Breakdown of To są moi bracia. Nie znam ich dobrze.
to
this
być
to be
nie
no / not
znać
to know (someone or something)
dobrze
well
brat
brother
mój
my
ich
them (virile)
Questions & Answers about To są moi bracia. Nie znam ich dobrze.
Why do we use To for 'These'? Shouldn't it be a plural word?
When pointing things out with phrases like 'this is' or 'these are', Polish uses the fixed word To. To show that you are talking about multiple people or things, you just change the verb to plural: To są (These are), whereas To jest means 'This is'.
Why does 'my' translate to moi here instead of mój or moje?
Polish has a special plural category for groups that include at least one male person (the masculine personal plural). Because bracia (brothers) are male people, the plural form for 'my' must be moi. If you were talking about sisters or inanimate objects, you would use moje.
bracia ends in '-a', which usually marks singular feminine words. Is this an exception?
Yes, it is! The word for brother (brat) has a highly irregular plural form: bracia. Even though it ends in '-a', it remains a masculine word and requires masculine personal pronouns like moi.
How does the negative word Nie affect the pronoun ich (them)?
The verb znać (to know) normally requires its object to be in the Accusative case. However, a major rule in Polish is that making a verb negative changes its object into the Genitive case. Luckily, for the pronoun oni (they), both the Accusative and Genitive forms are exactly the same: ich!
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