By Oneself: Sam, Sama, Samo
To say you are doing something "alone," "by yourself," or "on your own," Polish uses the modifier sam. It acts like an adjective, changing form to match the gender and number of the subject.
| Number | Gender | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Masculine | sam |
| Singular | Feminine | sama |
| Singular | Neuter | samo |
| Plural | Masculine Personal | sami |
| Plural | Non-Masculine Personal | same |
| My brother has his own company and works alone. | Mój brat ma własną firmę i pracuje sam. |
| My sister is independent and always travels alone. | Moja siostra jest niezależna i zawsze podróżuje sama. |
| Does your child always study alone? | Czy twoje dziecko zawsze uczy się samo? |
Plural Forms: Sami and Same
For plural subjects that include at least one male (masculine personal), use sami. For groups of women, children, or inanimate objects (non-masculine personal), use same.
| When the boss is away, we must decide ourselves. | Kiedy nie ma szefa, sami musimy zdecydować. |
| They did this project themselves because they are very independent. | Oni sami zrobili ten projekt, bo są bardzo niezależni. |
| You can see that these children manage by themselves. | Widać, że te dzieci radzą sobie same. |
Managing on Your Own
The reflexive verb radzić sobie (to manage / to cope) and its perfective equivalent poradzić sobie pair naturally with these modifiers when talking about handling challenges or duties on your own.
| I have a small problem, but I manage by myself. | Mam mały kłopot, ale radzę sobie sam. |
| This is a new challenge, but she will manage by herself. | To jest nowe wyzwanie, ale ona poradzi sobie sama. |
Working Independently
You can also use the adverb samodzielnie (independently) to describe tasks done without help. While sam describes the person doing the action, samodzielnie describes how the action is done.
| This is a challenge, but she prefers to work alone and solve the problem independently. | To wyzwanie, ale ona woli pracować sama i samodzielnie rozwiązać problem. |
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