Questions & Answers about Ona lubi swoją książkę.
What does swoją mean here, and why isn’t it jej?
Both swoją and jej can translate as her, but they’re not used in the same way.
- swoją is a reflexive possessive pronoun: it means her own / his own / their own, referring back to the subject of the sentence.
- jej is a normal possessive pronoun: her (belonging to some female person, not necessarily the subject).
In Ona lubi swoją książkę:
- Subject: ona (she)
- Possessor of the book: the same she
→ So we must use swoją to show the book belongs to the subject herself.
Compare:
- Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her own book.
- Ona lubi jej książkę. – She likes her book (someone else’s book, belonging to another woman previously mentioned).
So here swoją is the natural choice because the book belongs to the same she who likes it.
Why is it swoją, not swój? What is this ending doing?