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 |
depending on the context:
| 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. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Polish Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |