The Genitive Case in Polish – Rules, Examples, Exceptions

What is the genitive case?

The genitive is the second case in declension, answering the questions: whom? what? It is used to describe what belongs to someone or what category something belongs to. It usually appears after prepositions, but also after some verbs, adjectives, and nouns. Apart from the nominative, it is the most frequently used case in Polish.

The genitive in the construction with “nie ma”

Right from the beginning of learning, it is worth remembering the use of the genitive in the construction with – nie ma. This information will be very helpful in further learning Polish. The genitive can also, in some situations, replace the accusative. This happens when the verb appears in a negative form, e.g., Nie zrobił zadania, Nie wypił herbaty.

Difficulties with singular masculine endings

Learners of Polish often have the most problems with these endings. They don’t know whether a given word should end in -a or -u. We will try to explain it!

• Masculine nouns that end in the letter -a in the nominative, for example: kierowca, kolega, tata, have the ending -y or -i in the genitive (kierowcy, kolegi, taty).
• The genitive with the ending -a can be found among names of:

people or professions: pisarz – pisarza, grabarz – grabarza, tancerz – tancerza,

measures and weights: kilogram – kilograma, kilometr – kilometra, tysiąc – tysiąca,

dishes and cutlery: talerz – talerza, kubek – kubka, widelec – widelca,

months: marzec – marca, maj – maja, czerwiec – czerwca,

brand names, fruits, etc.: arbuz – arbuza, maluch – malucha, granat – granata.

• In the singular masculine, the genitive ending -u is used in:

collective and abstract nouns: humor – humoru, wywiad – wywiadu, wypadek – wypadku,

material nouns: piasek – piasku, diament – diamentu, długopis – długopisu.

• The genitive of singular neuter nouns has the ending -a, for example: okno – okna, krzesło – krzesła, ciastko – ciastka.
• In singular feminine nouns, the endings -i or -y are used, for example: panna – panny, smycz – smyczy, szminka – szminki.

Verbs with a noun in the genitive

In Polish, there is also a fairly large group of verbs that require a noun in the genitive, e.g.:

używamy (czego?) piły,
słuchamy (czego?) muzyki,
pilnujemy (kogo?) dziecka,
unikamy (czego?) kłótni,
dolewamy (czego?) mleka

brakuje mi (kogo czego?) pięciu złotych
przestrzegam (kogo? czego?) prawa
ustąpić (kogo? czego?) miejsca
szukać (kogo? czego?) książki itp.

These verbs are characterized by the fact that, unfortunately, they do not follow clearly defined rules. Once again, you have to rely on your memory 😉

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Although the genitive may seem difficult to learn at first, over time it can be mastered perfectly! If learning Polish on your own seems too complicated, it is worth choosing the right teacher and Polish language school. Experienced teachers and a friendly atmosphere can work wonders while learning this beautiful but demanding language!

Remember that Varia offers both in-school and online Polish courses, and its 20 years of experience and students’ successes speak for themselves. If you also want to become a master of the Polish language, we warmly invite you to courses at Varia!

Aneta Kawa