Breakdown of Gospodyni słyszy dzwonek. To na pewno państwo Kaczmarkowie.
to
this
państwo
ladies and gentlemen / you (formal plural)
słyszeć
to hear
na pewno
certainly, for sure
Kaczmarek
Kaczmarek
dzwonek
doorbell
gospodyni
hostess
Questions & Answers about Gospodyni słyszy dzwonek. To na pewno państwo Kaczmarkowie.
Why is the surname Kaczmarkowie instead of just Kaczmarek?
When referring to a married couple or a family, Polish uses the plural title państwo followed by the plural form of the surname. For surnames ending in a consonant, the plural ending is usually -owie, making it Kaczmarkowie.
Why did the 'e' from Kaczmarek disappear in Kaczmarkowie?
This is the 'fleeting e' rule in Polish. Many nouns and names ending in -ek drop the e when you add an ending that starts with a vowel. So, the base name Kaczmarek plus the ending -owie becomes Kaczmarkowie.
Doesn't państwo usually mean 'country' or 'state'?
It does, but when used with people, it acts as a polite plural pronoun or title. Placed before a plural surname, państwo means 'Mr. and Mrs.' or 'the [Surname] family'. Here, państwo Kaczmarkowie means 'The Kaczmareks'.
Why is there no verb like jest or są in the second sentence?
The word To acts as 'It is' or 'This is' all on its own here. When you use To followed by a noun phrase to identify someone or something, you do not need to add the verb jest or są. To na pewno... translates perfectly to 'It is definitely...'.
Is gospodyni related to the word for a male host?
Yes! The male host is gospodarz, and gospodyni is the feminine equivalent. If you were talking about the couple hosting the party, you would call them the plural gospodarze.
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