Lesson 3.1. Polish Cases in the Singular: Noun and Adjective Endings

This lesson covers the singular only: how Polish nouns and adjectives change their endings in each of the seven cases. If the idea of grammatical cases is still new to you, read Lesson 3, the overview of Polish cases first. Here you get the endings tables by gender, the consonant changes and complete sample declensions.

English hardly has cases left — you see them only in pronouns: he vs him, who vs whom. Polish does with every noun what English does with he/him: the ending tells you the word’s role in the sentence. That is why Polish word order can be so free, and why Marek, Marka, Markowi and Markiem are all the same person.

The seven cases at a glance

Polish textbooks always list the cases in this order, and so do the tables below. Learn the Polish names — teachers, dictionaries and grammar books all use them, and the English labels (genitive, locative…) only help if you already know Latin grammar.

Examples in sentences:

• Marek pracuje w magazynie pod Poznaniem. — Marek works in a warehouse near Poznań.
• Po każdej zmianie daję szefowi raport. — After every shift I hand the report to my boss.
• Do pracy jeżdżę tramwajem. — I get to work by tram.

How to read the tables: Ø means a zero ending (the word ends in a consonant); * means the ending -e with a change of the consonant before it (the full list of these changes comes after the seven cases). Where two endings are separated by a slash, the text under the table explains which one to use when.

1. Mianownik — the nominative (kto? co?)

Questions: kto? co? (who? what?). This is the dictionary form — what you find in a dictionary, on signs, menus and price tags.

Use it for the subject of a sentence (Kierownik mówi, że… — “The manager says that…”), after to jest / to są (“this is / these are”: To jest mój kolega) and in names, lists and adverts. No prepositions take this case.

A trap for English speakers: “I am a driver” is jestem kierowcą, not “jestem kierowca”. After the verb być (to be), a noun describing what someone is goes into the instrumental. After to jest, though, you keep the nominative: To jest kierowca. — “This is a driver.”

Examples in sentences:

• Nowy kierownik jest bardzo miły. — The new manager is very nice.
• Ta kobieta pracuje na poczcie. — That woman works at the post office.
• Gdzie jest moje biuro? — Where is my office?

Most masculine nouns end in a consonant, most feminine nouns in -a and most neuter nouns in -o or -e. But there are exceptions you meet early: kolega (colleague), kierowca (driver) and turysta (tourist) are masculine although they end in -a, while noc (night), rzecz (thing) and sól (salt) are feminine although they end in a consonant. More on this in Lesson 2 on noun genders.

2. Dopełniacz — the genitive (kogo? czego?)

Questions: kogo? czego? (of whom? of what?). After the nominative, this is the case you will use most. It covers several jobs that English does with “of”, “any” or word order.

When you need it:

• after a negative verb, instead of the accusative: mam czas (I have time) → nie mam czasu (I don’t have time); widzę autobus → nie widzę autobusu;
• possession, like English “’s” or “of”: samochód szefa (the boss’s car), adres firmy (the company’s address);
• amounts: kilo cukru (a kilo of sugar), butelka wody, dużo pracy (a lot of work);
• prepositions: bez (without), dla (for), do (to, into), od (from), z (out of, from: wracam z pracy — I’m coming back from work), u (at someone’s place), obok, koło (next to), podczas (during), zamiast (instead of), oprócz (except);
• verbs: szukać (look for), potrzebować (need), słuchać (listen to), używać (use), uczyć się (learn), bać się (be afraid of).

Examples in sentences:

• Nie mam samochodu, więc jeżdżę autobusem. — I don’t have a car, so I take the bus.
• Kupiłem kilo cukru i bochenek chleba. — I bought a kilo of sugar and a loaf of bread.
• Po pracy idę do lekarza. — After work I’m going to the doctor.

Masculine things are the tricky part: -u or -a? There is no firm rule, only tendencies. Tools and small objects (noża, klucza, młotka), many foods (chleba, sera, pomidora), Polish cities (Krakowa, Gdańska, Poznania, Lublina) and months (stycznia, listopada) usually take -a. Abstract ideas and most bigger things take -u: czasu, domu, sklepu, samochodu, autobusu, cukru. When in doubt, check a dictionary — it always gives the genitive.

Feminine nouns take -i after k, g, l, j and soft consonants (matki, nogi, Polski, soli, kuchni, pani) and -y after other consonants, including c, cz, sz, rz and ż (kobiety, pracy, rzeczy). Masculine nouns in -a follow the feminine pattern: nie ma kolegi (my colleague isn’t here), bez kierowcy (without a driver).

3. Celownik — the dative (komu? czemu?)

Questions: komu? czemu? (to whom? to what?). This is the person who receives something: the one you give to, help, pay or show something to. In English it is often “to someone” or just the first of two objects: “I gave my boss the report.”

