Polski → English
Nouns and adjectives: gender, agreement, ten and mój
Noun gender shown by the ending, with ten, ta, to and tamten (ta szkoła, to okno, ten kolega), adjectives that agree with their noun (nowa, wysokie, jaki?), and the possessives mój, twój, czyj, nasz and wasz, beside jego, jej and ich, which never change.
A noun ending in a consonant is masculine (dom, hotel, pokój), a noun ending in -a is feminine (szkoła, ulica, kawiarnia), and a noun ending in -o, -e, -um or -ę is neuter (okno, miasto, mieszkanie, muzeum, imię). Two kinds of exception are common at the start: pani ends in -i but is feminine, and nouns in -a naming men, such as tata, kolega and mężczyzna, are masculine.
The demonstrative ten (this) has a form for each gender, and tamten (that, over there) is used for a second thing, further away:
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| this | ten dom | ta szkoła | to okno |
| that, over there | tamten dom | tamta szkoła | tamto okno |
Ten hotel jest tu. Tamten hotel jest tam. (This hotel is here. That one is over there.) The English speaker's trap: the is not translated, and ten is not an article. Ten agrees with the gender of the noun, not with its ending alone: ten kolega, ta pani.
Show the answer ___ (ten) szkoła jest w Gdańsku. TaShow the answer
Show the answer ___ (ten) muzeum jest w Krakowie. ToShow the answer
An adjective agrees with its noun in gender: it ends in -y (or -i after k and g) with a masculine noun, in -a with a feminine noun, and in -e (or -ie after k and g) with a neuter noun.
| masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|
| nowy | nowa | nowe |
| duży | duża | duże |
| mały | mała | małe |
| dobry | dobra | dobre |
| zimny | zimna | zimne |
| wysoki | wysoka | wysokie |
| niemiecki | niemiecka | niemieckie |
The question word jaki? (what … like?, what kind of?) agrees in the same way: jaki pokój, jaka herbata, jakie miasto. Jaka jest ta kuchnia? — Duża. (What's this kitchen like? — Big.) The English speaker's trap: an English adjective never changes, but small is mały, mała or małe according to the gender of the noun.
An adjective usually comes before its noun (nowy dom), but an adjective naming a kind tends to come after it, above all in set names: język polski (the Polish language), sok pomarańczowy (orange juice).
Show the answer Ta szkoła jest ___ (nowy). nowaShow the answer
Show the answer To okno jest bardzo ___ (duży). dużeShow the answer
The possessives mój (my) and twój (your, to one person) agree with the noun that follows them, not with the owner:
| masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|
| mój brat | moja siostra | moje okno |
| twój brat | twoja siostra | twoje okno |
| czyj dom? | czyja szkoła? | czyje dziecko? |
Czyj? asks whose? and agrees in the same way: Czyje jest to łóżko? — Moje. (Whose bed is this? — Mine.) The English speaker's trap: my has one form, and a noun in -a naming a man is masculine: mój tata, not moja tata.
Show the answer To jest ___ (mój) mama. mojaShow the answer
Show the answer ___ (mój) miasto jest bardzo małe. MojeShow the answer
Nasz (our) and wasz (your, to several people) agree with the noun like mój: nasz dom, nasza szkoła, nasze mieszkanie; wasz pokój, wasza córka, wasze dziecko. Nasza mama jest z Gdańska. (Our mum is from Gdańsk.)
Jego (his, its), jej (her) and ich (their) never change: the owner is what counts. Jego siostra, jej brat, ich syn. To jest Piotr. Jego córka jest w Toruniu. (This is Piotr. His daughter is in Toruń.) The English speaker's trap: English your is one word, but twój is used for one person and wasz for several.
Show the answer To jest ___ (nasz) szkoła. naszaShow the answer
Show the answer ___ (nasz) mieszkanie jest małe. NaszeShow the answer
All the points of the chapter are mixed: Gender and this, that (ta, tamto), Describing things (długa, miły, ciekawe, jaki), My, your and whose (moja, twój, czyj) and Our, your, his, her, their (wasza, and jego, jej, which never change). With a masculine noun in -a such as tata, every word that agrees takes its masculine form: Mój tata jest wysoki. (My dad is tall.)
Show the answer ___ (ten) kuchnia jest bardzo mała. TaShow the answer
Show the answer ___ (tamten) krzesło jest nowe. TamtoShow the answer
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