Possessive Pronouns

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These pronouns express ownership and possession. It is important to note that in English, some possessive pronouns add an -s when these pronouns are at the end of a clause.

This is her bike.

Compare with:
This is hers.

In Polish, this change does not exist and the pronouns here can represent either form.

First Person

Mój

These all translate to “my”.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Personal Other
Nominative mój moja moje moi moje
Genitive mojego mojej mojego moich moich
Dative mojemu mojej mojemu moim moim
Accusative mojego/mój moją moje moich moje
Instrumental moim moją moim moimi moimi
Locative moim mojej moim moich moich

 

Nasz

Translates to “ours”.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Personal Other
Nominative nasz nasza nasze nasi nasze
Genitive naszego naszej naszego naszych naszych
Dative naszemu naszej naszemu naszym naszym
Accusative naszego/nasz naszą nasze naszych nasze
Instrumental naszym naszą naszym naszymi naszymi
Locative naszym naszej naszym naszych naszych

 

Second Person

Twój

Translates to “your”, but refers to a singular subject.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Personal Other
Nominative twój twoja twoje twoi twoje
Genitive twojego twojej twojego twoich twoich
Dative twojemu twojej twojemu twoim twoim
Accusative twojego/twój twoją twoje twoich twoje
Instrumental twoim twoją twoim twoimi twoimi
Locative twoim twojej twoim twoich twoich

Wasz

Translates to “your”, but refers to a plural subject.

Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Personal Other
Nominative wasz wasza wasze wasi wasze
Genitive waszego waszej waszego waszych waszych
Dative waszemu waszej waszemu waszym waszym
Accusative waszego/wasz waszą wasze waszych wasze
Instrumental waszym waszą waszym waszymi waszymi
Locative waszym waszej waszym waszych waszych

 

Third Person

These pronouns only depend on the fender and number of the subject, not the case.

To express the possessive pronouns “his” and “its”, jego is used.

“Her” is expressed by jej.

Lastly, every form of English’s possessive “their” is expressed by ich.

 

Swój

The pronoun swój, which literally means “one’s own”, is used to express possession for nouns where these nouns belong to the subject.

Swój must be used for third person subjects, but is optional for first and second person subjects.

Idę do swojego domu. OR Idę do mojego domu.
(I am going to my house)

 

Compare the sentences:

1. On idzie do swojego domu.

2. On idzie do jego domu.

In English, both sentence translate to “He is going to his home.” However, there is a distinction in Polish. In sentence 1, the subject on (he) is going to his own house. He is talking about his house. In the second sentence, on is going to someone’s elses home.