Verbs with the dative: dać / dawać (give), pomagać (help), dziękować (thank), płacić (pay), ufać (trust), wierzyć (believe), pokazać (show), wysłać (send), przeszkadzać (disturb) and podobać się (Ta praca mi się podoba — “I like this job”, literally “this job pleases me”). Only a few prepositions take it: dzięki (thanks to), przeciw(ko) (against), wbrew (contrary to). Note that dzwonić (to call someone) is dzwonić do + genitive, not the dative.

In everyday life the dative is used almost only with people and animals, so you will rarely hear forms like domowi or samochodowi.

Examples in sentences:

• Dziękuję panu za pomoc. — Thank you for your help, sir.
• Pokazałem koledze, jak działa skaner. — I showed my colleague how the scanner works.
• Co miesiąc płacę właścicielowi za mieszkanie. — Every month I pay the landlord for the flat.

A handful of masculine nouns take a short -u and simply have to be memorised: panu, ojcu, bratu, psu, kotu, chłopcu, Bogu, księdzu, światu. All the others take -owi: studentowi, lekarzowi, kierownikowi, sąsiadowi, Markowi. In the feminine, the dative is identical to the locative: dziękuję mamie (thank you, mum) and myślę o mamie (I’m thinking about mum). Masculine nouns in -a again follow the feminine pattern: koledze, kierowcy.

4. Biernik — the accusative (kogo? co?)

Questions: kogo? co? (whom? what?). The direct object: what you buy, see, have or order. In English it simply comes after the verb; in Polish it gets the accusative ending.

Verbs: mieć (have), widzieć (see), kupić (buy), znać (know), lubić (like), pić (drink), jeść (eat), czytać (read), robić (do, make), odwiedzać (visit), zamawiać (order), prosić (ask for). Prepositions: przez (through, for a period: przez tydzień — for a week), na (direction and purpose: idę na pocztę — I’m going to the post office; bilet na pociąg — a train ticket), w (days: w poniedziałek — on Monday), za (for: dziękuję za pomoc; in: za godzinę — in an hour), po (to fetch: idę po chleb — I’m going to get bread).

The key rule for masculine nouns: for people and animals, the accusative looks like the genitive (widzę pana, mam psa); for things, it looks like the nominative (mam dom, kupuję telefon). So with a masculine thing, nothing changes at all.

Examples in sentences:

• Mam nową pracę i dobrego szefa. — I have a new job and a good boss.
• Kupiłam bilet miesięczny na tramwaj. — I bought a monthly tram pass.
• W sobotę odwiedzam brata w Gdyni. — On Saturday I’m visiting my brother in Gdynia.

Feminine nouns in -a take -ę (kobietę, pracę, kawę), while pani becomes panią. Feminine nouns ending in a consonant stay the same: mam jedną rzecz, pracuję całą noc (I work all night). Neuter nouns never change in the accusative. Don’t mix up -ę (accusative) and -ą (instrumental): widzę mamę (I see mum) but idę z mamą (I’m going with mum).

In casual speech some things are treated as if they were alive and get -a: zjem banana (I’ll eat a banana), wyślę maila (I’ll send an email). Everyone says this, but in a formal letter stick to wysłałem e-mail.

5. Narzędnik — the instrumental (z kim? z czym?)

Questions: (z) kim? (z) czym? (with whom? with what? by what means?). Think of it as the “with / by” case.

• a job or role after być and zostać: jestem magazynierem (I’m a warehouse worker), ona jest pielęgniarką (she’s a nurse), został kierownikiem (he became a manager);
• means and transport, where English says “by” or “with”: jadę autobusem (I go by bus), piszę długopisem (I write with a pen), płacę kartą (I pay by card);
• z + instrumental — “together with”: kawa z mlekiem (coffee with milk), rozmawiam z szefem (I’m talking to the boss);
• location after przed (in front of), za (behind), nad (above), pod (under), między (between): przed sklepem, pod stołem;
• verbs: interesować się (be interested in), zajmować się (deal with), opiekować się (look after), kierować (manage, drive).

Examples in sentences:

• Mój brat jest kierowcą, a ja jestem magazynierem. — My brother is a driver and I’m a warehouse worker.
• Codziennie jeżdżę do pracy rowerem. — I cycle to work every day.
• Rozmawiałem z kierownikiem o urlopie. — I talked to the manager about my time off.

After k and g the ending becomes -iem: Markiem, kierownikiem, pociągiem (by train), dzieckiem. Masculine nouns in -a take the feminine -ą: z kolegą, jestem kierowcą. The instrumental after być applies to nouns only. An adjective on its own stays in the nominative: jestem zmęczony (I’m tired), szef jest zadowolony (the boss is pleased).

6. Miejscownik — the locative (o kim? o czym?)

Questions: o kim? o czym? (about whom? about what?). The locative is never used without a preposition — it answers “where?” and “about what?”.

