The genitive

Formation

Feminine nouns in -a take -y after a hard consonant and after c, cz, sz, rz, ż (siostra, siostry; praca, pracy), and -i after k, g, l and a soft consonant (książka, książki; Ola, Oli; kuchnia, kuchni; lekcja, lekcji). Masculine nouns naming people and animals take -a: brat, brata; kot, kota. Most masculine nouns naming things take -u (czas, czasu; dom, domu; sok, soku), but a smaller group takes -a, learnt with the word: chleb, chleba; ser, sera; klucz, klucza; komputer, komputera; most Polish towns, Krakowa, Gdańska. In neuter nouns, -o or -e is replaced by -a: okno, okna; mleko, mleka; mieszkanie, mieszkania. An ó in the last syllable becomes o: samochód, samochodu.

Use

A verb followed by the accusative is followed by the genitive when it is negated with nie: Mam siostrę, Nie mam siostry; Piję mleko, Nie piję mleka. The instrumental after być does not change: Nie jestem studentem. The other uses of the case are explained in The genitive as the subject: nie ma, nie było, nie będzie, Prepositions with the genitive: do, z, od, u, The genitive of quantity: kilogram cukru, dużo czasu, ile, The genitive of possession: brat Ewy, dom ojca and The case after a verb: lubię kawę, szukam klucza, interesuję się sportem.

Formation

Before a masculine or a neuter noun in the genitive, adjectives and determiners end in -ego (-iego after k and g); before a feminine noun, in -ej (-iej after k and g). Jego, jej and ich do not change.

Use

The adjective is in the genitive wherever its noun is: after nie, after a quantity, after do, z, od, u, and for the owner: dom mojego brata. The masculine accusative of a person or an animal has the same form: Znam twojego brata, Nie znam twojego brata.

Formation

Jest (“there is”, “is here”) has the negative nie ma, followed by the genitive: Jest chleb, Nie ma chleba. In the past the form is nie było, in the future nie będzie. The verb does not change, whatever the gender and the number of the noun: nie ma sklepu, nie było kawy, nie będzie lekcji.

Use

Nie ma says that something does not exist in a place, or that a person is not there: Nie ma Anny, Ewy nie ma (“Ewa isn’t here”). In the affirmative, the noun is the subject, in the nominative, and the verb agrees with it: był sklep, była kawa, było mleko. The past is explained in The past tense: the l-form with gender and number, the future in The future tense: compound and simple.

Formation

Do (“to, into”; “until”), z (“from, out of”), od (“from” a person; “since”), u (“at someone’s”) and dla (“for”) are followed by the genitive: do domu, z pracy, od siostry, u brata, dla mamy. Before some groups of consonants z is written ze: ze szkoły, ze sklepu.

Use

Do and z are used for places: idę do sklepu, wracam ze sklepu. U, do and od are used for people: jestem u lekarza, idę do lekarza, mam e-mail od mamy. With time, do means “until” and od “since, for”: do piątku, od poniedziałku. With the instrumental, z means “with”, as explained in Z with the instrumental: z kolegą, ze mną, z tobą. The choice between these prepositions and w, na is explained in The case after a preposition: gdzie, dokąd, skąd.

Formation

After a word of measure (kilogram, butelka, szklanka, filiżanka, pół) and after a word of quantity (dużo, mało, trochę, więcej, ile), the noun is in the genitive: kilogram cukru, butelka wody, szklanka soku, pół godziny, dużo pracy, mało czasu, trochę sera. A noun that is counted is in the genitive plural after dużo, mało, kilka and ile: dużo książek, as explained in The genitive plural: -ów, no ending, -i or -y.

Use

The measure word itself is in the case of its place in the sentence: Butelka wody jest na stole, Kupuję butelkę wody. With dużo, mało or ile as the subject, the verb is in the third person singular, neuter in the past: Jest dużo pracy, Było mało czasu. Ile? is “how much?” and “how many?”: Ile cukru?, Ile masz lat?

Formation

The owner is placed after the noun, in the genitive: brat Ewy, dom ojca, pokój córki. Men’s names take -a (Marek, Marka; Paweł, Pawła; Jan, Jana); women’s names in -a take -y or -i (Ewa, Ewy; Anna, Anny; Ola, Oli; Kasia, Kasi); a man’s name in -a takes the feminine endings (Kuba, Kuby), and so does tata (taty).

Use

The genitive expresses the English ’s and many uses of of: numer telefonu Adama (“Adam’s phone number”), adres hotelu (“the hotel’s address”), kolor samochodu (“the colour of the car”). An adjective or a possessive with the owner is in the genitive too: dom mojego brata.

Formation

After a preposition, the pronouns of the third person take forms beginning with n-: do niego, od niej, u nich. Ty has only its long form, ciebie: do ciebie. The other pronouns have their usual genitive: do mnie, u nas, od was.

Use

The n- forms are used after every preposition, whatever its case: do niego, z nim, o nim, na niego. Jego, jej and ich after a preposition are the possessives: do jego domu (“to his house”), u jej siostry (“at her sister’s”).

Formation

In some masculine nouns the e (or ie) of the last syllable drops when an ending is added: pies, psa, psem, psy; chłopiec, chłopca; ojciec, ojca; cukier, cukru; ołówek, ołówka; dworzec, dworca; Marek, Marka; Tomek, Tomka; Paweł, Pawła. A final ń is then written ni before a vowel: dzień, dnia; uczeń, ucznia. Tydzień has a changed stem: tygodnia.

Use

The vowel drops in every form with an ending, in the singular and the plural: z psem, o psie, psy, pięć psów. The vowel is kept in the nominative and in the accusative of a thing: Mam ołówek, Nie mam ołówka. In a few other nouns a vowel changes instead of dropping: ó becomes o (stół, stołu; samochód, samochodu; pokój, pokoju).