Meaning of I-go , II-go , III-go ???

mhurwicz 10 | 20

3 Jan 2020 #1

On my father's 1938 graduation certificate from the University of Warsaw ([url=leonidhurwicz.org/warsaw-university-graduation-certificate/]leonidhurwicz.org/warsaw-university-graduation-certificate/[/url]) words such as this occur:

I-go kursu były

I understand that this means

the first course was

But what is

I take it that it's an abbreviation? Thanks!

mafketis 38 | 10868

3 Jan 2020 #2

But what is

go

It's a grammatical ending for adjectives (genitive singular for masculine and neuter nouns), the full form is -(i)ego

Think of it as meaning 'of'

II-go (drugiego) of the second
III-go (trzeciego) of the third

I understand that this means

the first course was

Actually it doesn't..... it means "of the first course were" which doesn't make much sense without more context...