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FilipBolek



Joined: 15 Apr 2019
Replies: 3
Location: Polonia of Western New York

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Post Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 8:43 am      Post subject: Proper spelling of family names
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I understand the "-ski" is considered "son of" and "-ska" is "daughter of".

How do you proper write a family name to include EVERYONE, i.e. I am a member of the Bobrowski family?

Would it be "Jestem Bobrowskim"?


Dzięki
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dnowicki
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Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2781
Location: Michigan City, Indiana

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Post Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 10:31 am      Post subject: Re: Proper spelling of family names
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FilipBolek wrote:
I understand the "-ski" is considered "son of" and "-ska" is "daughter of".

How do you proper write a family name to include EVERYONE, i.e. I am a member of the Bobrowski family?

Would it be "Jestem Bobrowskim"?


Dzięki


Hi Filip,

Since Polish is an inflected language endings of nouns and adjectives change depending on how they are being used in a sentence. The endings are referred to as “Cases” and there are seven Cases, which means there are seven endings in the singular and seven in the plural. Surnames ending in -ski and -cki are adjectives. The forms -ski and -ska don’t really mean “son of” and “daughter of”. They are the masculine and the feminine forms of the Nominative (Subject) case and are used for any male or female—e. g. Pani Bobrowska means “Mrs.” and Panna Bobrowska means “Miss”. The Masculine Plural form is used to designate the whole family—husband, wife, sons, and daughters. It is Bobrowscy. A word of caution—that is the correct form if the word is being used as a subject, but, if it being used, for example, as a direct object like in “I met the Bobrowskis” the correct form would be Bobrowskich.

You asked a simple question but the response is more complex—it is just the nature of the Polish language.

I hope this explanation hasn’t confused you to the point where your head is spinning.

Dave
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FilipBolek



Joined: 15 Apr 2019
Replies: 3
Location: Polonia of Western New York

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Post Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 11:18 am      Post subject:
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Thanks Dave,
I understand. I ran into a similarly confusing instance when I tried to come with t-shirts that would've said "I am Polish".
So, I wanted to have some "family" t-shirts printed, indicating that the wearer (male, female, old, young) was a member a descendant of my father, Boleslaw Bobrowski (Yes, I know. But I don't have access to a Polish keyboard right now), would they be printed "Jestem Bobrowscy" ?
Thanks again,
Filip
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dnowicki
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Joined: 28 Dec 2011
Replies: 2781
Location: Michigan City, Indiana

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Post Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 12:09 pm      Post subject: T-shirts
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FilipBolek wrote:
Thanks Dave,
I understand. I ran into a similarly confusing instance when I tried to come with t-shirts that would've said "I am Polish".
So, I wanted to have some "family" t-shirts printed, indicating that the wearer (male, female, old, young) was a member a descendant of my father, Boleslaw Bobrowski (Yes, I know. But I don't have access to a Polish keyboard right now), would they be printed "Jestem Bobrowscy" ?
Thanks again,
Filip


Filip,

If the t-shirt said “Jestem Bobrowscy” it would mean “I am Bobrowskis”. It would seem better to write “Jesteśmy Bobrowscy”—“We are Bobrowskis”. It seems to me that would better capture the thought you want to express. Anyway, that is my suggestion.

Hope you have fun with your project.

Dave
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