32

Polish Verbs & Essentials of Grammar

Lidia, Lidka, Lidzia Liliana, Lila, Lilcia, Lilka, Lilianka Lucyna, Lea, Lucusia, Lusia, Lucynka, Lucia Ludwika, Lusia, Ludka, Ludzia Magdalena, Magda, Madzia, Magdusia, Magdalenka Maja, Majka, Majeczka Matgorzata, Malgosia, Gosia, Malgoska, Goska Mara, Marysia, Marys, Marynia Mariola, Mariolka Marta, Marcia, Martunia, Martusia Maryla, Marylka Marzena, Marzenka Miroslawa, Mirka, Mirusia, Mira Monika, Moniczka, Monisia, Misia, Nika, Monia, Mona Natalia, Tala, Natalka, Natka, Nati Olga, Ola, Olenka, Olka, Olgusia Oliwia, Oliwka, Ola Patrycja, Pati, Patka Paulina, Paulinka, Paula Regina, Reginka, Rena Renata, Rea, Renatka Roza, Rzia, Rzyczka Stanislawa, Stasia, Staska Stefania, Stefa, Stefcia, Stefka Sylwia, Sylwiunia, Sylwka, Sylwcia Teresa, Teresa, Rea, Terenia, Tereska Urszula, Ula, Urszulka, Ulka, Usa Wanda, Wandzia Weronika, Weroniczka, Weronka, Wera, Werka, Nika Wieslawa, Wiesia, Wieska Wiktoria, Wika, Wiktorka, Wiki Zofia, Zosia, Zosieka, Zoska

3. Pronouns

Personal Pronouns
Singular I ja you (sg.) ty he on she ona it ono Plural my wy oni one
we you O/.) they (masc.pers.) they (non-masc.pers.)

Other co nic kto nikt

what nothing who no one

The pronoun oni is used for both all-male and mixed male and female groups; one is used for groups that have no male persons. Personal pronouns, especially first- and second-person pronouns, are normally not used as the subjects of verbs except for emphasis; henee, one usually says robi$ / do instead of ja robi / do. The pronoun kto is considered masculine for purposes of agreement, even when it refers to a group of women: Kto jest glodny? Who is hungry? The pronouns nic and nikt are used with a negated verb. Nic nie rozumiem. Nikt tu nie mieszka. I don't understand anythin^ No one lives here.

Pronouns of Polite, Formal Address Singular Plural pan sir, you, Mr. panowie pai madam, you, Mrs., panie Miss, Ms. pastwo

sirs, you (masc.pers.pl.) madams, you (fem.pl.) ladies and gentlemen, you, Mr. and Mrs.

The title pastwo looks like a singular form, but it is considered masculine personal plural for purposes of verb and adjective agreement. It refers to a group of male and female persons individually referred to as pan and pai, and it also refers to a married couple, as in pastwo Zieliscy Mr. andMrs. Zielinski. The pronouns of polite, formal address show respect and distance. They are used to address a stranger, a person one does not know well, or a person of authority or ititus, The informal ty you and its plural, wy, convey friend-

34 Polish Verbs & Essentials of Grammar

Pronouns 35

liness, closeness, and familiarity. They are used to address family members, cise friends, and pets. Their use with strangers or superiors is apt to sound rude. For more information on the use of pronouns, see Chapter 9. Personal pronouns show a full range of case forms, summarized in the following charts. Interrogative and Negativa Pronouns
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe.
co what czego czemu co czym czym nic nothing niczego, nic niczemu nic niczym niczym

Third-Person Pronouns of Formal Address

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe. . Voc. Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe. Voc.
panyou (mase.) pana panu pana panem panu panie paniyou (fem.) pai pai paniq paniq pai pai panowie (pl. of pan) panw panom panw panami panach panowie panie (pl. of pai) pastwo^ow (masc.pers.pl.) pastwa paristwu pastwa pastwem panstwu pastwo pastwojw (addresses a group ofbothmaleand female persons referred to individually as pan and pai)

kto who kogo komu kogo kim kim

nikt no one nikogo nikomu nikogo nikim nikim

pan
paniom panie paniami paniach panie

First- and Second-Person Pronouns

Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe.

ja/

mnie mi, mnie mnie

mnq

mnie

ty you (sg.) ci$, ciebie ci, tobie ci$, ciebie tob^ tobie

my we as nam as nami as

was wam was

wami was

Reflexive Pronouns
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr.
siebie, si^ sobie, se siebie, si$

