Polish Language Cases - Which case to use and when
Polish cases are the hardest thing for foreign language learners to get their heads around but when you separate them out they are not nearly as complex as they seem at first glance
Basically the Polish language revolves around thinking "What question am I answering?" ... even if you have not actually been asked a question. After that there are a few extras to include in each case.
The case then defines:
- How nouns (words that describe things - e.g. "house", "car", "wine") should end
- How adjectives (words that describe nouns - e.g. "big", "red", "cheap") should end
- What version of "I", "he", "she", "them", "mine", etc. to use
- What version of "this" or "that" to use.
- What version of "what", "who", "which" and "whose" to use.
But understanding all of that at once can be pretty mind blowing so I'm going to break it down with a beginners guide, an intermediate guide and the full on rules!
BEGINNERS GUIDE
Nominative
- The basic form, remember it by the English word 'Nominal' - the stated value
- Answers the questions "Who is it?" or "What is it?"
- Examples:
- Who is it? - "To Ewa" - "It's Eve (As in the female name)"
- What is it? - "To biała kawa" - "It's white coffee"
Accusative
- Think of this as accusing people of having, doing, eating (etc., etc.) something.
- Example:
- "Masz Ewę" - "You have Ewa" - I accuse you of having Eva.
- "Masz białą kawę" - "You have white coffee" - I accuse you of having white coffee.
- Now note how the word ending of białą and kawę have changed compared to nominative ... because we are now in a different case.
Genetive
- Think of this as the something or someone or some action is missing case - and remember it by thinking of the book of Genesis when some person called God decided that something was missing, created the universe and has probably been regretting it ever since :)
- Examples:
- "Nie masz Ewy" - "You don't have Eve"
- "Nie masz białej kawy" - "You don't have white coffee"
- Again check out how those word endings have changed
Instrumental
- You make music with an instrument ... so think of this as the with who / with what case.
- Examples:
- "Jem z Ewą" - "I am eating with Eve"
- "Chcę to z białą kawą" - "I want it with white coffee"
- Again spot the changes at the ends of the words
Locative
- Think of this as the location case
- Examples:
- "Kot siedzi na Ewie" - "The cat is sitting on Ewa"
- "Ryba jest w białej kawie" - "The fish is in the white coffee"
Dative
- Just to say this case exists but you don't need to know it at the beginner stage!
OK let's beef out the cases a bit more with more than the basics.
INTERMEDIATE GUIDE
OK ... and here is the full on guide.
FULL GUIDE
Nominative
- Simple statements of fact
- Answers the questions "Who is it?" or "What is it?"
- Examples:
- "To dom" - "It's a house"
- "To kawa" - "It's coffee"
- "To wino" - "It's wine"
- "To Magda" - "It's Magda"
- After "jako" when referring to professions - "Pracuję jako lekarz" ( "I work as a doctor" )
How to Remember: Every appliance in your home has a "nominal" power. Check your vacuum cleaner - it will say something like 1300 Watts. If you tested it however the real power would be slightly different. So "nominal" is the statement, not the reality. In Polish the nominative is the statement case but in reality we rarely make very simple statements.
Accusative
- After a verb that is not the verb "to be".
- Answers the questions "What do you have?" or "What are you doing?"
- Examples:
- "Mam dom" - "I have a house"
- "Mam kawą" - "I have coffee"
- "Mam wino" - "I have wine"
- Also after "Przez", "No", "To"
- After "na" (when used to mean "for") - "Co na śniadanie?" ( "What's for breakfast?" )
- After "na" (when used to mean "to [an open space]") - "Idę na plażę" ( "I am going to the beach" )
- After "w" (when the next word is a day of the week or 'weekend') - "Idę w środę" ( "I'm going on Wednesday" )
- After "za" (when used to mean "in (a period of time)") - "Za godzinę" ( "In an hour" )
- After "za" (when used to mean "for") - "Płacę za obiad" ( "I am paying for lunch" )
How to Remember: Are you accusing someone of something like "having a house" or "drinking coffee"? If you are accusing you use the accusative case.
