{"id":3317,"date":"2021-01-04T18:36:11","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T17:36:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/?p=3317"},"modified":"2021-03-24T20:15:46","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T19:15:46","slug":"dopelniacz-genitive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/dopelniacz-genitive\/","title":{"rendered":"Dope\u0142niacz (genitive) in Polish!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s admit from the very beginning: dope\u0142niacz is probably one of the most difficult topics Polish grammar. It has a lot of different rules and even more exceptions to them, and to make matters worse, we use it in almost every sentence.<\/h2>\n

So, let\u2019s try to make it a bit easier for you to organise all these rules once and for all. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Masculine singular nouns<\/b><\/h1>\n

We can say that it consists of one rule and endless exceptions to it. The rule is that masculine singular nouns have two possible endings: -a, -u.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

We can try to define specific semantic groups which get one or the other ending, but that\u2019s exactly where the exceptions start. For almost every group there will be exceptions, that\u2019s a rule \":-)\"<\/p>\n

The practical approach here can be to either note down the endings for all the new words that you study or, which is even more advisable, just to practice as much as you can \u2013 in speaking, listening and reading.<\/p>\n

But still, I believe it\u2019s worth trying to name all these groups, since despite the exceptions they all show some regularity.<\/p>\n

The groups of masculine nouns which end with an -u in dope\u0142niacz: <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • means of transport (nie mam samochodu, roweru, tramwaju, statku, BUT: helikoptera)<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • abstract nouns <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(nie ma problemu, smaku, ha\u0142asu, chaosu <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: wirusa) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • uncountable<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> nouns<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (nie ma lasu, t\u0142umu, makaronu, ry\u017cu, cukru, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: chleba) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • liquids<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (bez soku, majonezu, ketchupu, kleju, koniaku, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: drinka<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • the names of week days<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>even though the word \u201cweek\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> – \u201ctydzie\u0144\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>in dope\u0142niacz has the ending<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> -\u0430: nie ma tygodnia) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • words which end with <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>-ek, -izm\/-yzm (bez rachunku, komunizmu, buddyzmu<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
  • words <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>for<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> enclosed spaces (dom – domu, hotel – hotelu, park – parku, rynek – rynku, bar – baru, apartament – apartamentu, sklep – sklepu, magazyn – magazynu,namiot-namiotu)<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The groups of masculine nouns which end with an -a in dope\u0142niacz: <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    • people and animals (nie ma profesora, nauczyciela, kota, psa)<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of months<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (stycznia, marca, lipca, grudnia, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: luty \u2013 lutego) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of sports disciplines<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (nie lubi\u0119 krykieta, bryd\u017ca, tenisa, hokeja, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: nie ogl\u0105dam biatlonu, maratonu) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of dances<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (nie ta\u0144cz\u0119 walca, poloneza, mazurka)<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>kitchen<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>ware and cutlery<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (nie ma garnka, czajnika, widelca, no\u017ca, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT the words <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>samowar, szybkowar <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>have two possible endings: <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>samowara\/samowaru, szybkowara\/szybkowaru) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of tools <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>(nie ma m\u0142otka, topora, haka, hebla, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: nie ma \u015brubokr\u0119tu, korkoci\u0105gu)\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of fruit<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>s<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> and vegetables<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (bez pomidora, og\u00f3rka, ziemniaka, banana, ananasa, arbuza <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: bez czosnku, kopru, groszku) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of currencies<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (bez dolara, rubla, jena, franka, ALE: z\u0142oty \u2013 z\u0142otego) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • the names of cars<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (nie mam poloneza, peugeota, mercedesa, forda, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT you must remember that some cars\u2019 names don\u2019t change at all<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: nie mam renault, nie mam BMW) <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • Polish cities, including those which were a part of <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (do Krakowa, Lublina, Mi\u0144ska, Wilna Wroc\u0142awia, Kijowa, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: Sopotu, Bia\u0142egostoku), <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>many Russian cities<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> (Swierd\u0142owska, Chabarowska, Saratowa, Irkutska, <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>BUT<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: Syktywkaru, W\u0142adywostoku), <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>and cities <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>whose<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span> names end with <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>-burg (z Hamburga, Petersburga, Edynburga)
      \n<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • most of grammatical terms (rzeczownik-rzeczownika, mianownik-mianownika, BUT: przypadek-przypadku)\u00a0 <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
    • words with the suffixes <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>-ak, -nik (<\/span><\/span><\/span>stra\u017caka, ziemniaka, stra\u017cnika, opornika)<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Please not<\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span> that <\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span> masculine nouns with the suffix -ek (including <\/span><\/span>diminutive<\/span><\/span> forms of men\u2019s names) the letter \u201ce\u201d disappears in dope\u0142niacz as well as <\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span><\/strong> biernik, celownik, narz\u0119dnik, miejscownik:<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      domek – domku, domkowi, domkiem, domku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      garnek – garnka, garnkowi, garnkiem, garnku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      zegarek – zegarka, zegarkowi, zegarkiem, zegarku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      og\u00f3rek – og\u00f3rka, og\u00f3rkowi, og\u00f3rkiem, og\u00f3rku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      Antek – Antka, Antkowi, Antkiem, Antku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      Maciek – Ma\u0107ka, Ma\u0107kowi, Ma\u0107kiem, Ma\u0107ku\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      The same thing happens <\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span><\/span> many masculine nouns with the suffix -er and some (but not many) nouns with the suffix -el:<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      cukier – cukru, cukrowi, cukrem, cukrze<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      puder – pudru, pudrowi, pudrem, pudrze<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      plaster – plastru, plastrowi, plastrem, plastrze\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      bajzel – bajzlu, bajzlowi, bajzlem, bajzlu<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      wr\u00f3bel – wr\u00f3bla, wr\u00f3blowi, wr\u00f3blem, wr\u00f3blu<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      In the group of nouns with the -er ending there are many exceptions, where the letter \u201ce\u201d doesn\u2019t disappear:<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      fryzjer – fryzjera<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      lakier – lakieru\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      poker – pokera\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      papier – papieru<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Feminine singular nouns<\/h1>\n
      \n

