This house is my house

We've already seen that if we say who someone is (not what they are like) then we need to use instrumental endings. This is also true for 'something' as well

So we saw how if we talk about what someone is like (e.g. clever) we use the Nominative case. But when we say what they are (a woman) we use Instrumental endings:

A clever woman - Mądra kobieta
She is clever - Ona jest mądra
She is a clever woman - Ona jest mądrą kobietą

And the same happens when we are talking about things:

It is good music - To jest dobra muzyka
This music is good - Ta muzyka jest dobra
This music is good music - Ta muzyka jest dobrą muzyką

So how would you say:

It is a good house -
This house is good -
This house is a good house -

And if we need to change the endings for adjectives then we need to also do it for 'my' and 'your'.

It is my house - To jest mój dom
This house is my house - Ten dom jest moim domem
This house is not your house - Ten dom nie jest twoim domem

One thing to remember here is that the gender of the word endings is decided by what the thing is (or who the person is), not what or who we are talking about. For example:

This woman is a clever person - Ta kobieta jest mądrym człowiekiem

We are talking about a woman (feminine) but we are saying she is a person ('człowiek') which is a masculine noun so we use the masculine Instrumental endings.

So using 'osoba' how would you say:

This person is my son -
This person is my brother -
This person is not my brother -

Heads up!

There is an alternative, and much simpler way, to say the same thing

Gdańsk is my town - Gdańsk to moje miasto
Gdańsk is my town - Gdańsk jest moim miastem
This woman is my sister - Ta kobieta to moja siostra
This woman is my sister - Ta kobieta jest moją siostrą

It's just a question of whether we are using 'to' or 'jest'. While you can use 'to' if you can't remember your instrumental endings you need to be aware of the 'jest' option because you will hear it and see it.

For the exercises on this page we will be using 'jest' in order to practice our Instrumental endings of this, my, your, adjectives and nouns.

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.

Click and drag these your phrases into their correct cases

click and drag these 'this' phrases to their correct genders

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

Match the cases of your (in the instrumental) and 'this'

Match the endings of your and this

Tap on each pair to make them disappear.

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

twoim mlekiem

twoją muzyką

ten smartfon

twoim laptopem

twoim smartfonem

ten laptop

ta kawa

ten czas

twoim jedzeniem

to mleko

ten kot

twoim kotem

to jedzenie

to miasto

ta pizza

twoją kawą

twoim miastem

ten samochód

twoim pytaniem

ta muzyka

twoim samochodem

twoją pizzą

twoim czasem

to pytanie

Think out the Polish

Practice the phrases in this lesson by thinking them out.

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

A clever woman	q3\|Mądra kobieta

She is clever	q3\|Ona jest mądra

She is a clever woman	q3\|Ona jest mądrą kobietą

It is good music	q3\|To jest dobra muzyka

This music is good	q3\|Ta muzyka jest dobra

This music is good music	q3\|Ta muzyka jest dobrą muzyką

It is a good house	q3\|To jest dobry dom

This house is good	q3\|Ten dom jest dobry

This house is a good house	q3\|Ten dom jest dobrym domem

It is my house	q3\|To jest mój dom

This house is my house	q3\|Ten dom jest moim domem

This house is not your house	q3\|Ten dom nie jest twoim domem

This woman is a clever person	(człowiek) q3\|Ta kobieta jest mądrym człowiekiem

This person is my son	(osoba) q3\|Ta osoba jest moim synem

This person is my brother	(osoba) q3\|Ta osoba jest moim bratem

This person is not my brother	(osoba) q3\|Ta osoba nie jest moim bratem

Gdańsk is my town	q3\|Gdańsk jest moim miastem

Ewa is my sister	q3\|Ewa jest moją siostrą

Lublin is your town	q3\|Lublin jest twoim miastem

Is Lublin your town?	q3\|Czy Lublin jest twoim miastem?

Ewa is your sister	q3\|Ewa jest twoją siostrą

Is Ewa your sister?	q3\|Czy Ewa jest twoją siostrą?

Gdańsk is my town	q3\|Gdańsk jest moim miastem

That woman is my sister	q3\|Ta kobieta jest moją siostrą

Think out the Polish

Now let's try putting what we now know into some longer sentences

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

This person is my brother	(osoba) q4\|Ta osoba jest moim bratem

This person is not my sister	(osoba) q4\|Ta osoba nie jest moją siostrą

I think this laptop is a good computer

Do you think that he wants to be a good son?

This water is a new product	q4\|Ta woda jest nowym produktem

This smartphone is an old model	(model) q4\|Ten smartfon jest starym modelem

This bank is an old institution	q4\|Ten bank jest starą instytucją

Do you think that this question is a bad idea?	(pomysł)

I like this person but he is not my son	(człowiek)

She wants to be my wife	q4\|Ona chce być moją żoną

This person must be my new boss	(osoba) (szef) q4\|Ta osoba musi być moim nowym szefem

This person must be your brother	(osoba) q4\|Ta osoba musi być twoim bratem

This person is my brother	(osoba) q4\|Ta osoba jest moim bratem

My wife is a creative person	(człowiek)

Is your brother an emotional person?	(człowiek)

She thinks that this town is a good place	(miejsce)

I think that this decision is a political decision

Do you know that this supermarket is an ecological supermarket?