Polish Grammar - Genetive Case - Neuter
So we know how to spot if we are in the genetive case and, if we are, what changes to make for feminine and masculine nouns and their adjectives. What about neuter nouns?
With neuter nouns we simply change the 'o' or 'e' ending to 'a'.
- Mam jedzenie - Nie mam jedzenia
- Mam wino - Nie mam wina
Adjective endings are the same 'ego' used for masculine nouns
- To jest dobry jedzenie - Nie mam dobrego jedzenia
The Polish for 'Why?' is 'Dlaczego'
- Why don't you like wine? - Dlaczego nie lubisz wina?
It literally means 'for' (dla) 'what' (czego) which, if you think about it, is kind of what 'Why?' means - 'for what reason?'
What?
You might remember that in the early lessons we learnt 'co to jest?'. Here 'what' is 'co'. But we have also just seen that 'what' is 'czego'. So what is going on?
Certain words change completely depending what case we are in. In the Nominative and Accusitive cases 'what' is 'co'. In the Genetive case 'what' is 'czego'.
We'll learn the reasons 'Dlaczego' uses 'czego' and not 'co' very soon but for now just remember it as the word for 'why'.
And now we have the complete set of endings for all three noun genders in the Genetive case.
We'll continue to build out this table with other cases and rules later in the course. Right now we have plenty to practice with!
Use the graphic above as a quick reference to start with but you'll find the more you practice with the exercises on these pages the less you will need it.
Adjectives and Cases
Sort these nouns (in their Genitive form) into neuter or feminine. Don't worry if you don't know all the words yet, the ending is all you need to know!
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 spotting neuter nouns and changing the adjective and noun endings if needed.
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not have food | |
I do not have wine | |
I do not have good food | |
I do not have good wine | |
You do not have a good egg | |
You do not have new milk | |
You do not want good food | |
Why don't you like wine? | |
Changing nouns to genetive
The exercise below includes some neuter nouns you do not know but you can still practice changing them to genetive.
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 the law'. The Polish for 'law' is 'prawo' so the correct answer is 'Nie lubię prawa'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not like the law | (prawo)
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You do not like the lake | (jezioro)
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I do like the sea | (morze)
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Why don't you like the sky? | (niebo)
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Why don't you have food? | |
I do not have milk | |
I do not like meat | (mięso)
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I do not want a question | (pytanie)
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You do not have a heart | (serce)
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Why dont you like the town? | (miasto)
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Changing nouns and adjectives to genetive
Now repeat a similar exercise but with adjectives.
The nominative case of the noun and adjective 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 a new table'. The Polish for 'new table' is 'nowy stół' so the correct answer is 'Nie mam nowego stołu'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not like the new law | (prawo)
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You do not like the old lake | (stare jezioro)
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I do like the cold sea | (zimne morze)
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Why don't you like the night sky? | (nocne niebo)
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Why don't you have good food? | |
I do not have good milk | |
I do not want old meat | (stary mięso)
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I do not want a boring question | (nudne pytanie)
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You do not have a good heart | (serce)
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Why don't you like the old town? | (stare miasto)
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Why don't you want cold beer? | (zimne piwo)
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I don't want old wine | (stare wino)
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Transfer Genetive 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 adjective and reverse them back into the Nominative case.
The ending of the noun in nominative is shown in brackets as a clue.
For example, the first sentence is 'Dlaczego nie lubisz nowego prawa'. A noun is 'the thing' so it is 'prawa'. So the answer is 'nowe prawo'
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Why dont you like the new law? | Dlaczego nie lubisz nowego prawa? (o)
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I do not like the old lake | Nie lubisz starego jeziora (o)
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You do not like the cold sea | Nie lubisz zimnego morza (e)
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Why dont you like the night sky? | Dlaczego nie lubisz nocnego nieba? (o)
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I dont have good food | Nie mam dobrego jedzenia
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I do not want old meat | Nie chcę starego mięsa (o)
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I do not want a boring question | Nie chcę nudnego pytania (e)
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Why dont you have a good heart? | Dlaczego nie masz dobrego serca (e)
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I do not like the old town | Nie lubię starego miasta (o)
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Why dont you want cold beer? | Dlaczego nie chcesz zimnego piwa? (o)
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I dont want old wine | Nie chcę starego wina
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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 verbs which are genitive neuter
Tick all of the boxes you believe are correct