How to say "my" and "your" in Polish. Why we need 3 forms?

Talking about things or persons belonging to us is a really nice thing, isn’t it? We can talk about that for hours. We keep on talking even if people who are listening to us get bored quickly.
 Let’s try to talk about that in Polish!
 At first look it seems to be a bit complicated because the word “my” has 3 basic forms in Polish. The same is with a word “your” (singular).  “My” can be translated as mój, moja or moje in Polish. “Your” can be translated as twój, twoja or twoje into Polish. A right choice of a right form among these 3 forms depends on the gender of a noun which follows the word "my" or "your".

If I‘m talking about a masculine noun I should say:  “mój X”. If I am talking about a feminine noun I should use “moja X”. And if I am talking about a neuter noun I should say “moje X”, of course. The same rule concerns a word:  “your” (only singular!): twój for masculine nouns, twoja for feminine nouns and twoje for neuter nouns. This rule works similar to the rule of using 3 different forms of adjectives, which describe masculine, feminine and neuter Polish nouns.

Let's look at an example (a picture below):

1. A word "komputer" (compter) is a masculine noun (m.), so we should say: "mój komputer" (my computer) and "twój komputer" (your computer).
2. A word "okno" (window) is a neuter noun (n.), so we should say: "moje okno" (my window) and "twoje okno" (your window).
3. A word "torebka" (handbag) is a feminine noun (f.), so we need to say: "moja torebka" (my handbag) and "twoja torebka" (your handbag).

Here is an audio recordnig with the following text:

Mój, moje, moja. (my /m., my/n., my/f.). 

Twój, twoje, twoja (your/m., your/n., our/f.). 

Mój komputer, twój komputer (my computer, your computer). 

Moje okno, twoje okno. (my window, your window). 

Moja torebka, twoja torebka (my handbag, your handbag).

Let's look at some examples in funny comics below! First read a list of new words: 

“My” and “your” followed by masculine nouns (used in comics below)

mój mąż (m.), twój mąż; my husband, your husband

mój syn (m.), twój  syn my son, your son

mój pies (m.) twój pies my dog, your dog

mój raport (m.) twój raport my report, your report

mój samochód (m.) twój samochod,  my car, your car

mój szef (m.), twój szef,  my boss, your boss (only about a boss who is a man)

“My” and “your” followed by feminine nouns (used in comics below)

moja żona (f.), twoja żona,  my wife, your wife

moja córka (f.), twoja córka, my daughter your daughter

moja szefowa (f.), twoja szefowa,  my boss your boss (only about a  woman)

moja sekretarka  (f.) ,twoja sekretarka , my secretary , your secretary (only about a woman)

moja sukienka  (f.) twoja sukienka,  my dress, your dress

“My” and “your” followed by neuter nouns (used in the comics below)

moje biuro (n.),  twoje biuro,  my office, your office

moje zdanie (n.), twoje zdanie,  my opinion, your opinion

moje mieszkanie (n.),  twoje mieszkanie,  my flat (apartment), your flat moje okno (n.), twoje okno, my window, your window

(m.) – means: masculine noun (they end mostly with a consonant)

(f.) – means: feminine noun (they end mostly with a letter –a)

(n.) – means: neuter noun (they end mostly with a letter – o or –e)

Here is an audio recording with the words above (Polish native speaker voice):

 Let's look at some situations in the pictures below:

 Picture 1a -To jest moja rodzina: mój mąż, moja córka, mój syn... -This is my family: my husband, my daughter, my son... -     ...     i twój pies! - ... and your dog! Picture 1b - Widzisz, co robi twój syn?! - Can you see what your son is doing?! - To nie jest mój syn, ale twój syn! This is not my son, but your son!

Here is an audio recording with dialogues in picture 1 (Polish native speaker voice):




2. Another situation. Do you remember a couple who met on the stormy day? No? That was here: http://goo.gl/zl8Ls

Picture 2a 

- To jest moje nowe biuro, kotku!

This is my new office, honey! (or: "baby", literally: "kitten")

- Super! A jaka jest twoja szefowa?

Cool! (great, super!). And what is your boss (woman) like?

Picture 2b

- Gdzie jest twój raport?!

Where is your report?

- Mój raport? Eee…jest prawie gotowy.

My report? Er... It's almost ready.

Here is an audio recording with dialogues in picture 2 (Polish native speaker voice):




 3. The last example. Why people dont't want to listen to us? That's a question!

Picture 3a

- …mój samochód... moja sekretarka.... moja zdanie.

...my car, my secretary (woman), my opinion...

 - Zawsze tylko: mój, moja, moje.

Always only:  my (m.),  my (f.), my (n.)

Picture 3b

- …mój szef… moje mieszkanie... moja sukienka…

...my boss, my flat (apartment), my dress...

- O nie – znowu!   Oh no - again!

Here is a recording with dialogues in picture 3 (Polish native speaker voice):

A little remark about the pronunciation:

Remember that  letters  “ó”  and “u”  (mój,  biuro) have a different spelling , but  they represent the same sound in Polish.  We pronounce both of them as “u” (like “u” in an English word "push"). Compare with the recordings.

We don’t have any special words like English: “mine” and “yours” in Polish. The words: "mój", "moja", "moje" and "twój", "twoja", "twoje" are used also to replace English: mine and yours. And remember: "twój", "twoja", "twoje" means "your" only in the singular. Polish language has a different word (with its 3 forms) for "your" in the plural: "wasz", "wasza", "wasze".