Prepositions: w (in: w pracy — at work, w Polsce — in Poland), na (on, at: na budowie — on the building site, na poczcie — at the post office, na stole — on the table), o (about: rozmawiamy o pracy), przy (by, at: przy kasie — at the till), po (after, around: po pracy — after work, po mieście — around town). With the accusative, w and na show movement towards a place; with the locative, they show where something is: idę na pocztę → jestem na poczcie.

There are two endings, and the choice depends on the last consonant of the stem. After “hard” consonants (t, d, r, ł, s, z, n, m, p, b, w, f) you add -e and the consonant changes: kot → o kocie. After k, g, ch and soft or “historically soft” consonants (sz, cz, rz, ż, c, dz, l, j, ń) you add -u: w banku, w hotelu, o lekarzu, w Poznaniu.

Examples in sentences:

• Mieszkam w Warszawie, a pracuję w Pruszkowie. — I live in Warsaw but work in Pruszków.
• Telefon leży na stole w kuchni. — The phone is on the table in the kitchen.
• Na budowie ciągle myślę o rodzinie. — On the building site I keep thinking about my family.

Three common words break the rule and take -u: dom, syn, pan — w domu (at home), o synu, o panu. In the feminine, the locative is always the same as the dative (w szkole, w Polsce, w kuchni, w pracy). City names follow the same rules: w Gdańsku, w Poznaniu, but w Krakowie, w Lublinie, w Warszawie; Łódź is feminine, so it’s w Łodzi.

7. Wołacz — the vocative (o!)

The vocative is the form you use when you call or address someone: Panie Marku!, Mamo!, Kasiu! English has nothing like it, but Poles use it constantly, especially in polite address: panie kierowniku (sir, to a manager), panie Tomaszu, pani Anno. The phrase proszę pana / proszę pani (“excuse me, sir / madam”) is different — that is the accusative after prosić.

For masculine nouns the vocative usually looks like the locative: o Piotrze → Piotrze!, o Marku → Marku!, o studencie → studencie! Feminine nouns in -a take -o: Anna → Anno!, and diminutives in -sia, -nia, -cia, -zia, -dzia take -u: Kasia → Kasiu!, Ania → Aniu!, babcia (grandma) → babciu!

Examples in sentences:

• Panie Marku, może pan jutro przyjść na ósmą? — Mr Marek, could you come in at eight tomorrow?
• Kasiu, gdzie są klucze do magazynu? — Kasia, where are the keys to the warehouse?
• Dzień dobry, panie doktorze! — Good morning, doctor!

Exceptions: pan → panie! (although the locative is o panu), ojciec → ojcze! (father), chłopiec → chłopcze! (boy), Bóg → Boże! (God). Among friends Poles often just use the nominative: Kasia, chodź! (Kasia, come here!). But in a letter, at work or with someone you don’t know, use the vocative: Szanowny Panie Dyrektorze (Dear Director), Pani Anno.

Consonant and vowel changes

Before the ending -e (masculine and neuter locative and vocative, feminine dative and locative), a hard consonant softens and is spelled differently. English has a faint echo of this in pairs like electric → electricity, where the c changes its sound. In Polish it happens all the time, so it is worth learning as a table. The last three rows (k, g, ch) apply only to feminine nouns: masculine and neuter nouns ending in k, g, ch take -u instead (w banku, w pociągu, o dziecku).

Examples in sentences:

• Pracuję w biurze na trzecim piętrze. — I work in an office on the third floor.
• Zostawiłem kurtkę w samochodzie. — I left my jacket in the car.
• Córka jest teraz w szkole, a syn na treningu. — My daughter is at school now and my son is at training.

Vowels inside the word can change too. ó becomes o as soon as an ending is added; ą becomes ę; a turns into e before a softened consonant. And a “disappearing e” drops out completely: pies (dog) → psa, dzień (day) → dnia. The dictionary form can therefore look quite different from the form you hear.

Examples in sentences:

• Wczoraj byłem w urzędzie w Krakowie. — Yesterday I was at a government office in Kraków.
• Pies sąsiada szczekał całą noc. — The neighbour’s dog barked all night.
• Mąż mojej koleżanki pracuje na budowie. — My colleague’s husband works on a building site.

Full declension tables: model words

Read these tables column by column to watch a single word move through all seven cases. Each word is a model for a whole group: student works for most masculine nouns for people (klient, sąsiad), dom for most masculine things, kobieta for feminine nouns in -a with a hard stem.

The first table is masculine. Note pan and dom — the two exceptions with -u in the locative. The vocative domie! exists in grammar books, but you will hardly ever hear it outside poetry.

Examples in sentences:

• Czy pan Nowak jest dzisiaj w domu? — Is Mr Nowak at home today?
• Przed pracą wyprowadzam psa. — I walk the dog before work.
• Ten student pracuje u nas na pół etatu. — This student works part-time for us.

