Polish Grammar - Genitive Case - Feminine

We've described the Accusitive case as being 'after a verb that is being used positively'. The Genitive case is often described as when 'something is missing or lacking'

In most cases this basically comes down to being after a verb that is being used negatively

For example

Nie mam (I don't have)
Nie lubię (I don't like)
Nie chcę (I don't want)

The mental hook for the Genitive case is to remember it as "Genesis" - the first book of the Christian bible that starts with ... well ... eveything missing!

In the Genitive case we make the following changes if the noun is feminine

Adjective ending - changes from 'a' to 'ej' - dobra -> dobrej
Noun ending - changes from 'a' to 'y' - woda -> wody)

It is good water - To jest dobra woda

I don't have good water - Nie mam dobrej wody

Listen to the audio several times to get familiar with the change in pronounciation.

Heads up!

The Genetive case will be the hardest part of this course. It may take you a while to crack it. That's normal.

I recommend doing the exercises on this and the next to lessons for several days to practice and let the various endings sink in.

You may want refer to your own notes and tables at first. That's fine. But as you keep repeating the exercises over the next few days you will need them less and less!

Once you crack the Genetive case your Polish will really start to roll!

Continuing to build on the table we started when looking at the Accusative case, here is the Genetive rule for word endings for feminine nouns

Polish grammar cases - Feminine, Genetive

See the exercises below for more information on why Wielkiej ends 'iej'.

Go slow!

The exercises for this lesson will take time. You may need to check your notes or scroll up to the lesson learning points several times.

This is normal.

By repeating the learning points using these interactive exercises over several days you will become faster and the knowledge will embed better in your long term memory.

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

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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 do not have good water	q2\|Nie mam dobrej wody

I do not have an ecological pizza	q2\|Nie mam ekologicznej pizzy

I do not like natural water	q2\|Nie lubię naturalnej wody

I do not like exotic pizza	q2\|Nie lubię egzotycznej pizzy

Transfer Nominative nouns to Accusitive

In the following exercise you'll change nominative nouns to the genitive 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 Genetive case.

For example, the first sentence is 'I do not have asthma'. The Polish for 'asthma' is 'astma' so the correct answer is 'Nie mam astmy'

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

I do not have asthma	(astma) q3\|Nie mam astmy

I do not have a sister	(siostra) q3\|Nie mam siostry

You do not like cotton	(bawełna) q3\|Nie lubisz bawełny

I do not want a family	(rodzina) q3\|Nie chcę rodziny

I do not like Canada	(Kanada) q3\|Nie lubię Kanady

You do not like winter	(zima) q3\|Nie lubisz zimy

I do not have a list	(lista) q3\|Nie mam listy

You do not like mustard	(musztarda) q3\|Nie lubisz musztardy

I do not have work	(praca) q3\|Nie mam pracy

I do not have a toilet	(toaleta) q3\|Nie mam toalety

I do not like Aneta	q3\|Nie lubię Anety

Feminine Nouns ending ia, ja or ka

The exception to the 'y' ending rule is feminine nouns ending 'ia', 'ja' or 'ka'. In this case we replace 'a' with 'i'. Try this out in the sentences below

The nominative case of the noun is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Genetive case.

For example, the first sentence is 'I do not like America'. The Polish for 'America' is 'Ameryka' so the correct answer is 'Nie lubię Ameryki'

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

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I do not like America	(Ameryka) q4\|Nie lubię Ameryki

