Content

Introduction
Nouns in nominative
Singular
Plural
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Adjectives in nominative
Adjective endings in nominative
This article is under development. It may still contain presentational or spelling
errors that will be resolved shortly.

Introduction
Nominative, called mianownik in the Polish language, is the first of the seven
Polish cases. It describes people, objects and facts, and answers to the
questions
kto? who?
co? what?
The nominatives main function is the subject.

Example sentences:
1. Kto pomaga dziecku? Mama pomaga dziecku.
(Who does help the kid? Mother helps the kid.)
2. Co jest interesujce? Ta nowa ksika jest bardzo interesujca.
(What is interesting? This new book is very interesting.)
Questions of nominative: kto? (who?) and co? (what?)

Noun in nominative
Singular
Since there is no specific article in the Polish language, noun endings have an
important role in the distinction of grammatical genders. Generally
speaking, for all nominative singular nouns the basic rule is:
Nouns ending with consonant are masculine, with the vowel -a or -
i feminine, and those ending with -o , -e or -um are neuters.

However, in Polish grammar one can findmany exceptions to the above rule.
The subject has been extensively described in the chapter grammatical genders
in the Polish language
Plural
Many Polish nouns in their plural form have the endings y, -i or e. However,
there are many exceptions and phonetic changes, especially for the masculine,
so this is not a perfect rule and the proper plural form of many nouns has
just to be memorized.
Below well will give you an overview of some possible forms and the
process of their creation:
Masculine (rodzaj mski)
Plural
Example Usage
endings

1. lekarz
lekarze
(doctor doctors)
2. nauczyciel
nauczyciele
(teacher Masculine nous with the stem ending with so
-(i)e teachers) consonants (-, -d, -, -, -) as well as
3. gob with -c, -dz, -cz, -d, -sz, -, -rz, -l, -j.
gobie*
(pigeon
pigeons)
4. klucz klucze
(key keys)

-i 1. student Masculine nouns with the stem ending with -

studenci -m, -r, -b, -d, -w, -z, -ch, -s, -p, -t and man
(student more. In this case softening of consonants
students) occur:z -> , d -> dz, t -> c und ch -> s.
Plural
Example Usage
endings

2. mie mieci
(litter)
3. ssiad
ssiedzi*
(neighbour
neighbours)
4. ogrek
ogrki
(cucumber
cucumbers)

1. dom domy
(house houses)
2. kierownik
kierownicy
(manager
managers)
3. dyrektor
Many masculine nouns with stem ending with
dyrektorzy
-y k, -g, -or, -ec, -er, but not only them. In this
(director
case k to c, gto dz and r to rzchange occur.
directors)
4. st stoy
(table tables)
5. Niemiec
Niemcy
(German
Germans)

-anie 1. Amerykanin Masculine noun ending in singular form with

Amerykanie anin.
(American
Americans)
2. Rosjanin
 Plural
Example Usage
endings

Rosjanie
(Russian
Russians)

1. syn synowie
(son sons)
2. ojciec
Masculine nouns referring topeople, family
-owie ojcowie
relations, titles and rarely nationality.
(father fathers)
3. pan panowie
(man men)

1. brat bracia
(brother
brothers)
2. czowiek
Particularit
ies
ludzie
(human
humans)
3. ksidz ksia
(priest priests)

Feminine (rodzaj eski)

All feminine plural nouns are ending with y or -i(e).
Examples:
1. pani panie
(woman women)
2. crka crki
(daughter daughters)
3. mama mamy
(mother mothers)
4. szafa szafy
(wardrobe wardrobes)
5. ksika ksiki
(book books)
6. lodwka lodwki
(fridge fridges)
7. kawa kawy
(coffee)
8. znajoma znajome
(acquaintance acquaintances)
Exceptions (feminine ending with consonants):
1. noc noce
(night nights)
2. wie wsie*
(village villages)
3. myl myli
(thought thoughts)
Neuter (rodzaj nijaki)
Neuter in the Polish language may end with o, e or -um and in the plural form
receive aending.
Examples:
1. okno okna
(window windows)
2. piwo piwa
(beer beers)
3. auto auta
(car cars)
4. jabko jabka
(apple apples)
5. morze morza
(sea seas)
6. danie dania
(dish dishes)
7. muzeum muzea
(museum museums)
8. akwarium akwaria
(aquarium aquariums)
Few neuter nouns ending with receive -ta or -ona suffix.
Examples:
1. zwierz zwierzita
(animal animals)
2. niemowl niemowlta
(baby babies)
3. imi imiona
(name names)
4. znami znamiona
(mark marks)
Exception:
1. dziecko dzieci
(kid kids)
Adjectives in nominative
Similar as in the German language, adjectives in Polish are also declined. It
means that they may have different endings.
Masculine adjectives in the nominative end with y or -i in feminine with -
a and in neuter with -e . Plural get thee or y/-i ending.
Except for the masculine the majority of adjectives endings are the same as
nouns.
Take a look at some examples to demonstrate this:

Adjective endings in nominative

1. dobry kolega
(good colleague)
2. wysoki dom
Masculine
(tall house)
3. drogi samochd
(expensive car)

Feminine 1. szeroka ulica

(wide street)
2. moda kobieta
(young woman)
 3. maa dziewczynka
(small girl)

1. mae dziecko
(small kid)
2. due okno
Neuter
(large window)
3. trudne zadanie
(hard task)

1. dobrzy synowie / dobre crki

(good sons / good daughters)
2. adni chopcy / adne dzieci
Plural
(pretty boys / pretty kids)
3. starzy ludzie / stare domy
(old people / old houses)

In plural there are two possible adjective endings, which follow rules
for personal masculine (y ending) and the so-called mixed masculine (-
ee ending) is applied. After consonants -g and -k the masculine form has
i ending instead of -y.