Polish Grammar - Accusative Case - Feminine
We've already seen how the gender of nouns can affect word endings. Now we'll see how word endings change depending on what are known as 'cases'
The Polish language has 7 cases. Imagine them as contexts like "the case of having something", "the case of not having something", "the case of being with something", etc.
Each case can cause the ends of adjectives and nouns to change.
At the beginning this can seem hopelessly complicated and it is what defeats most Polish language learners. The key is to learn each case slowly before moving on to the next one.
You do not need to get your cases right to communicate. Everyone will understand you if you get your endings wrong so don't let it stop you from talking or writing.
You already know one case - "the case of explaining what something is" - e.g. It is an ecological product.
In grammar speak this is known as the Nominative case. As a mental hook think 'normal' to remember 'nominative' because soon you will remember this case fondly as a time when it all seemed normal!
The 2nd most useful case is the Accusative case and that is what we'll learn now.
So how do we know if we are in the Accusative case?
Remember it as "the case of being after a verb being used 'positively'"
- Mam (I have), but not Nie mam (I don't have)
- Lubię (I like), but not Nie lubię (I don't like)
The mental hook for the Accusative case is to remember it as "Accusing" - "I am accusing you of having a house", "I accuse myself of liking pizza", etc.
Remember anything after 'to jest' is Nominative (the case we already know), even if the sentence starts with a verb being used positively like 'Myślę' or 'Wiem'.
In the Accusative case we make the following changes if the noun is feminine
- Adjective ending - changes from 'a' to 'ą' - mineralna -> mineralną
- Noun ending - changes from 'a' to 'ę' - woda -> wodę)
It is mineral water - To jest mineralna woda
I have mineral water - Mam mineralną wodę
Play the two clips above several times to get familiar with the different pronounciations.
We can start to visualize the cases and genders, with the various word endings, on a table like this. Across the top we have the 3 genders of nouns and on the left the two cases we have seen so far - Nominative and Accusative.
We'll build this table more as we go forward and you can use it as a quick reference until the various rules sink in.
Adjectives and Cases
The adjectives below are all in feminine form. Sort them into their correct cases.
Drag and drop all the dark blue boxes to their correct locations
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Think out the Polish
Practice changing the endings of nouns and adjectives to the Accusative case by translating the sentences below.
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I have mineral water | |
I have an ecological pizza | |
I like natural water | |
I like normal pizza | |
I think that you have good water | |
She likes bad music | |
He likes good pizza | |
He thinks she likes good music | |
Do you like good music? | |
Transfer Nominative nouns to Accusitive
In the following exercise you'll change nominative nouns to the accusitve case even though you probably do not know most of the words.
The nominative case of the noun is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Accusative case.
For example, the first sentence is 'I like America'. The Polish for 'America' is 'Ameryka' so the correct answer is 'Lubię Amerykę'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I like America | (Ameryka)
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I have asthma | (astma)
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Do you like Astrology? | (astrologia)
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I like cotton | (bawełna)
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I have a daughter | (córka)
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I like democracy | (demokracja)
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Do you like Biology? | (biologia)
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I have a family | (rodzina)
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Do you have a guarantee? | (gwarancja)
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I have a question | (pytania)
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Do you like history? | (historia)
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I have an infection | (infekcja)
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You have islamophobia | (islamofobia)
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Do you like yoga? | (joga)
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I have claustrophobia | (klaustrofobia)
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I like comedy | (komedia)
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Do you like Canada? | (Kanada)
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I have a conference | (konferencja)
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You like winter | (zima)
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I have a list | (lista)
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Do you have a bathroom? | (łazienka)
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Do you have mustard? | (musztarda)
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I have paranoia | (paranoja)
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Do you have a ball? | (piłka)
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Do you like politics? | (polityka)
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Do you have work? | (praca)
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Transfer Nominative adjectives and nouns to Accusitive
In the following exercise you'll change nominative adjectives and nouns to the accusitve case even though you probably do not know most of the words.
The nominative case of the adjective and noun is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Accusative case.
For example, the first sentence is 'I like Great Britain'. The Polish for 'Great Britian' is 'Wielka Brytania' as shown in brackets so the correct answer is 'Lubię Wielką Brytanię'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I like Great Britain | (Wielka Brytania)
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I have a good reputation | (dobra reputacja)
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Do you have white coffee? | (biała kawa)
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I like a greek tragedy | (grecka tragedia)
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I like dark chocolate | (gorzka czekolada)
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I have a polish flag | (polska flaga)
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Do you like good music? | (dobra muzyka)
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You have thin skin (you are sensitive) | (cienka skóra)
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Transfer Accustaive nouns back to Nominative
In the following exercise you'll see some sentences in both English and Polish. You need to spot the noun and reverse it back into the Nominative case.
For example, the first sentence is 'Mam kartę'. A noun is 'the thing so it is 'kartę'. We need to reverse the 'a' to 'ę' change caused by a noun coming after a verb so the correct answer is 'karta'
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I have a [credit/debit] card | Mam kartę
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I have [a plot of] land | Mam działkę
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I like lettuce | Lubię sałatę
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I have a cupboard | Mam szafkę
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You like technology | Lubisz technologię
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I like theory | Lubię teorię
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Do you have a toilet? | Czy masz toaletę?
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I have a contract | Mam umowę
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I like comfort | Lubię wygodę
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Do you like soup? | Czy lubisz zupę?
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Refresher
Revise earlier words and phrases to keep them fresh! Match the Polish and Engish below
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Nouns
Tick all of the adjectives which are feminne and in the accusative case
Tick all of the boxes you believe are correct