Polish Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Polish grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Polish and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Polish and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Polish.

Prepositions - Polish
and i
above powyżej
under pod
before przed
after za/ po
in front of przed
behind za
far from z dala od
near blisko
in w
inside wewnątrz
outside na zewnątrz
with z
without bez
about o
between między
but ale
for dla
from z
to do

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Polish
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] jem bez noża
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] mieszka w pobliżu kościoła
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] jest on wyższy niż ona
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] przyszedł ze swoim małym psem
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] możesz iść ze mną?

Negation in Polish

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Polish
I understand you [affirmative form] rozumiem cię
I don't understand you [negation + verb] nie rozumiem ciebie
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] to nie jest odpowiednie słowo
don't leave me [imperative negation] nie zostawiaj mnie
no problem [negation + noun] nie ma problemu

Negative Sentences - Polish
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] nie mówię po francusku
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ona nie odwiedziła niemiec
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] nie widzi nas
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] nie potrafi grać w szachy?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] nie spóźnimy się

Questions in Polish

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Polish
how? jak?
what? co?
who? kto?
why? dlaczego?
where? gdzie?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Polish
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] gdzie mieszkasz?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ona mówi po chińsku?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ile to jest?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] mogę pomóc?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] jak masz na imię?

Adverbs in Polish

It's time to learn the adverbs in Polish. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Polish
now teraz
yesterday wczoraj
today dzisiaj
tonight dzisiaj wieczorem
tomorrow jutro
soon wkrótce
quickly szybko
slowly powoli
together razem
very bardzo
almost prawie
always zawsze
usually zwykle
sometimes czasami
rarely rzadko
never nigdy

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Polish
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] rozumiesz mnie teraz?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] potrzebuję pomocy natychmiast
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ona jest bardzo inteligentna
I will always love you [verb + adverb] zawsze będę cię kochał
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] czy możemy uczyć się razem niemieckiego?

Pronouns in Polish

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Polish. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Polish
I ja
you ty
he on
she ona
we my
they oni/ one

Object Pronouns - Polish
me ja, mi, mnie
you ciebie, was, ty, wy, pan, pani, państwo
him jego, jemu, go, nim,on
her jej, nią, ona
us nas, my, nami, nam
them ich, nich, je, nie, nimi, oni, one

Possessive Pronouns - Polish
my mój
your twój
his jego
her jej
our nasz
their ich

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Polish
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] jestem twoim przyjacielem
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] mówisz bardzo szybko
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ma trzy psy
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ona może mówić po niemiecku
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] nie spóźnimy się
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] kupili mleko i chleb

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Polish
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] możesz mi powiedzieć swoje imię?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] dam ci pieniądze
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] napisała do niego list
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] odwiedzili ją wczoraj
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] ona może nam pomóc?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] dał im jedzenie

Possessive Pronouns - Polish
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] mam na imię maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] twój brat tu mieszka
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] jej matka gotuje dla nas
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] jego hobby to czytanie książek
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] naszym marzeniem jest wizyta w paryżu
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] ich dom nie jest daleko

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Polish
this is my house to jest mój dom
that restaurant is far ta restauracja jest daleko
these apples are delicious te jabłka są pyszne
those stars are shiny te gwiazdy są błyszczące

I hope you learned a lot about the Polish grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!