be used with the męskoosobowe nouns. You can't say: Dwóch bocianów odleciało, as bociany is a niemęskoosobowy noun.

Excellent explanation, Zorro:-)

Merged: how to say two

Ceść.
Can anyone explain the use of all the different ways of saying two in Polish.
I know there are seventeen and someone has been explaining it to me, but I'm not sure I get it yet.
Mianownik
dopelniacz
celownik
then ask who, what, and I believe

can anyone explain this
many thanks
dziekuje

waste of time...

There's a long thread here on it, but really the best way is just to relax and listen to what people say.

Think its more like 23.......dont worry about it too much, doubt you will ever need to know alll forms of two. Also i agree with wulkan, bit of a waste of time.....Concentrate on everyday conversation if you get the chance to speak with poles. good luck!

Just don't say "two". Say "three" instead!

Merged: what are the differances between the different twos

I have come accross a few ways to say the number 2 and im now really confused what are the differances.
Dwa
Dwójka
Dwóch
Dwoje
Dwie

Dziękuję

JoJo

Dwie dziewczyny :)

dwa - rodzaj meski
dwie - rodzaj zenski

Mądrej głowie dość dwie słowie!
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In this proverb, "dwie" is the feminine gender the dual number of the numeral "two". The dual number in Polish ceased to exist in the 17th century; before that time the noun would be declined as follows: jedno słowo, dwie słowie, trzy/cztery słowa, pięć etc. słów. In modern Polish, however, this proverb should translate into: Mądrej głowie wystarczają dwa słowa.

Other relics of the dual number:
[1 x10] dziesięć : (or jedno dzieście) [singular] : [2 x 10] dwa dzieścia [d-u-a-l] : [3 or 4 x 10] trzy or cztery dzieści [plural] : [5 x 10] pięć dziesiąt [plural]

--> [10] dziesięć : [20] dwadzieścia : [30] trzydzieści : [40] czterdzieści : [50] pięćdziesiat

[1 x 100] sto : [2 x 100] dwie ście [d-u-a-l]: [3 or 4 x 100] trzy or cztery sta : [5 x 100] pięć set
--> sto, dwieście, trzysta, czterysta, pięćset

Oho, akardo! Not so fast. "Dwa" is indeed masculine, only for non-virile (human) as well as masculine inanimate, not virile animate!

Dwa koty, psy, rachunki, sklepy... (living or non-living, NON-human masculine)
Dwaj przyaciele, koledzy... (living HUMAN masculine)

Polish has seemingly more baggage as well as an arsenal of noun quirks compared with English.

..sorry, "przyJaciele"!!

I was reminded that Slovenian too has a "dual" form, but the Polish dual is more or less only vestigial.

[moved from]



You have (you had) :

jedna baba - dwie babie - trzy baby - pięć bab
jedna ręka - dwie ręce - trzy ręki - pięć rąk
jedna noga - dwie nodze - trzy nogi - pięć nóg
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Ciebie dla, człowiecze, dał Bog przekłoć sobie
Ręce, nodze obie.
Kry święta szła z boka na zbawienie tobie