Breakdown of On jest ostatnim potomkiem tej rodziny.
być
to be
on
he / it (m)
ten
this (m)
rodzina
the family
ostatni
last (in a sequence)
potomek
descendant
Questions & Answers about On jest ostatnim potomkiem tej rodziny.
Why is it ostatnim potomkiem instead of the basic form ostatni potomek?
Whenever you define who or what someone is using the verb być (to be), the noun and its describing adjectives must be in the Instrumental case. That is why the nominative phrase ostatni potomek changes to ostatnim potomkiem.
The base word for descendant is potomek. Where did the 'e' go in potomkiem, and why is there an 'i'?
Potomek has a 'fleeting e' in its final syllable. When you add a case ending, that e drops out, leaving the stem potomk-. For the masculine Instrumental case, the standard ending is -em. However, Polish spelling rules require inserting an i after k or g before an e, which gives us potomkiem.
Why does the adjective ostatnim take the ending -im rather than -ym?
Because its dictionary form, ostatni (last), ends in -i, making it a 'soft' adjective. Unlike hard adjectives such as dobry (which takes -ym to become dobrym in the Instrumental), soft adjectives take -im.
Why are tej and rodziny in the Genitive case here?
The Genitive case is used here to show belonging or origin, functioning just like the English word 'of'. To say 'of this family', the basic phrase ta rodzina changes to its Genitive form, tej rodziny.
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