Accusative
For learners of Polish, the concept and study of grammar is very important. As in any foreign language. However, I know that Polish grammar is very different from, for example, the grammar of Germanic languages. Polish has seven cases that need to be learnt. The first of these, which we will present in today’s post, is the accusative (biernik).
What Is the Case in Grammar?
It is a grammatical category for the conjugation of nouns, adjectives, counters and pronouns. In Polish, there are 7 cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative and vocative.
Accusative Singular
In Polish, there are five kinds in the singular: animate substantive, inanimate, feminine and neuter, while in the plural there are four kinds: masculine, feminine and neuter. Unlike their English equivalents, they require no article. Depending on the context, the noun jabłko can be translated as the apple, an apple or apple.
Pronouns: kogo? co?
What is Męski Żywotny and Nieżywotny?
Męski żywotny (Eng. animate) – those that name living beings, i.e. people and animals, e.g. a cook, a dog, as well as personified concepts and images, such as a dwarf or an angel.
Męski nieżywotny (Eng. inanimate) – those that name objects, plants, or activities, states, phenomena, e.g. a table, a daisy, listening, weariness, snow.
Notice that the accusative of animate noun is the same as the genitive.
The accusative of inanimate and neuter nouns are the same as the nominative.
Feminine nouns who nominative ends in a vowel take the -ę ending in the accusative singular. The noun pani is an exception to the rule. The accusative of feminine nouns ending in a consonant is the same as the nominative.
For example:
Kogo widzisz? Widzę dziewczynę. / Who do you see? I see a girl.
Co ona widzi? Ona widzi konia. / What does she see? She sees a horse.
Kogo? and co? introduce questions requiring an answer in the accusative. Kogo? requires personal nouns (singular or plural); co? requires non-personal nouns.
Note that the accusative is often used as the direct object of a sentence.
Exceptions
Some inanimate masculine nouns take the ending a in the accusative, i.e. a form equal to the genitive.:
- owoce i warzywa (proszę banana, pomidora) —> eng. fruits and vegetables ( banana, tomato, please)
- nazwy sportów i gier (gram w hokeja, tenisa) —> eng. the name of sports and games (I play hockey, tenis)
- tańce (tańczę walca, fokstrota) —>eng. dances (I’m dancing waltz, foxtrot)
- waluty (funta, dolara) —> eng. currency (pound, dollar)
- marki samochodów (mercedesa, fiata) —> eng. car brands (Mercedes, Fiat)
Accusative Plural
All masculine personal nouns whose stems end in a hard consonant and some whose stems end in a hardened consonant take the -ów ending in the accusative plural. When the final consonant of the stem is soft, masculine nouns take the -i ending; and when it is hardened, they usually take the -y ending.
The accusative plural of masculine non-personal, feminine and neuter nouns is the same as their nominative plural.
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