Possessives for pan/pani/państwo

gvergara

gvergara

Senior Member
Santiago, Chile
Castellano (variedad chilensis)
Hi,

I do not quite understand this explanation... I mean, I can understand it, but I am not sure as to how exactly use the possessives for pan/pani/państwo.

The possessive adjectives (also used as possessive pronouns) derived from the personal pronouns are mój, twój, jego (m., n.)/jej (f.); nasz, wasz, ich. There is also a reflexive possessive swój. The polite second-person pronouns have possessives identical to the genitives of the corresponding nouns, although there is a possessive adjective pański corresponding to pan.

I have pasted an extract of the Wikipedia article on Polish grammar, which, as I understand it, says two things: 1.- it indicates that the possessives for the polite second person pronouns are their genitive forms pana (male), pani (female), and państwa (group), but I do not understand whether these forms are declined, and 2.- it also says that the masculine pronoun pan has its own possessive pański, which is declined as a normal adjective according to this dictionary. Then, I "read" this thread, but did not actually understand it. Could you please shed some light on these two points?

Thanks so much in advance,

G.
 
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    • pana, pani, panów, pań, państwa are possessive pronouns
    Probably it is "przydawka wyrażona rzeczownikiem/zaimkiem" (an attribute expressed by a noun/pronoun).
    Pana dom. Dom drwala. Najstarszy dom naszego miasta.
    Your (sir) house. Lumberjack's house. The oldest house of our city.

    pański is an adjective

    "Pański" may also means master's, lord's.


    [Lp] pan pana panu pana panem panu panie
    [Lm] panowie panów panom panów panami panach panowie

    [Lp] pana pana pana pana pana pana pana
    [Lm] pana pana pana pana pana pana pana

    [Lp] pański pańskiego pańskiemu pańskiego pańskim pańskim pański
    [Lm] pańscy pańskich pańskim pańskich pańskimi pańskich pańscy

    Pan jest.
    Pana nie ma.
    Rozmawiam z panem.

    Pana syn jest.
    Pana syna nie ma.
    Rozmawiam z pana synem.


    Pański syn jest.
    Pańskiego syna nie ma.
    Rozmawiam z pańskim synem.
     
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    You are right, the possessive pronouns pana, pani and państwa are indeclinable. They function the same way as jego, jej and ich.

    Alternatively, you can use pański instead of pana, and this is a regular adjective (pańskiego, pańskiemu ...).
     
    "Pański" is more formal and less used than "pana". Truly it is also less used by young people than elderly ones, and quite unsurprising more often found in writing than in colloquial use.
     
    Ben Jamin said:
    "Pański" is more formal and less used than "pana". Truly it is also less used by young people than elderly ones, and quite unsurprising more often found in writing than in colloquial use.
    Click to expand...
    Am I already old? 🤔 Probably old enough then! 😅

    Iʼd say that „Porozmawiam z Pana synem” can be more neutral than „Porozmawiam z Pańskim synem” which might have some stern and scolding overtones in it… 😶
     
    kknd said:
    Am I already old? 🤔 Probably old enough then! 😅

    Iʼd say that „Porozmawiam z Pana synem” can be more neutral than „Porozmawiam z Pańskim synem” which might have some stern and scolding overtones in it… 😶
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    It is surprising for me. I would never guess that anybody could interprete it this way. But language changes, and "niedźwiedzia przysługa" is now understood as a good deed, while "dobroduszny" is perceived as "stupid". By the way, in Norway using full stop in SMS is perceived as hostile.
     
    PA_System said:
    By who? Could you give some examples?
    Click to expand...
    I have no scientific articles on this matter. I have read about it in general press. It refers to the "young generation". By the way, the same idiom was used in Norway, and the understanding of it has also changed the same way.
     
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