My Family & Friends: Grammar (AQA GCSE Polish): Revision Note
Exam code: 8688
Subject pronouns
Mój przyjaciel ma na imię Tomasz. On jest bardzo miły.
Subject pronouns replace the noun in a sentence
They are useful when talking about others so that we don't need to keep repeating their name(s)
In the sentence above, on replaces 'Tomasz'
Subject pronouns can be singular (one person) or plural (more than one person)
There are three Polish words for 'you':
ty is used for one person informally, e.g. a friend or family member
wy is used when speaking to more than one person
Pan(man), Pani (woman) is more formal, you use them when you want to be respectful
Write Pan / Pani with a capital letter when you address someone in a letter or email; otherwise use lower case
Polish | English | Polish | English |
|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
ja | I | my | we |
ty | you (informal) | wy | you |
on, ona, ono | he, she, it | oni (groups with at least one man), one (groups of women, animals or things) | they |
Possessive adjectives (nominatives)
Moja siostra ma na imię Magda, a mój brat ma na imię Tomasz. Moje koty nazywają się Robert i Karol.
Possessive adjectives show who something belongs to, e.g. 'my', 'their'
The possessive adjective mój, twój, nasz, wasz match the gender of the noun; jego (his), jej (her) and ich (their) depend on the owner and never change
The endings in the table below apply when the possessive adjective is the subject of the sentence (nominative)
In other words, when it refers to the person or thing doing the verb, e.g. mój brat jest miły (my brother is kind)
Here, mój brat is the subject
In the accusative case, possessive adjectives change: feminine nouns use „moją”, while masculine animate nouns (people and animals) use mojego'
Possessive adjectives - nominative case only
Owner | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine personal plural | Other plural nouns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||||
my | mój brat | moja siostra | moje dziecko | moi bracia | moje siostry / moje koty |
your | twój brat | twoja siostra | twoje dziecko | twoi bracia | twoje siostry / twoje koty |
his | jego brat | jego siostra | jego dziecko | jego bracia | jego siostry / jego koty |
her | jej brat | jej siostra | jej dziecko | jej bracia | jej siostry / jej koty |
our | nasz brat | nasza siostra | nasze dziecko | nasi bracia | nasze siostry / nasze koty |
your | wasz brat | wasza siostra | wasze dziecko | wasi bracia | wasze siostry / wasze koty |
their | ich brat | ich siostra | ich dziecko | ich bracia | ich siostry / ich koty |
Noun gender
In Polish, every noun has a grammatical gender
Knowing the gender of a noun is important because it affects other words in the sentence, such as adjectives, pronouns and past-tense verbs
The main genders
Gender | Common ending | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Masculine (męski) | often a consonant | brat (brother), dziadek (grandfather), kolega (male friend) |
Feminine (żeński) | often -a | siostra (sister), mama (mum), koleżanka (female friend) |
Neuter (nijaki) | often -o / -e / -ę | dziecko (child), imię (name) |
Examples:
Mój brat jest miły. – My brother is nice.
Moja siostra jest miła. – My sister is nice.
Moje dziecko jest miłe. – My child is nice.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
When learning family and friends vocabulary, always learn the noun together with its gender pattern, for example:
mój brat
moja siostra
moje dziecko
This will help you choose the correct adjective and verb endings when speaking and writing
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