Learn Polish: Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego. - The stranger came without her fiancé.

Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego.

The stranger came without her fiancé.

Breakdown of Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego.

Questions & Answers about Nieznajoma przyszła bez swojego narzeczonego.

Why is the word for "stranger" here nieznajoma instead of nieznajomy?

Nieznajoma is actually an adjective meaning "unknown," but here it acts as a noun to mean "stranger." Because the stranger is a woman, it takes the feminine adjective ending -a. If the stranger were a man, the subject would be 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?