Possessive Pronouns
Content
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.