Use of swoj

Hello.

I have never quite understood when to use swoj. I know it means 'one's own', but I can't see the difference between twoj so tend to use this all the time.

Could someone explain the difference and also give as many sentences as possible when swoj would be used.

Thanks, Kieron.

because you can use them interchangeably in most cases.
Daj mi swój/twój długopis,
Piszę moim/swoim długopisem;
Dam Ci mój/swój długopis

Sometimes not : „Każdy jest kowalem swojego losu”.

On sprzędział SWÓJ dom. = He sold his [OWN] house. (...as opposed to someone else's!)

Bądź SWOJĄ panią! = Be your OWN woman! [...NOT somebody else! - Polish magazine ad slogan]

Dziękuję za SWOJE zaproszenie! = Thank you for your [formal 'you' vs. TWOJE or familiar 'you']

Examples are probably more transparent for learning and understanding its usage than long-winded explanations-:) A number of other European languages have this structure as well, notably the three Scandinavian languages, Swedish, Danish and (Standard) Norwegian aka 'Bokmaal'.

Thanks. With these though, if I was to hear dam ci swój długopis I wouldn't know if you mean't mine or yours? Obviously I would however if you said dam ci twoj/moj.

You can say "Spotkał się ze swoją żoną" (he met his own wife ;)) or "Spotkał się z zoną" - but you don't know whether it's his own or somebody else wife :)

You can change words "swój, swoja, swojego etc" on " mój/mojego, twój/twojego, wasz/waszego, nasz/naszego". But try to use as often as possible first form (swój, swojego)...it sound more natural in polish.

Dam Ci swój długopis - I will give you my own - always :) but in this sentence it doesn't matter to whom the pencil belong. If you want to put strong accent on it, to whom it belong say mój or twój.

I + swój = my own,
Ty + swój = your own (or verb in proper form: mam swój - my own, masz swój - your own.)

he did what?


wha...?


yeah... given they're correct examples. Sorry, these are not.

Better examples indeed would have been for the first:

On lubi swój (as opposed to "jego") dom.
Ona czyta swój (not "jej") dziennik. [..rather than someone else's daily]
etc...

nemo iudex in causa sua not nemo iudex in causa eius - Polish is similar to Latin in that respect -rl]

Disce puer Latinae, a ja cię zrobię mocium panem...

The link provided by Gumishu explains it very well: Suus/sua/suum [Swój/swoja/swoje] means the thing belongs to the subject.

Cf. Swedish: Han tog HANS hat och gick HANS vag. (nonsense!)
Han tog SIN hat och gick SIN vag. (logical and correct)

Merged: moj vs swoj

I'm using Rosetta stone to try to improve my vocabulary. I think I understand how moja and twój are used, but I see swój and swoja used in first, second and third person. What is the rationale behind this usage?

Example- Kocham swoją matkę. I thought swoja was his/her, not my.

Also what is the difference between swojego and jego/jej?

swój = possessive of the subject of the sentence.

I love swoją matkę : subect = I so swój = my

On the other hand this is only rigidly maintained in the third person, a lot of people would also say "kocham moją matkę"

That's it in a nutshell.

two examples for ryanb

When a man loves his wife, you should say On kocha swoją żonę. If you say On kocha jego żonę, it means the man loves somebody else's wife

when a woman loves her husband, you should say, Ona kocha swojego męża. If you say Ona kocha jej męża, it means she loves somebody else's husband.

Hopes this helps.

Swój is the "possessive object" of the subject. It always refers to the "thing" that the subject possesses.

In 1st and 2nd person it's possible to use twój, mój etc. instead of swój. However in 3rd person it's sometimes necessary to use swój, to avoid misunderstandings. (See Vincent's post above.)

Lubię swoje buty. = I like my shoes.
Czy lubisz swoje buty? = Do you like your shoes?
On lubi swoje buty. = He likes his shoes.
Lubimy swoje buty. = We like our shoes.
Oni lubią swoje buty. = They like their shoes.

Swój is declined as an adjective, with the same endings. (Just like twój, mój etc.)

Czy kochasz swoją żonę? = Do you love your wife?
On nie lubi swojego samochodu. = He doesn't like his car.

Szwed in PL i s my hero...

and do not forget about contractions... e.g swojego turns into swego, sometimes, etc!

Thanks a lot. I understand it now.
Polish has proved a lot more difficult than I had expected, which just makes me that much more determined to master it.

Haha, did you mail zaproszenie to yourself?No,dude if you recived an invitation you say Dziekuje za TWOJE zaproszenie.

Although 'dziękuję za zaproszenie' (with no possessive) is about a hundred times more common IME.

Wow, those differences between swój/swojego/jego/jej/mojego are crazy. If Rich Mazur saw it, he would say that English is much easier - his is always his and nothing else.

But in English the phrase "He loves his wife" may mean 'He loves his own wife" as well as 'He loves that other guy's wife'.


So 'his' is not always 'his' and Rich Mazur would have to admit that Polish is less ambiguous than English.

Let`s not be so intolerant and discriminatory. He loves his husband is also possible.

But it would still mean "his own husband" and "that other guy's husband".

Gosh, the Polish nationalists and the Americanos here would be disgusted !

I don`t care about them, what I care is freedom for wives and husbands to have swoje wives or husbands.