Polish/Adjectives
< Polish
Adjectives
The adjective (przymiotnik) is a very powerful part of speech in Polish. It declines very regularly depending on case, number and gender. It may be used as a noun. For example Polish adjectives "bogaty" (rich) and "czarny" (black) are very often used as "nouns" (taking forms "bogata" and "czarna" in feminine gender).
While there is only one pattern, final consonant group takes different endings.
The vocative always has the same form as the nominative.
| Case | Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminine | Person-masculine and animate-masculine | Inanimate-masculine | Neuter | Person-masculine | Other genders | |
| Nominative | -a/-ia | -y/-i | -e/-ie | -i/-y | -e/-ie | |
| Genitive | -ej/-iej | -ego/-iego | -ych/-ich | |||
| Dative | -ej/-iej | -emu/-iemu | -ym/-im | |||
| Accusative | -ą/-ią | -ego/-iego | -y/-i | -e/-ie | -ych/-ich | -e/-ie |
| Instrumental | -ą/-ią | -ym/-im | -ymi/-imi | |||
| Locative | -ej/-iej | -ym/-im | -ych/-ich | |||
Fields, by colour:
- White - basic form (feminine singular nominative)
- Green - second form (with "i") in the case of adjectives ending in "ka", "ga" or "ia" in the base form, first form (without "i") otherwise
- Purple - second form (with "i") in the case of adjectives ending in "ia" in the basic form, first form (without "i") otherwise
- Red - final consonant group must be palatized (or "softened"), and "i" or "y" must be added, depending on result
Some softening rules are (compared to the singular masculine nominative):
| "y" changes to "i" | |
|---|---|
| by | bi |
| my | mi |
| ny | ni |
| wy | wi |
| Change of consonant, "y" stays "y" | |
| ry | rzy |
| Change of consonant, "y" changes to "i" | |
| ły | li |
| szy | si |
| Change of consonant, "i" changes to "y" | |
| ki | cy |
| gi | dzy |
| No changes, with "i" | |
| pi | pi |
| si | si |
| wi | wi |
| No changes, with "y" | |
| rzy | rzy |
See polski for sample "-ki" declension.
Adjective forms can also get comparative and superlative forms.