Genetive
- When something is missing
- Answers the questions "What don't you have?" ("Czego nie masz") or "What aren't you doing?" ("Czego nie robisz?")
- Examples:
- "Nie mam domu" - "I don't have a house"
- "Nie mam kawy" - "I don't have coffee"
- "Nie mam wina" - "I don't have wine"
- After verbs that suggest something is missing like "to search", "to listen", "to touch", "to use". If you are doing these things it must be because you are missing something.
- Examples:
- "Szukam domu" - "I'm looking for a house"
- "Szukam kawy" - "I'm looking for coffee"
- "Słucham radia" - "I'm listening to the radio"
- "Dotykam sofy" - "I am touching the sofa"
- "Oni używają mojej kuchenki." - "They are using my kitchen"
- Also after expressing quantity (quantifiers) - "Mam bardzo mało czasu" ( "I have very little time" )
- Also after "od", "do", "dla", "koło", "ze", "oprócz", "u", "bez", "obok", "naprzeciwko", "wśród", "blisko", "według", "podczas", "w"
- After "z" (when used to mean "from") - "Przybyłem z Włoch" ( "I come from Italy" )
- After "z" (when used to mean "of") - "Jest zrobiony z drewna" ( "It's made of wood" )
How to Remember: The first book of the bible is Genesis and obviously some person called God thought something was missing and so he created an awful lot of stuff - and all in 6 days ... well done that person! So the mental hook is in genesis God thought something was missing and genetive is the case of something is missing.
Instrumental
- When you are using someone or something to do something
- Answers the questions "With who?" ( "Z kym?" ) or "With what?" ( "Z czym?" )
- Examples:
- "I'm going to town by car" - "Jadę do miasta samochodem"
- After "być" (e.g. "jest") when:
- there is a noun on both sides - e.g. "Wszystko jest plastikiem" ("Everything is plastic")
- defining a person with a noun - e.g. "Jestem lekarzem" ("I am a doctor")
- With some location related prepositions: - "przed", "nad", "pod", "za"
- After "z" (when used to mean "with") - "Kawa z mlekiem" ( "Coffee with milk" )
- On each side of "pomiędzy / między" (which means "between") - "Między bankiem a sklepem" ( "Between the bank and the shop" )
How to Remember: Think of that phrase "He was instrumental" to remember this concept. The car is instrumental in our action of going to town. It is the tool (the instrument) by which we achieve the task.
Locative
- As the name suggests ... when you are talking about location where that location could be a person or a thing.
- Answers the questions "Of/about who?" ( "O kim?" ) or "Of/about what?" ( "O czym?" )
- Examples:
- "Who are you talking about?" - "O kim rozmawiacie?"
- "We talk about the teacher" - "Rozmawiamy o nauczycielce"
- "What are you writing the book about?" - "O czym piszesz książkę?"
- "I'm writing a book about programming" - "Piszę książkę o programowaniu"
- After "w" (when used to mean "in") - "Jestem w parku" ( "I am in the park" )
- After "na" (when used to mean "on" - physical location) - "Wino jest na stole" ( "The wine is on the table" )
- After "na" (when used to mean "at [an open space]") - "Jestem na lotnisku" ( "I am at the airport" )
- Also after "o", "po", "przy"
How to Remember: Most of the time you'll be using this because of the prepositions which are location related but generally connect the 'about' with the English meaning of 'being in the general area of'
Dative
- This is about doing something to a person or a thing.
- Answers the questions "To whom do you...?" ( "O kim?" ) or "Why do you...?" ( "czemu?" )
- Examples:
- "Why do you say that [to me/him/them]?" - "Czemu tak mówisz?"
- "She believes your brother" (she has given her belief to your brother) - "Ona wierzy twojemu bratu"
How to Remember: As this is all about other people think of the concept of 'Dating' which always involves other people!
