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
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...'.