Being with the instrumental

So how would you say:

• It is with milk -
• It is with wine -
• It is with beer -

In other statements where we use a verb such as 'like' or 'want' we do not need to use the word 'it'. 'It' is the default:

• I like (it) with milk - Lubię z mlekiem

So how would you say:

• I want (it) with milk -
• He likes (it) with milk -
• He doesn't like (it) with milk -
• Do you want (it) with milk? -

As soon as we use 'z' we are in the instrumental for all noun genders:

• Feminine noun: I am with a positive person - Jestem z pozytywną osobą
• Masculine noun: I am with Tom - Jestem z Tomem

Sometimes popular words don't always follow the rules exactly:

• Sugar - Cukier
• Coffee with sugar - Kawa z cukrem

But simply remember - with masculine and neuter nouns - we are always aiming for that 'em'/'iem' ending and you will never fall far from the correct Polish!

To remember this 'with' rule think about how we make music with instruments which will give you the mental tie to the Instrumental case.

Bouncing around the cases - a woman with a plan

As our sentences become longer and longer you'll start to see how we move through multiple cases within the same sentence. Have a look at this:

Lubię kobietę z planem, ale musi być dobry plan bo nie mam czasu

Here we use all four cases that we have learnt so far:

• Lubię kobietę - Accusative
• z planem - Instrumental
• ale musi być dobry plan - Nominative
• bo nie mam czasu - Genetive

This is why breaking the sentence down in our heads and then translating each piece makes it so much easier:

Lubię kobietę | z planem|, ale | musi być dobry plan | bo | nie mam czasu