      All the feminine nouns <\/span><\/span>in <\/span><\/span>which the <\/span><\/span>root<\/span><\/span> in mianownik <\/span><\/span>end<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span> with<\/span><\/span> k, g, \u015b, \u0144, \u0107, \u017a, d\u017a, l, j have the ending -i in dope\u0142niacz with some possible alterations <\/span><\/span>after<\/span><\/span><\/span> soft letters \u015b, \u0144, \u0107, \u017a:<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      kolacja \u2013 kolacji <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      ko\u015b\u0107 \u2013 ko\u015bci <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      noga – nogi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      Where the root ends with any other letter<\/span><\/span><\/span>, feminine nouns have the ending -y in dope\u0142niacz:<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      dizewczyna \u2013 dziewczyny <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      tablica \u2013 tablicy <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      kreda \u2013 kredy <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Neuter singular nouns<\/h1>\n

      All neuter singular nouns have only one ending in dope\u0142niacz: -a<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

      dziecko – dziecka<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      s\u0142o\u0144ce – s\u0142o\u0144ca\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

      okno – okna<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      \n

      I wish you luck in memorising all the rules and exceptions!<\/strong><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Let\u2019s admit from the very beginning: dope\u0142niacz is probably one of the most difficult topics Polish grammar. It has a lot of different rules and even more exceptions to them, and to make matters worse, we use it in almost every sentence. So, let\u2019s try to make it a bit easier for you to organise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"postlang":[95],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3317"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3338,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3317\/revisions\/3338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3317"},{"taxonomy":"postlang","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/polishnative.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/postlang?post=3317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}