Silesian/Lesson 4

Lesson 4: Verbs and Pronouns

Verbs in Silesian are conjugated based on number, person, gender, tense, and other factors. Therefore, we will be learning about verbs and pronouns together.

Pronouns

In Silesian, the personal pronouns are quite similar to those in English.

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns in Silesian are straightforward, and you can easily spot patterns. All third-person pronouns begin with ôn, which also means he. It is also easy to remember "we" and "you" (plural) as they look like a pair: my (we) - wy (you). The words in brackets are less common usages. For example, you can write as jo, as the ŏ is just a dialectal variant, but writing it as is the most correct option.

Pronoun Silesian English
I jŏ (jo) I
You ty You
He ôn He
She ôna She
It ône (ôno) It
We my We
You (plural) wy You (plural)
They (masculine) ôni They (at least one male)
They (feminine) ône They (all female)

Verbs

Verb conjugation in Silesian follows specific patterns based on the subject. Just like in English, more common words like "to be" are a bit irregular. Less common words like "to play" tend to be regular. There are different conjugations, but mostly you just have to look at the ending, especially for verbs like "to have" and "to play," which are very regular.

Ôsoba być – to be mieć – to have iść – to go grać – to play
1. ôs. poj. (jŏ) je żech mŏm idã grōm
2. ôs. poj. (ty) je żeś mŏsz idziesz grŏsz
3. ôs. poj. (ôn/ôna/ôno) je idzie grŏ
1. ôs. mn. (my) sōm, mychmy sōm mōmy idymy grōmy
2. ôs. mn. (wy) sōm żeście mŏcie idziecie grŏcie
3. ôs. mn. (ôni/ône) sōm majōm idōm grajōm

There are a eight conjugation patterns, maybe you can find out for yourself which pattern grać belongs to. This might be a bit overwhelming, so just try to learn the first one.

Conjugation I

Conjugation I
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -ać
present tense 1st -ōm -ōmy
2nd -ŏsz -ŏcie
3rd -ajōm

Conjugation II

Conjugation II
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -ać
present tense 1st -ymy
2nd -esz -ecie
3rd -e -ōm

Conjugation III

Conjugation III
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -eć
present tense 1st -ymy
2nd -isz/-ysz -icie/-ycie
3rd -i/-y -ōm

Conjugation IV

Conjugation IV
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -eć
present tense 1st -ejã -ejymy
2nd -ejesz -ejecie
3rd -eje -ejōm

Conjugation V

Conjugation V
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -eć
present tense 1st -ymy
2nd -isz/-ysz -icie/-ycie
3rd -i/-y -ōm

Conjugation VI

Conjugation VI
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -ować
present tense 1st -ujã -ujymy
2nd -ujesz -ujecie
3rd -uje -ujōm

Conjugation VII

Conjugation VII
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -nōnć/-nyć
present tense 1st -nymy
2nd -niesz -niecie
3rd -nie -nōm

Conjugation VIII

Conjugation VIII
Singular Plural
Person Masculine Feminine Neuter Virile Nonvirile
infinitive -ź/-ś/-c/-ć
present tense 1st -ymy
2nd -esz -ecie
3rd -e -ōm