🧩 Cases
The seven endings that show what a noun is doing in the sentence.
Why cases?
Polish does not rely on word order or little words to show who does what. The ending of each noun, adjective and pronoun changes with its job in the sentence. There are seven cases, and each answers a question.
The seven cases
| Case | Question | Main use |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative (Mianownik) | Kto? Co? | The subject, and the dictionary form |
| Genitive (Dopełniacz) | Kogo? Czego? | Possession, quantity, absence, after negation |
| Dative (Celownik) | Komu? Czemu? | The person who receives something |
| Accusative (Biernik) | Kogo? Co? | The direct object |
| Instrumental (Narzędnik) | Z kim? Z czym? | With whom or what, the tool, being someone |
| Locative (Miejscownik) | O kim? O czym? | Only after prepositions: where, about what |
| Vocative (Wołacz) | Hej! Proszę pana! | Calling or addressing someone |
One example for each
Kot śpi.
The cat is sleeping. (nominative)
Nie mam czasu.
I have no time. (genitive after negation)
Daję bratu książkę.
I give my brother a book. (dative bratu, accusative książkę)
Widzę kota.
I see the cat. (accusative)
Piszę długopisem.
I write with a pen. (instrumental)
Mieszkam w Warszawie.
I live in Warsaw. (locative)
Kasiu, chodź tutaj!
Kasia, come here! (vocative)
Singular endings
A masculine animate noun (kot), a feminine noun in -a (woda) and a neuter noun in -o (okno). Many nouns follow these patterns, but not all of them.
| Case | kot (m) | woda (f) | okno (n) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | kot | woda | okno |
| Genitive | kota | wody | okna |
| Dative | kotu | wodzie | oknu |
| Accusative | kota | wodę | okno |
| Instrumental | kotem | wodą | oknem |
| Locative | kocie | wodzie | oknie |
| Vocative | kocie | wodo | okno |
Tips
Learn the preposition together with its case: w + locative (w Warszawie), z + instrumental (z bratem), do + genitive (do domu).
For masculine nouns the accusative equals the genitive when the noun is a person or animal (widzę kota), and equals the nominative when it is a thing (widzę stół).