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- "My uncle does not have any c…
"My uncle does not have any children."
Translation:Mój wujek nie ma żadnych dzieci.
17 Comments
It's another of many examples of a sentences that is grammatically correct, but would sound awkward in normal sentences. That's a cousin of Yoda speak of sort.
Like in English you wouldn't say: "My uncle any does not have children", you wouldn't also say in Polish: "Mój wujek żadnych nie ma dzieci". The word "żadnych" describes "dzieci" and it shouldn't be seperated from it. You should put "żadnych" before "dzieci".
Thanks! Lots of the adverbs in Polish have (to me) strange word order, I'm still trying to get it all straight.
"Żaden" is not a adverb, but a negation pronoun . It is more like English "none" than like "any", because "any" can translate to "jakiś/jakieś". "Żaden" is used only in negation.
And yes, we use double negation in Polish: "nie ma żadnych". You can also imagine a correct sentence with more negations: "Nigdy nie ma żadnych niejasności" - [There are never ever any uncertainties].
Actually, it's not an adverb. This word is more similar to adjectives, even its declension is similar to the declension of adjectives. Although it does not have typical ending for masculine adjectives. Polish adverbs don't change form.
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Is the difference between Mój wujek nie ma dzieci and Mój wujek nie ma żadnych dzieci one of emphasis?
Yes, plural "dziecko" is "dzieci" in Nominative, Genitive, Accusative and Vocative: http://sgjp.pl/leksemy/#14081/dziecko
So, the non-masculine plural (because dzieco is neuter plural) genetive of źaden is żadne, is it not? So why is "żadne dzieci" wrong in this sentence?
„Dziecko” is singular, the plural is „dzieci”. „Źaden” is not a word, it's „żaden”. And its non-masculine plural genitive form is „żadnych”. „Żadne” is non-masculine plural nominative (and technically accusative too, but I can't think of any example where it would ever be used in accusative).
Żadnych is in fact genitive plural.