The second table covers feminine and neuter nouns, plus kolega, a masculine word that declines like a feminine one. The word pani (madam, Mrs) barely changes: pani — pani — pani — panią — panią — pani — pani!. So it’s dziękuję pani (thank you, madam), but widzę panią (I see you, madam) and rozmawiam z panią.

Examples in sentences:

• Otwórz okno, w pokoju jest gorąco. — Open the window, it’s hot in the room.
• W tym tygodniu pracuję w nocy. — This week I’m working nights.
• Pożyczyłem koledze sto złotych. — I lent my colleague a hundred złoty.

Adjectives in the singular

An adjective agrees with its noun in gender and case. Adjectives have fewer endings than nouns, and they are the same for every adjective of one type, so this is the easiest part of the topic. In the masculine accusative, the “alive or not” rule applies again: widzę nowego kolegę (I see the new colleague) but mam nowy telefon (I have a new phone).

Examples in sentences:

• Szukam nowego mieszkania blisko pracy. — I’m looking for a new flat close to work.
• Rozmawiałam z nową koleżanką z działu. — I had a chat with the new colleague from my department.
• Mieszkamy w starym bloku przy dworcu. — We live in an old block of flats by the station.

After k and g, and in “soft” adjectives, an i appears before the ending: polski → polskiego, drogi (expensive) → drogiego, tani (cheap) → taniego, ostatni (last) → ostatniego. That is why such adjectives end in -i, not -y, in the masculine nominative. Here is the model polski (Polish):

Examples in sentences:

• W polskim sklepie wszystko jest podpisane po polsku. — In a Polish shop everything is labelled in Polish.
• Mam ostatni bilet na pociąg do Gdańska. — I’ve got the last ticket for the train to Gdańsk.
• Szukam taniego pokoju w centrum. — I’m looking for a cheap room in the centre.

Typical mistakes

• Nie mam samochodu, not “nie mam samochód”: after a negative verb, the object goes into the genitive.
• Jestem kierowcą, not “jestem kierowca”: after być, a job title goes into the instrumental.
• Szukam pracy (I’m looking for a job): szukać, słuchać and potrzebować take the genitive, not the accusative.
• Jadę do Polski (to Poland, genitive) but mieszkam w Polsce (in Poland, locative) — the preposition decides the case.
• Dzwonię do kierownika (I’m calling the manager): dzwonić needs do + genitive.
• Widzę Kasię (-ę, accusative) and rozmawiam z Kasią (-ą, instrumental) sound similar, but mixing them up in writing is a real error.
• Dziękuję panu / pani: dziękować takes the dative. Use pan or pani instead of “you” in polite speech, and put it in the right case.

Exercises

First ask yourself what the preposition or verb requires, then look at the gender and the last letter of the word. The answers are under each exercise.

Exercise 1. Put the noun into the correct case

1. Mieszkam w ___ (Warszawa).
2. Nie mam ___ (samochód).
3. Jeżdżę do pracy ___ (autobus).
4. Jutro idę do ___ (lekarz).
5. Daję klucze ___ (kolega).
6. Pracuję na ___ (budowa).
7. Rozmawiam z ___ (kierownik).
8. Kupuję ___ (kawa) i ___ (bułka).

Answers: 1) Warszawie; 2) samochodu; 3) autobusem; 4) lekarza; 5) koledze; 6) budowie; 7) kierownikiem; 8) kawę, bułkę.

Exercise 2. Adjective + noun

1. Szukam ___ (dobra praca).
2. Mieszkam w ___ (duże mieszkanie).
3. Pomagam ___ (nowy kolega).
4. Rozmawiam z ___ (miła pani).
5. Czekam na ___ (ostatni autobus).
6. W niedzielę odwiedzam ___ (starszy brat).
7. Pracuję w ___ (polska firma).

Answers: 1) dobrej pracy; 2) dużym mieszkaniu; 3) nowemu koledze; 4) miłą panią; 5) ostatni autobus; 6) starszego brata; 7) polskiej firmie.

Exercise 3. The vocative: address the person

1. ___ (Marek), chodź tutaj!
2. Dzień dobry, ___ (pan doktor)!
3. ___ (mama), gdzie są klucze?
4. ___ (Kasia), pomożesz mi?
5. ___ (Piotr), masz chwilę?
6. Dziękuję, ___ (pani Anna)!

Answers: 1) Marku; 2) panie doktorze; 3) Mamo; 4) Kasiu; 5) Piotrze; 6) pani Anno.

What’s next

That’s the singular done. The plural has fewer endings but one new trap: masculine nouns for men behave differently from everything else (studenci, but koty). Continue with Lesson 3.2, Polish cases in the plural — the same seven cases, this time for several people and things.