Linguim

Linguim.com allows you to learn new languages completely free of charge. Choose a language and start learning!

Welcome!
Join | Login

Verb "mieć" and Accusative Case

<1>

- Co ma Pan w walizce?

- Mam laptop, kabel, książkę, notatnik i długopis.

- Ma Pan portfel?

- Tak, ale nie w walizce. Mam portfel w kieszeni.

<1>

"What do you have in your suitcase, sir?"

"I have a laptop, a cable, a book, a notebook and a pen.

"Do you have a wallet?"

"Yes, but not in my suitcase. I have the wallet in my pocket."

 

 

 

<2>

- Co masz w torebce?

- Mam szminkę, lusterko, krem i chusteczki.

- Masz komórkę?

- Oczywiście.

<2>

- What do you have in your purse?

- I have a lipstick, a mirror, a lotion and tissues.

- Do you have a cellphone?

- Of course.

 

 

 

<3>

- Co ma Pani na sobie?

- Mam na sobie obcasy, spódnicę i bluzkę.

- Ma Pani na sobie kapelusz?

- Nie, nie teraz.

 

<3>

"What are you wearing, ma'am?"

"I'm wearing heels, a skirt and  a blouse."

"Are you wearing a hat?"

"No, not right now."

 

<4>

- Co macie na sobie?

- Mamy na sobie tenisówki i dżinsy.

- Tylko to?

- Nie, ja mam na sobie sweter, a mój kolega ma na sobie golf.

 

<4>

"What are you wearing?"

"We're wearing tennis shoes and jeans.

"Only this?"

"No, I'm wearing a sweater, and my friend is wearing a turtleneck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

VOCABULARY

adverbs

oczywiście

of course

tylko

only

nouns B

bluzka

blouse

but

shoe

buty (plural)

shoes

nouns C

chusteczka

tissue

chusteczki (plural)

tissues

czapka

cap

nouns D

długopis

pen

dżinsy (always plural)

jeans

nouns G

garnitur

suit

golf

turtleneck

nouns K

kabel

cable

kapelusz

hat

komórka; telefon komórkowy

cellphone

krawat

tie

krem

lotion

książka

book

kurtka

jacket

nouns L

laptop

laptop

lusterko

(pocket) mirror

noun N

notatnik

notebook

nouns O

obcas; but na obcasie

heel (shoe)

obcasy; buty na obcasach (plural)

heels

nouns P

pas

belt

piżama

pyjamas

płaszcz

coat

podkoszulek

T-shirt

portfel

wallet

nouns R

rękawiczka

glove

rękawiczki (plural)

gloves

 

 

nouns S

sandał

sandal

sandały (plural)

sandals

skarpeta

sock

skarpety (plural)

socks

spodnie (always plural)

pants

spódnica

skirt

sukienka

dress

sweter

sweater

szalik

scarf

szminka

lipstick

nouns T

telefon

phone; telephone

tenisówka

tennis shoe

tenisówki (plural)

tennis shoes

pronoun

to

this; it

question words

co?

what?

jak?

how?

time expression

teraz

now; right now

 

The verb "mieć" is the most used verb in Polish language. It is used in many common questions:

 

Jak masz na imię? --- Jak macie na imię?

Jak się masz? --- Jak się macie?

What is your name?

How are you?

 

Co masz? --- Co macie?

Co masz na sobie? --- Co macie na sobie?

What do you have?

What are you wearing?

 

 

Exercise 1: Fill in the correct form of "mieć".

1. Oni ________ na sobie podkoszulek, sandały, spodnie i pas.

2. Mój kolega ________ na sobie garnitur, krawat, skarpety i buty.

3. Ty ________ na sobie czapkę i szalik?

4. Ona ________ na sobie piżamę.

5. My ________ na sobie rękawiczki.

6. Moja koleżanka ________ na sobie sukienkę i kurtkę.

7. Ja ________ na sobie płaszcz.

 

 

ACCUSATIVE CASE

Polish language uses grammatical cases to set the meaning of a word in a sentece, unlike English language that uses the placing of the words.

 

Mój kolega ma książkę.

My friend has a book.

Książkę ma mój kolega.

Książka ma mojego kolegę.

A book has my friend.

Mojego kolegę ma książka.

 

Nominative case is the main case, used in dictionaries, and acts a subject of the sentence. In English language the subject is most of the time the first noun in a sentence. The accusative case on the other hand specifies the object, and in English it is usually a noun that follows the verb.

 

Before learning the declination (case change), we need to learn to distuinguish the number and the gender of the nouns that we are going to decline.

Masculine Gender most of the time ends with any consonant.

Feminine Gender most of the time ends with a vowel "a" or pair of consonants "ść".

Neuter Gender most of the time ends with vowels "o", "e" or "ę".

Of course there's a minority of words that do not follow those rules and are placed in their own separate groups, and must be learned separately.

 

Exercise 2: Look at the nouns in the vocabulary and based on the above rules, list them as either masculine, feminine, or neuter. (Please omit plural forms for now)

1. Masculine Nouns:_______________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Feminine Nouns:________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Neuter Noun (there's only one):________________

 

Nouns can be either inanimate, i.e. objects that are not alive, or animate, i.e. people and animals. This can be sometimes confusing as certain things may be difficult to categorize. e.g. "duch" (ghost) is declined as an animate noun, even though it can be thought of as a thing or a human. Masculine Animate and Masculine Inanimate nouns always have a different declination, so it is important to be able to differentiate between them.

 

Table of Declination:

Meaning

Mianownik (Nominative)

Biernik (Accusative)

 

cat

kot

kota

Masculine Singular

Animate

dog

*pies

*psa

hamster

chomik

chomika

book

książka

książkę

Feminine Singular

skirt

spódnica

spódnicę

Mrs.; Ma'am

Pani

Panią

Masculine Inanimate and Neuter forms stay the same as in Nominative case.

 

*For the masculine singular animate nouns, usually you add "a" after final consonant. However, in certain words, the vowel(s) before the last consonant disappear when there is a vowel added after it. The nouns that do that have to be remembered, as there is no single rule.

 

For the feminine singular nouns a simple change from final "a" to "ę" takes place. The only special word is "Pani", that does not have a final "a" in Nominative, and takes "ą" in Accusative.

 

Exercise 3: Co masz? What do you have?

1. Mam w walizce _____________________________________________.

2. Mam w torebce _____________________________________________.

3. Mam w kieszeni _____________________________________________.

 

Exercise 4: Co masz na sobie? What are you wearing?

1. Teraz mam na sobie ______________________________________________.

2. Mój kolega ma na sobie ______________________________________________.

3. Moja koleżanka ma na sobie ______________________________________________.

4. Zwykle (usually) mam na sobie ______________________________________________.