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Every student of the Polish language must face the declension of nouns and adjectives, as well as the conjugation of verbs in Polish. Today I will focus on declension – that is, inflection through cases – of nouns.

What are cases?

A case is a grammatical category that allows us to change the forms of words (nouns, adjectives, pronouns, numerals, and participles) depending on their function in a sentence.

Thanks to this, we can precisely express different relationships between words in a sentence, for example: who performs an action, to whom something belongs, where something is located, and so on.

How many cases are there in Polish?

In Polish, we have seven cases. If you think that’s a lot, let me reassure you: Finnish reportedly has as many as 15 cases, and Hungarian has more than 20.

Noun declension with examples

Nominative

The first case is the nominative (mianownik). It answers the questions kto? co? (who? what?)

For example, when you introduce someone/something:

Question: Kto to jest? (Who is this?)

Answer: To jest mój przyjaciel (This is my friend).

Question: Co to jest? (What is this?)

Answer: To jest moja torba. (This is my bag).
It is the basic form of a noun.

Genitive

The genitive (dopełniacz) is the second case. It answers the questions kogo? czego?

The genitive expresses possession, e.g.: Kogo to jest samochód (Whose car is this)?
However, it is also followed by a number of other verbs, eg. the verb szukać (to look for):

Question: Kogo/czego szukasz? (Who/what are you looking for?)

Answer: Szukam mojej koleżanki. (I’m looking for my friend).

It is also often used in negations, e.g.: Kogo/czego nie lubisz (Who/what don’t you like)? Nie lubię mojej koleżanki (I don’t like my friend).

Dative

The next case is the dative (celownik), which answers the questions komu? czemu?

For example:

Question: Komu się przyglądam (Who am I watching)?

Answer: Przyglądam się mojej koleżance. I’m looking at my friend.

Or:

Question: Komu dziękuję za prezent (Who am I thanking for the gift)?

Answer: Dziękuję za prezent mojej koleżance (I’m thanking my friend for the gift).

Accusative

The fourth case is the accusative (biernik), which answers the questions kogo? co?

For example: Kogo widzę (Who do I see)? Widzę moją koleżankę (I see my friend).

Students of Polish often confuse the accusative with the genitive, and vice versa.

Earlier in the genitive explanation, I gave the example of negation (Nie lubię (kogo/czego) mojej koleżanki. I don’t like (whom/what?) my friend).

The same sentence in the affirmative contains the accusative:
Kogo/co lubię (Who/what do I like)? Lubię moją koleżankę (I like my friend).

Instrumental

Next comes the instrumental (narzędnik), which answers the questions z kim? z czym? (with whom? with what?)

For example: Z kim jedziesz na wycieczkę (With whom are you going on a trip)? Na wycieczkę jadę z moją koleżanką (z I’m going on a trip with my friend).
The instrumental is used with the prepositions z (with), pod (under), nad (above).

As the name of this case suggests, it also expresses instruments or tools.
For example:

Q: Czym wbijasz gwóźdź (With what are you driving in a nail)?

A; Gwóźdź wbijam młotkiem (I‘ drive‘m driving the nail with a hammer).

Or:

Q: Czym jedziesz na spotkanie (By what means are you going to the meeting)?

A; Na spotkanie jadę metrem (I’m going to the meeting by metro).

Locative

The locative (miejscownik) answers the questions o kim? o czym? (about who? about what?)

For example: O kim myślę (Who am I thinking about)? Myślę o mojej koleżance (I’m thinking about my friend).

Students often confuse the locative with the instrumental.

Remember: unlike the instrumental, which may or may not occur with a preposition, the locative always occurs with a preposition.
For example: Siedzę w (czym) samochodzie. I’m sitting in (what?) the car, Leżę na (czym) plaży. I’m lying on (what?) the couch, or Chodzę po (czym) chodniku (I’m walking along (what?) the sidewalk).

Vocative

The vocative (wołacz) is the last case, and it is used less and less often in Polish.

This case does not answer any question. We use it when we want to address someone directly, for example: Hej, moja koleżanko (Hey, my friend)! or Dzień dobry, Panie Profesorze! (Good morning, dear Professor)!

Polish cases – table

What are the cases and their questions? In short:

• Nominative (M.) nominativus – kto? co? (who? what?) → (is)
• Genitive (D.) genetivus – kogo? czego? (of whom? of what?) → (is not)
• Dative (C.) dativus – komu? czemu? (to whom? to what?) → (I’m looking at)
• Accusative (B.) accusativus – kogo? co? (whom? what?) → (I see)
• Instrumental (N.) instrumentalis – z kim? z czym? (with whom? with what?) → (I go)
• Locative (Ms.) ablativus – o kim? o czym? (about whom? about what?) → (I think)
• Vocative (W.) vocativus – O!

Declension of the noun kolega (singular)

• Nominative – kolega (friend)
• Genitive – kolegi
• Dative – koledze
• Accusative – kolegę
• Instrumental – z kolegą (with a friend)
• Locative – o koledze (about a friend)
• Vocative – kolego

Declension of the noun koledzy (plural)

• Nominative – koledzy (friends)
• Genitive – kolegów
• Dative – kolegom
• Accusative – kolegów
• Instrumental – z kolegami (with friends)
• Locative – o kolegach (about friends)
• Vocative – koledzy

How to remember the order of cases – rhymes

On the Internet you can find various rhymes that may help you remember the order of Polish cases. Here are some examples, or you can try to invent your own:

• Mama Dała Córce Buty Na Małą Wycieczkę
• Mama Dała Cukierka, Bo Nie Miała Wafelka
• Mama Dała Córce Bułkę Nasmarowaną Masłem Wiejskim

How to decline difficult nouns?

Sometimes even Poles have problems with declining certain nouns.
For example, the word pacha (“armpit”) can be tricky.

Fortunately, there are many websites that list the declension of nouns by case.
It’s enough to google a given noun, e.g., “pacha odmiana przez przypadki”.

Which nouns do not decline by case?

Some nouns have the same form in all cases.
These are usually borrowings from other languages, e.g., taxi, kiwi, radio, kakao.

For example:

• Zamawiam (co?) taxi (I order (what?) taxi).
• Jadę (czym?) taxi (I’m going by (what?) taxi).
• Nie widzę (czego?) taxi (I don’t see (what?) taxi).

Or:

• Lubię pić (co?) gorące kakao przed snem (I like to drink (what?) hot cocoa before sleep).
• Nie lubię (czego?) gorzkiego kakao. (I don’t like (what?) bitter cocoa).
• Przyglądam się (czemu?) gotującemu kakao. (I’m looking at (what?) boiling cocoa).

Remember: other word classes also decline by case

• Adjectives, e.g. Widzę przystojnego mężczyznę (I see a handsome man).
• Adjectival participles, e.g. Widzę przystojnego mężczyznę czytającego książkę (I see a handsome man reading a book).
• Some numerals, e.g. Widzę przystojnego mężczyznę czytającego trzecią książkę (I see a handsome man reading the third book).
• Pronouns, e.g. Widzę mojego przystojnego mężczyznę czytającego trzecią książkę (I see my handsome man reading the third book). 😉