The longer forms mnie, ciebie, and tobie are emphatic; they are also automatically used after prepositions. Accusative mnie is often pronounced, but rarely spelled, Third-Person Singular Pronouns
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe.
on he, it go, jego, niego mu, jemu, niemu go, jego, niego nim nim

Loe.

sobie

The dative reflexive form se is restricted to highly informal speech.

ono it go, jego, niego mu, jemu, niemu je, nie nim nim

ona she, it jej, niej jej, niej j^, nh| ni 3 niej

Possessive Pronouns
The possessive pronouns mj moja moje my/mine, twj twoja yours (sg.), nasz nasza nasze our/ours, and wasz wasza wasze your/yours (pl.) have complete declensions in terms of gender, case, and number, m contrast to the genitive-only forms jego his, its, jej her/hers, and ich heir/ theirs. The possessive of pan you (masc.pers. formal) is indeclinable pana (or, more formally, declinable paski), and the possessive of pai your (fem. formal) is pai. The reflexive possessive pronoun swj swoje swoja ones own, with endings like mj, is used instead of the other possessive pronouns to modify a noun in the complement of a sentence when the possessor is also the subject of the sentence: On idzie ze swoj^ narzeczon^. He is coming with hisfiance. The possessive pronoun swj swoje swoja is not used to modify the subject of a sentence, or is it used after the verb byc be.

The longer form jego is emphatic; it is also automatically used after prepositions. After a preposition, forms beginning in i- or j- lose the i- or j- and substitute ni- instead: da + ich > da nich to them, bez + jej > bez niej without her. Third-Person Plural Pronouns
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe. oni they (masc.pers.) ich, nich im, nim ich, nich nimi nich one they (other) ich, nich im, nim je, nie nimi nich

36 Polish Verbs & Essentials of Grammar mj moja moje my, mine Mase. Nom. mj Gen. mojego Dat. mojemu Acc. = Nom./Gen. Instr. moim Loe. moim

Pronouns 37
The final $ of tg is not denasalized. Colloquially, t is often pronounced like

Fem. moja mojej mojej moj^ moj^ mojej

Neut. moje mojego mojemu = Nom. moim moim

Masc.Pers.Pl. moi moich moim = Gen. moi ni i moich

Other Pl. moje moich moim = Nom. moimi moich

J| jH 9 B

The possessive pronouns twj twoja twoje and swj swoja swoje are declined like mj moja moje. nasz nasza nasze our, ours Mase. Fem. Nom. nasz nasza Gen. naszego naszej Dat. naszemu naszej Acc. = Nom./Gen. nasz| nasz^ Instr. naszym Loe. naszym naszej

1 fl
JB fl H fl H

ktry ktra ktre which, Mase, Nom. ktry Gen. ktrego Dat/ ktremu = Nom./Gen. Acc. Instr. ktrym ktrym Loe.

who (relative and interrogative pronoun) Fem. Neut. Masc.Pers.Pl. Other Pl. ktrzy ktra ktre ktre ktrych ktrych ktrej ktrego ktrym ktrej ktremu ktrym = Nom. ktrq = Nom. = Gen. ktrii ktrym ktrymi ktrymi ktrych ktrych ktrej ktrym

Neut. nasze naszego naszemu = Nom. naszym naszym

Masc.Pers.Pl. nasi naszych naszym = Gen. naszymi naszych

Other Pl. nasze naszych naszym = Nom. naszymi naszych

The possessive pronoun wasz wasza wasze your/yours (pl.) is declined like nasz nasza nasze.

jaki jaka jakie what, what kind (relative and interrogative pronoun) Neut. Mase. Fem. Masc.Pers.Pl. Other Pl. jakie jaka jakie Nom. jaki jacy jakich jakich Gen. jakiego jakiej jakiego jakim jakiemu jakim Dat. jakiemu jakiej = Nom./Gen. jak^ = Nom. = Nom. = Gen. Acc. jakimi jakq jakim jakimi Instr. jakim jakich jakich jakim Loe. jakim jakiej The difference between ktry ktra ktre and jaki jaka jakie as an interrogative pronoun is one of specificity: Ktry film chcesz obejrzec? Which movie do you want to see? asks which movie out of a limited number, while Jaki film chcesz obejrzec? What kind offilm do you want to see? does not limit the range of possible films.

