- myśmy (pronoun) (informal) Combined form of my + -śmy (first person plural pronoun + verb suffix in 3rd person plural).
Hi, can anyone explain the use of myśmy as opposed to simply ‘‘my’’?
As per the explanation above (Wiktionary) I understand that it is informal in use (and some educators proscribe against using it) but what kind of general contexts would it be used in? Is it to express surprise/shock/disbelief about actions that have been taken or have happened?
The “-śmy” suffix is a grammatical device used to denote past tense.
Here, “Czy myśmy to w ogóle zrobili?” is more or less equivalent to “Czy my to w ogóle zrobiliśmy?” – you can see the suffix shifting in the sentence.
Similarly, “Czy wyście to w ogóle zrobili?” = “Czy wy to w ogóle zrobiliście?”
It is sometimes used in place of the regular structure to express disbelief, disgust or annoyance just as you suggested. On the other hand, it can just as well be used for no particular reason in informal/vernacular language.
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Ah … right … I understand it much better as ‘’ Czy my to w ogóle zrobiliśmy’’, thanks