Polish word for "someone's"... is it different if you say "I found someone's such and such"? I found something I scribbled down in my notebook a while ago when I was writing little Polish rhymes: S

Bryan

Polish word for "someone's"... is it different if you say "I found someone's such and such"? I found something I scribbled down in my notebook a while ago when I was writing little Polish rhymes: Spokojna była tamta rzeka, do chwilę znalazłem głowę człowieka. But as I read it now it sounds clunky to me. If it were in English I would say "...till I found (better yet would be 'stumbled upon') someone's head. And człowieka rhymes with rzeka, I don't believe any Pole would use this. So I'm wondering what would be better. Rhyming aside, I realize I am not actually sure what would be the best translation of "someone's". Can any Polish speakers kindly recommend a translation for the following: 1.) That is someone's head. (If I were to guess I would say 'To jest czymś głowa' but that can't be right. Online I found the words czyjeś/czyjaś but honestly there's never been a context in which I've used them so I'm not at all certain. So then: To jest __(?)____ głowa. 2.) That is someone's car. To jest _____(?)__ samochód. 3.) I found someone's head. Znalazłem _____(?)___ głowę. 4.) I found someone's sock. Znalazłem ______(?)____ skarpetkę.

Sep 5, 2013 7:31 PM

Corrections · 4

Polish word for "someone's"... is it different if you say "I found someone's such and such"?

Yes, it is interrogative pronoun "czyjś", additionally in femine accusativ - "czyjąś".

I found something I scribbled down in my notebook a while ago when I was writing little Polish rhymes:

For me it should be:

Spokojna była tamta rzeka,
dopóki nie znalazłem w niej głowy człowieka.

But as I read it now it sounds clunky to me. If it were in English I would say "...till I found (better yet would be 'stumbled upon') someone's head. And człowieka rhymes with rzeka, I don't believe any Pole would use this.

With this guides it could also be:

Spokojna była tamta rzeka,
dopóki nie natknąłem się w niej na głowę człowieka.

But literally translating:

Spokojna była tamta rzeka,
dopóki nie natknąłem się w niej na czyjąś głowę.

So I'm wondering what would be better. Rhyming aside, I realize I am not actually sure what would be the best translation of "someone's".

Can any Polish speakers kindly recommend a translation for the following:
1.) That is someone's head. (If I were to guess I would say 'To jest czymś głowa' but that can't be right. Online I found the words czyjeś/czyjaś but honestly there's never been a context in which I've used them so I'm not at all certain.
So then: To jest czyjaś głowa.
2.) That is someone's car. To jest czyjś samochód.
3.) I found someone's head. Znalazłem czyjąś głowę.
4.) I found someone's sock. Znalazłem czyjąś skarpetkę.