Demonstrative and Relative Pronouns

Polish has no indefinite and definite articles analogous to English a/an and the. Context indicates whether a noun is definite or indefinite. Thus, stl may mean either a table or the table. Often, placement of a noun in a sentence indicates whether it is definite (initial position) or indefinite (final position); compare Stl stoi w k^cie. The table stands in the crner, and W kqcie stoi stl. In the crner stands a table. Definiteness may be emphasized by using the demonstrative pronoun ten ta to this, that. Both demonstrative and relative pronouns have complete declensions in terms of gender, case, and number. ten ta to this, that (demonstrative pronoun) Mase. Fem. Neut. Nom. ten ta to Gen. tego tego tej Dat. temu temu tej Acc. = Nom./Gen. = Nom. Instr. tym tym Loe. tym tym tej

Intensive Pronouns
sam sama samo self, same, very Mase. Fem. Nom. sam sama Gen. samego samej Dat. samemu samej Acc. = Nom./Gen. samq Instr. samym sam^ Loe. samym samej Neut. samo samego samemu = Nom. samym samym Masc.Pers.Pl. sam i samych samym = Gen. samymi samych Other Pl. same samych samym = Nom. samymi samych

Masc.Pers.Pl. ci tych tym = Gen. tymi tych

Other Pl. te tych tym = Nom. tymi tych

The intensive pronoun is used in expressions like the following: Czy robisz to sam? Czy mieszkasz sama? To jest ten sam czlowiek.
Czy mieszkasz w tym samym domu?

Are you doing that yourself? Do you live alone? That is the same man. Do you live in the same house?

38 Polish Verbs & Essentials of Grammar

Reflexive Pronouns
The reflexive pronoun siebie, which has no nominative case form, means oneself(mc\udmg myself, yourself, himself, herself\ as well as each other, one another, as in the following sentences: Rozmawiaj*! ze sobq. Nie zapominaj o sobie.
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.

4. Adjectives

They are talking with one another. Don't forget about yourself.

Instr.
Loe.

siebie, si sobie, se siebie, si sob^ sobie

Declension of Adjectives
Adjectives have different forms that correspond to noun genders, as well as a complete set of case endings in both the singular and plural (except for the vocative plural, which is the same as the nominative). An adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in gender, case, and number. The masculine nominative singular ending is -y: dobry good, ladny pretty, muy nice, kind. After k and g, the ending is -i: wielki great, drogi dear, expensive. It is also -i after soft consonants (which are not common): ta (stem tan-) cheap, glupi (stem glup'-) stupid. The feminine singular ending is -a: dobra, ladna, mila. The neuter singular ending is -e: dobre, ladne, mu; after k and g, it is -ie: wielkie, drogie. This is also the plural ending for adjectives modifying non-masculine personal nouns. The masculine personal plural adjective ending is -y/-i and the preceding consonant is softened: dobry > dobrzy, ladny > ladni, mily > mili, wielki > wielcy, drogi -> drodzy; for more examples, see below. Mase. Masc.pers.
Fem.

As noted, the use of dative se is highly colloquial.

Distributive Pronouns
The plural of the distributive pronoun kazdy kazda kazde each, every is supplied by wszyscy wszystkie all.
Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr. Loe.

Mase. kazdy kazdego kazdemu = Nom./Gen. kazdym kazdym

Fem. kazda kazdej kazdej kazdq kazdq kazdej

Neut. kazde kazdego kazdemu = Nom. kazdym kazdym

Masc.Pers.Pl. wszyscy wszystkich wszystkim = Gen. wszystkimi wszystkich

Other Pl. wszystkie wszystkich wszystkim = Nom. wszystkimi wszystkich

The negative of kazdy kazda kazde is zadcn zadna zadne no, none, not any\ it is always accompanied by nie. Kazdy stl jest zajf ty. Zaden stl nie jest zaj^ty. Every table is occupied. No table is occupied.

Neut.

Singular dobry hotel good hotel dobry chlopiec good boy dobra dziewczyna good girl dobre dziecko good child

Plural dobre hotele good hotels dobrzy m^zczyzni good men dobre kobiety good women dobre krzesla good chairs

Here is the complete declension of plain-stem adjective dobry good: Mase. Nom./Voc. dobry dobrego Gen. dobremu Dat. = Nom./Gen. Acc. dobrym Instr. dobrym Loe. Fem. dobra dobrej dobrej dobrq dobr^ dobrej Neut. dobre dobrego dobremu dobre dobrym dobrym Masc.Pers.Pl. dobrzy dobrych dobrym dobrych dobrymi dobrych Other Pl. dobre dobrych dobrym dobre dobrymi dobrych