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Cases
The Cases — Overview
Przypadki
Polish nouns change their endings depending on their role in the sentence. Here are the four cases from your A0 course and when to use each.
A "case" is a set of endings a noun takes depending on its job in the sentence. English barely uses cases (I vs. me), but Polish uses them constantly. Your course focused on four. Each case answers specific questions.
The Four Cases You Learned
| Case (Polish) | Answers | Main uses |
|---|---|---|
| Mianownik(Nominative) | Kto? Co?(Who? What?) | The subject — the basic dictionary form."To jest student." |
| Biernik(Accusative) | Kogo? Co?(Whom? What?) | Direct object of mieć, lubić, znać, kochać."Mam kawę." "Lubię muzykę." |
| Narzędnik(Instrumental) | Kim? Czym?(With whom/what?) | After być (I am a…), "z" = with, professions,transport. "Jestem studentem." |
| Dopełniacz(Genitive) | Kogo? Czego?(Of whom/what?) | Negation (nie ma), possession, "z/do" = from/to,quantities. "Nie mam czasu." |
A reliable trick: the VERB tells you which case to use. • być → Narzędnik (Jestem nauczycielem) • mieć / lubić → Biernik (Mam brata) • nie ma / nie mam → Dopełniacz (Nie ma chleba) • interesować się → Narzędnik (Interesuję się sportem)
Same noun, four cases
To jest kawa.
This is coffee.NominativeLubię kawę.
I like coffee.AccusativeInteresuję się kawą.
I'm into coffee.InstrumentalNie ma kawy.
There is no coffee.Genitive