A1 · The cases · about 7 minutes
The genitive: dom Piotra, szklanka wody
the genitive
Whose, how much, from where, to where: in Polish one of the most common cases of all.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need2
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- szklankaglass (for drinking)
- kawałekpiece, bit
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberWhose, how much, from where and to where: genitive.
- Signal words
- do
- z
- od
- bez
- u
- dla
- szklanka
- kilo
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Polish.
| feminine -y | woda → wody, kawa → kawy, mama → mamy |
| feminine -i (after k, g, soft) | Polska → Polski, książka → książki, Ania → Ani |
| neuter -a | mleko → mleka, piwo → piwa, okno → okna |
| masculine -a | Piotr → Piotra, brat → brata, chleb → chleba, Kraków → Krakowa |
| masculine -u | cukier → cukru, sok → soku, dom → domu, czas → czasu |
| after a preposition | do Krakowa, z Polski, bez cukru, u lekarza, dla mamy |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The owner goes after the noun, in the genitive.
To jest samochód Piotra.This is Piotr’s car.
After a quantity the genitive follows.
Poproszę szklankę wody.A glass of water, please.
After do, z, od, bez, u and dla the genitive follows.
Jadę do Krakowa.I am going to Kraków.
Feminine words in -ka, -ga and soft words take -i.
Jestem z Polski.I come from Poland.
For masculine words, learn -a or -u with the word.
Piję kawę bez cukru.I drink coffee without sugar.
Example sentences
Jutro idę do lekarza.Tomorrow I am going to the doctor’s.
Mieszkam u brata.I am staying at my brother’s.
Mam prezent dla Ani.I have a present for Ania.
7 more example sentences
Poproszę kilo cukru.A kilo of sugar, please.
To jest pokój Kasi.This is Kasia’s room.
Marek jest z Gdańska.Marek is from Gdańsk.
Mam list od mamy.I have a letter from Mum.
Poproszę butelkę wina.A bottle of wine, please.
Idę do sklepu.I am going to the shop.
Herbata bez cytryny, proszę.A tea without lemon, please.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
In English the country stays the same after “from”: from Poland, from England. In Polish the country takes its genitive ending after z: z Polski, z Anglii.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The genitive (dopełniacz) answers kogo? and czego? — “of whom, of what”. It is everywhere in Polish, and it appears in fixed patterns you need from the start.
First, for possession, after the noun: dom Piotra“Piotr’s house”samochód mamy“Mum’s car” Second, for quantities, where English says “of”: szklanka wody “a glass of water”, kawałek chleba, kilo cukru. Third, after the prepositions do “to”, z “from, out of”, od “from (a person)”, bez “without”, u “at somebody’s” and dla “for”: do Krakowa, z Polski, kawa bez cukru, u lekarza.
The endings: feminine words take -y, and -i after k, g and soft sounds: woda → wody, Polska → Polski, Ania → Ani. Neuter words take -a: mleko → mleka. Masculine words take -a or -u.
Which of the two cannot be predicted safely for masculine words. People and animals always take -a (brata, kota), as do many towns (Krakowa, Gdańska). Many substances, places and abstract nouns take -u (cukru, soku, domu, czasu). Learn the genitive together with the word.
Worth knowing2
Worth knowing
The owner comes last
Instead of “Piotr’s house” Polish says dom Piotra, “house of-Piotr”. There is no “’s” and no separate word for “of”; the ending does it. od means “from somebody”, for a letter or a present, not possession.
Gdzie są klucze mamy?Where are Mum’s keys?
Worth knowing
do means “to”, and also “into”
Where you are going, with towns, countries, many buildings and people, takes do and the genitive: do Polski, do domu, do lekarza, do kina. “To the cinema”, “to the doctor’s” and “home” all become one pattern.
Wieczorem idziemy do kina.In the evening we are going to the cinema.
The verbs on this page, in every form: być · mieć · iść · mieszkać · pić