# I have a doubt on twoj and twojej



## higuain

I bought a book to start learn Polish on my own. In the 3rd chapter after seeing the explanation of the locative case I have these 2 examples:
Jaki jest twój numeru telefonu?
and
Jaki jest numer twojej komórki?

My question is: why in the second example we use twojej and not twój? and in this specific order? I know that komorka is feminine, but i don't understand also the order in which this phrase is written and not for example "twoj numer komorki".

Dzękuję bardzo za pomoc!


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## Ben Jamin

The first sentence is incorrect. It should be:
Jaki jest twój numer telefonu?
What is your telephone number ( "your telephone's number")?
Jaki jest numer twojej komórki?
*What is your's [ mobile phone]'s number? (this is artificial English to show the Polish structure)
In the first sentence the word order causes the pronoun "your" to be in the nominative case and the word "telephone"  to be in the genetive case.
In the second sentence both the pronoun and the noun are in the genetive because of the word order: the word "numer" comes first, while in the first sentence the word "twój" comes first.
The first sentence can be also transformed into "Jaki jest numer twojego telefonu" (twój in the masculine genetive).


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## jasio

The difference probably comes from the fact that phones are being used for almost a century now, so "numer telefonu" (a phone number, numero di telefono) is treated almost like a fixed expression, which is often referred to as a whole - even if from a logical standpoint it does not make much sense. On the contrary, mobiles are relatively new, and besides the colloquial term for a mobile phone ('komórka") may also refer to a closet or a cell, so the bond between the number and a mobile is weaker. But in fact all versions are possible:

Dasz mi numer swojego telefonu?
Dasz mi swój numer telefonu?
Dasz mi numer swojej komórki?
Dasz mi swój numer komórki?
Even though the latter looks a bit strange for me.
So in fact, it's a question the book's author, why he had chosen those particular phrases.


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## Ben Jamin

jasio said:


> Dasz mi numer swojego telefonu?
> Dasz mi swój numer telefonu?
> Dasz mi numer swojej komórki?
> Dasz mi swój numer komórki?


For me the sentences above look just equally good structurally, and I don't see any reason why the use of the word "telephone" or "komórka" should affect the word order. "Komórka" is also a telephone, by the way. I think that you overhypothesize. However, I would rather use "twojego telefonu" not "swojego telefonu" (the same for "komórka"). The use of "swój" sounds strange to me in this context.


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## jasio

Ben Jamin said:


> For me the sentences above look just equally good structurally, and I don't see any reason why the use of the word "telephone" or "komórka" should affect the word order.


Hmm... Usus, perhaps?



Ben Jamin said:


> However, I would rather use "twojego telefonu" not "swojego telefonu" (the same for "komórka"). The use of "swój" sounds strange to me in this context.


If I lived abroad, especially in countries where Germanic or Romance languages are spoken, I would probably also prefer "twojego telefonu". But I don't.


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## Gochna

I live abroad, speak French on a daily basis and would still go for "swòj" rather than "twòj" in all the examples given by jasio. (I do understand the sarcasm.  )

On a more serious note, I think it's because the sentences start with "Dasz mi..." so I already know that we are talking about 2nd person singular, "Ty". 

Of course, in the sentence "Jaki jest Twòj numer telefonu?" "Twòj" cannot be changed, because we wouldn't know whose phone number we're talking about.


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## Stan Jan

Other options would include "Jaki masz numer"? - literally: "What number do you have?" - which is faster to say, but perhaps the authors of your book preferred to leave the verb "to have" for later, hence the lenghty "Jaki jest twój numer telefonu?" in your book.


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## Ben Jamin

Gochna said:


> "Twòj"


"Twój" (naciśnij znak *Ω* a znajdziesz tam polskie litery)


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