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The usage of "dwoje"


Leonis  30 | 61  
27 Mar 2010 /  #1
Maybe it's a stupid question, but I really don't know when it is used... I know the forms of dwa, but not this one... only dwa, dwie, dwóch, dwaj and the like.

So... please someone explain me: what is this dwoje???
Thanks a lot in advance :-)
JustysiaS  13 | 2235  
27 Mar 2010 /  #2
dwoje ludzi, dwoje dzieci... when talking about people basically :) i think anyway don't know what's the rule
frd  7 | 1379  
27 Mar 2010 /  #3
dwie dziewczynki
dwóch chłopców
dwoje dzieci

genders ; o
And when you have mixed genders like

chłopiec i dziewczynka robili coś we dwoje.

And so on..
Seanus  15 | 19666  
27 Mar 2010 /  #4
Or when you say 'just the two of us' (1 man and 1 woman). Tylko nas dwoje
frd  7 | 1379  
27 Mar 2010 /  #5
That's what I meant by mixed genders..
Seanus  15 | 19666  
27 Mar 2010 /  #6
Yeah a know ;)
OP Leonis  30 | 61  
27 Mar 2010 /  #7
Thank you very much.
And is it followed by Genitivus? I mean... is the following a correct sentence?

W tej gazecie pracuje DWOJE młodych dziennikarzy.
grubas  12 | 1382  
27 Mar 2010 /  #8
W tej gazecie pracuje DWOJE młodych dziennikarzy.

It is correct if one of them is female and the other is male.If 2 males you say"dwóch dziennikarzy" and if both are females .you say "dwie dziennikarki".
AdamKadmon  
27 Mar 2010 /  #9
Dwoje is an example of so called collective numerals

In Swan's A GRAMMAR OF CONTEMPORARY POLISH
I have found a good description of the phenomenon: polish.slavic.pitt.edu/grammar.pdf

Collective numerals:

A GRAMMAR OF CONTEMPORARY POLISH by Swan, page 200.
Ziemowit  14 | 3936  
28 Mar 2010 /  #10
Leonis: Maybe it's a stupid question, but I really don't know when it is used... I know the forms of dwa, but not this one... only dwa, dwie, dwóch, dwaj and the like.

To see how the numerals dwoje, troje, czworo, pięcioro etc. are used, compare the translations into Polish of the following two English expressions:

"The Sign of Four" (the title of a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes) is translated into Polish as "Znak Czterech" (four men being involved in the title plot).

The 'Gang of Four' (the name given to a leftist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials) is translated into Polish as 'Banda Czworga' (they were not all men, but one of its members was a woman, Mao Zedong's last wife Jiang Qing).
OP Leonis  30 | 61  
30 Mar 2010 /  #11
Thank you all very much!! :-)))
Now I understand:-)

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