Polish Genitive Case
Content
The genitive is the second of the 7 cases.
It has many different uses, including possession. It literally means “of”.
It answers the questions:
– kogo? (who?)
– czego? (what?)
Genitive Case Usage
1. Possession
In English, the genitive is expressed by adding ‘s to the end of nouns, or by using of.
To jest dom mojego brata.
(This is my brother’s house / This is the house of my brother)
Widzę samochód mojego przyjaciela.
(I see my friend’s car / I see the car of my friend)
2. As the direct object of all negated verbs
For verbs that are not negated, the accusative is used instead.
Nie lubię szkoły.
(I do not like school)
Nie znam jej.
(I do not know her)
This sentence is in the genitive because nie (not) negates the verb.
Znam ją.
(I know her)
This sentence is in the accusative because the verb is not negated.
3. After certain verbs, even if they are not negated.
There are many such verbs. These include szukać (look for), potrzebować (need), bać się (be afraid of), dotykać (touch), nienawidzić (hate), próbować (attempt/try), uczyć się (study), słuchać (listen to), unikać (avoid) and many more. Most dictionaries indicate if a verb requires the genitive, so that is the best place to learn these verbs.
For a longer list of verbs that use the genitive, visit Verbs by Cases.
Szukam czegoś.
(I am looking for something)
Potrzebuję pomocy.
(I need help)
4. With certain prepositions
These include: według (according to), obok (alongside, next to), wsród (among), około (around, about), u (at), oprócz (besides), podczas (during), dla (for), od (from, since, then), z (from), zamiast (instead of), do (to) and more.
For more genitive prepositions, visit this list of prepositions.
Według kobiety, on nie ma racji.
(According to the woman, he is wrong)
Miało to miejsce około tamtego roku.
(That happened around that year)
Cała rodzina jest u babci.
(The whole family is at gramma’s)
Oprócz tej opcji, nie ma innej.
(Besides this option, there is not another one)
Ja go widziałem podczas meczu.
(I saw him during the game)
Zrobiłem to dla brata.
(I did this for my brother))
Jadę do domu.
(I am going home)
5. With quantities
Wiele osób.
(Many people.)
Butelka soku.
(A bottle of juice.)
Funt jedzenia.
(A pound of food.)
6. With certain numbers
Siedem osób.
(Seven people.)
Sto książek.
(One hundred books.)
7. With certain phrases related to time and day
Pewnego dnia.
(One day.)
Każdego dnia.
(Every day.)
Genitive Case Declension
Genitive Singular Nouns
Masculine genitive singular nouns are divided into masculine animate and masculine inanimate nouns.
Masculine Animate
– Receive a ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| rekin (shark)
sęp (vulture) ssak (mammal) |
rekina
sępa ssaka |
Masculine Inanimate
– Most receive u ending, but some receive a ending. There is no strict rule as to which masculine inanimate nouns receive which ending, so the endings of these nouns should be memorized.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| dom (house)
młot (hammer) długopis (pen) komputer (computer) |
domu
młota długopisu komputera |
Feminine
– If it ends with a hard consonant, except k and g, or with a hardened consonant, receives y ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| kobieta (woman)
noc (night) dziewczyna (girl) |
kobiety
nocy dziewczyny |
– If it ends with a soft consonant or k or g, receive i ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| warga (lip)
piłka (ball) lekcja (lesson) |
wargi
piłki lekcji |
Neuter
– Receive a ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| okno (window)
pole (field) biuro (office) |
okna
pola biura |
Genitive Singular Adjectives
Masculine
– Receive ego ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| duży (big)
tani (cheap) |
dużego
taniego |
Feminine
– Receive ej ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| duży (big)
tani (cheap) |
dużej
taniej |
Neuter
– Receive ego ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Singular |
| duży (big)
tani (cheap) |
dużego
taniego |
Genitive Plural Nouns
For the genitive plurals feminine and neuter nouns, it is important to understand the role of the mobile e in polish.
Masculine
– If it ends with a hard consonant or sometimes c, receives ów ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| student (student)
widelec (fork) kuzyn (cousin) chłopiec (boy) |
studentów
widelców (*notice the removal of e) kuzynów chłopców |
– If it ends with a hardened consonant, usually receives y ending, but sometimes ów.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| klucz (key)
mecz (match) |
kluczy
meczów |
– If it ends with a soft consonant, receives i or ów ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| gość (guest)
cel (goal) nauczyciel (teacher) |
gości
celów nauczycieli |
– For just a couple masculine nouns ending with -anin, simply remove the -in.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| Rosjanin (Russian)
Słowianin (Slav) |
Rosjan
Słowian |
However, some of these nouns get the ów ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| Amerykanin (American)
chrześcijanin (Christian) |
Amerykanów
chrześcijanów |
Feminine
– If it ends with an a, most of the time drop the a. Many vowel changes can occur as a result, such as o → ó, ni → ń, si → ś, ci → ć, and an insertion of the letter e.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| kobieta (woman)
osoba (person) książka (book) jaskinia (cave) babcia (gramma) |
kobiet
osób książek jaskiń babć |
– If it ends with ja, it has the same ending as the feminine singular genitive.
| Genitive Singular | Genitive Plural |
| lekcja (lesson)
audycja (broadcast) |
lekcji
audycji |
– If it ends with ia and is of foreign origin, drop the a and replace with i (i.e. ending with “ii”)
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| historia (history, story)
chirurgia (surgery) gosposia (maid) |
historii
chirurgii gospoś |
Note: the noun gosposia ends with “ia”, but is not of foreign origin, so does not receive the double ii.
– If it ends with a consonant, it has the same ending as the feminine singular genitive.
| Genitive Singular | Genitive Plural |
| nocy (night)
powódź (flood) smyczy (leash) łódź (boat) |
nocy
powodzi smyczy łodzi |
Neuter
– Usually, drop the last letter. Like in the feminine plural, vowel changes can occur, such as o → ó, ni → ń, ci → ć, si → ś, ę → ą, and an insertion of e.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| miasto (town)
mieszkanie (flat) biurko (desk) święto (holiday) pole (field) |
miast
mieszkań biurek świąt pól |
– Some ending in a hardened consonant receive y ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| wybrzeże (seacoast)
zbocze (slope) |
wybrzeży
zboczy |
– If it ends with um, remove um and add ów.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| muzeum (museum) | muzeów |
Genitive Plural Adjectives
The genitive plural adjectives are the same for each gender.
All Genders
– If it ends in a hard consonant, except k or g, or hardened consonant, receives ych ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| duży (big)
inny (different) |
dużych
innych |
– If it ends in soft consonant, or k or g, receives ich ending.
| Nominative Singular | Genitive Plural |
| tani (cheap)
wysoki (tall) |
tanich
wysokich |
Declension Tables
Singular Nouns
Singular Adjectives
Plural Nouns
Plural Adjectives