You do not like Astrology	(astrologia) q4\|Nie lubisz astrologii

I do not have a daughter	(córka) q4\|Nie mam córki

You do not have democracy	(demokracja) q4\|Nie masz demokracji

I do not like like Biology	(biologia) q4\|Nie lubię biologii

I do not want a guarantee	(gwarancja) q4\|Nie chcę gwarancji

You do not like history	(historia) q4\|Nie lubisz historii

I do not have an infection	(infekcja) q4\|Nie mam infekcji

I do not have islamophobia	(islamofobia) q4\|Nie mam islamofobii

You do not like yoga	(joga) q4\|Nie lubisz jogi

I do not have claustrophobia	(klaustrofobia) q4\|Nie mam klaustrofobii

I do not want comedy	(komedia) q4\|Nie chcę komedii

I do not have a conference	(konferencja) q4\|Nie mam konferencji

You do not have a bathroom	(łazienka) q4\|Nie masz łazienki

I do not have a ball	(piłka) q4\|Nie mam piłki

You do not like politics	(polityka) q4\|Nie lubisz polityki

Transfer Nominative adjectives and nouns to Genetive

In the following exercise you'll change nominative adjectives and nouns to the Genetive 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 Genetive case.

For example, the first sentence is 'I do not like white coffee'. The Polish for 'white coffee' is 'biała kawa' as shown in brackets so the correct answer is 'Nie lubię białej kawy'

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

You do not like white coffee	(biała kawa) q5\|Nie lubisz białej kawy

I do not have a good reputation	(dobra reputacja) q5\|Nie mam dobrej reputacji

I do not want another daughter	(kolejna córka) q5\|Nie chcę kolejnej córki

You do not have a strong democracy	(silna demokracja) q5\|Nie masz silnej demokracji

I do not have good music	(dobra muzyka) q5\|Nie mam dobrej muzyki

You do not have a large infection	(duża infekcja) q5\|Nie masz dużej infekcji

I do not like cheap cotton	(tania bawełna) q5\|Nie lubię taniej bawełny

I do not have a large family	(duża rodzina) q5\|Nie mam dużej rodziny

I do not like this winter	(ta zima) q5\|Nie lubię tej zimy

I do not want a new bathroom	(nowa łazienka) q5\|Nie chcę nowej łazienki

You do not have new work	(nowa praca) q5\|Nie masz nowej pracy

You do not have an old toilet	(stara toaleta) q5\|Nie masz starej toalety

Transfer Nominative adjectives and nouns to Genetive

With adjectives, after we remove the 'a', if we are left with a 'k' or 'g' as the last letter then we end the adjective 'iej' to make the ending softer and easier to say.

Practice this 'iej' ending by translating the sentences below.

The nominative case of the adjective and noun is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Genetive case.

For example, the first sentence is 'I do not like Great Britain'. The Polish for 'Great Britain' is 'Wielka Brytania' as shown in brackets so the correct answer is 'Nie lubię Wielkiej Brytanii'

Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise

I do not like Great Britain	(Wielka Brytania) q6\|Nie lubię Wielkiej Brytanii

You do not want a greek tragedy	(grecka tragedia) q6\|Nie chcesz greckiej tragedii

I do not like dark chocolate	(gorzka czekolada) q6\|Nie lubię gorzkiej czekolady

You do not have a polish flag	(polska flaga) q6\|Nie masz polskiej flagi

You do not have thin skin (you are not sensitive)	(cienka skóra) q6\|Nie masz cienkiej skóry

I do not want an expensive bathroom	(droga łazienka) q6\|Nie chcę drogiej łazienki

Transfer Accustive 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 do not have a [credit/debit] card	Nie mam karty q7\|karta

I do not have a sister	Nie mam siostry q7\|siostra

I do not have [a plot of] land	Nie mam działki q7\|działka

I do not like lettuce	Nie lubię sałaty q7\|sałata

I do not have a cupboard	Nie mam szafki q7\|szafka

You do not like technology	Nie lubisz technologii q7\|technologia

I do not like theory	Nie lubisz teorii q7\|teoria

You do not have a toilet	Nie masz toalety? q7\|toaleta

I do not have a contract	Nie mam umowy q7\|umowa

I do not like comfort	Nie lubię wygody q7\|wygoda

You do not like soup	Nie lubisz zupy q7\|zupa