Difference between bratowa and szwajgierka

After all these years living in Poland, this is still not clear to me. How would one classify the wife of my brother-in-law for example?

the wife of your brother in law would be your sister- no? do you mean your sister in law? this would be szwajgierka.

to be honest I had to look it up - I didn't know myself - siblings of your spouse are szwagier or szwagierka (so are their spouses) - bratowa is a wife of your brother - but it can become complicated

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Pip, not really. My sis is my sis :). My brother-in-law's wife is not my sister.

Wuj (wujek) is your mother's brother, but your father's brother will be stryj (stryjek). I heared people in the country using names such as 'stryjna' or 'wujenka' to distinguish these women from 'ciocia' which is basically your mother's sister, but has now become common name for all female siblings of your parents.

szwagier is also a husband of your sister as far as I can tell

It took me a while....so it would be your wife's brothers wife? so confusing! or perhaps your husbands brother's wife? good grief- this is where I think the generalization of the word "ciocia" works quite well.

But what is the difference between bratowa and swajgierka then ? :(. Dictionary gives for both "sister-in-law"

sobieski queried:


According to the grandfather of all knowledge (also known as Wikipedia)

"Szwagierka to siostra współmałżonka, bratowa to żona brata. "

Szwagierka is (your) spouse's sister. Bratowa is (your) brother's wife.

It goes on to say that szwagier (from German IINM) is either your sister's husband or spouse's brother.

bratowa - your brother's wife

szwagierka is your wife's sister or the wife of your wife's brother (because your wife's brother is szwagier) - perhaps some people also call sisters of your sister's husband szwagierki

btw its always szwagier szwagierka and not szwajgier szwajgierka - it doesn't come from schweigen but from Schwager