Breakdown of Oni są sławnymi malarzami.
być
to be
oni
they (masculine personal)
sławny
famous
malarz
the painter
Questions & Answers about Oni są sławnymi malarzami.
How is the profession word malarz derived?
It is an agentive noun (a word describing a doer or a profession) derived from the verb malować (to paint). The suffix -arz is one of the most common ways to create profession nouns in Polish, much like the English suffix "-er". Other common examples include pisarz (writer) and lekarz (doctor).
If this sentence was about a group of female painters, how would it change?
It would become One są sławnymi malarkami. The pronoun changes to the non-masculine-personal One, and you use the feminine form of the profession, malarka. Notice that adding the feminine suffix -ka to malarz causes the rz to drop out.
Why is the phrase sławnymi malarzami used here instead of the nominative sławni malarze?
As a quick refresher: whenever you use the verb być (to be) to link a person to a noun describing their profession, identity, or relationship, that noun phrase must be in the Instrumental case. Here, we use the plural Instrumental endings: -ymi for the adjective (sławnymi) and -ami for the noun (malarzami).
Would it be correct to just say Są sławnymi malarzami?
Yes. Polish is a pro-drop language, meaning subject pronouns like Oni are usually omitted because the verb (są) already tells us the subject is "they". Including Oni here just adds a slight emphasis to the subject, similar to stressing the word "They" in English.
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