Breakdown of Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego.
swój
one's own
przyjść
to come, to arrive
bez
without
narzeczony
fiancé
nieznajoma
stranger (f)
Questions & Answers about Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego.
Why is the word for "stranger" here nieznajoma instead of nieznajomy?
How do we know what ending to put on narzeczony (fiancé)?
Even though it translates to a noun in English, narzeczony declines exactly like a Polish adjective. It follows the preposition bez (without), which always requires the Genitive case. Therefore, it takes the standard masculine Genitive adjective ending -ego, becoming narzeczonego.
Why does the sentence use swojego instead of jej for "her"?
Swój (and its forms like swojego) is a reflexive possessive pronoun that means "one's own." You use it when the "owner" is also the subject of the sentence. Since the stranger (the subject) came without her own fiancé, we must use swojego. If you used jej, it would imply she came without some other woman's fiancé!
Why do both swojego and narzeczonego end in -ego?
They are both in the Genitive case, triggered by the preposition bez. Because narzeczony is a substantivized adjective (an adjective acting as a noun), both the modifying pronoun (swój) and the noun (narzeczony) take the exact same masculine Genitive adjective ending -ego.
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