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Help with polish grammar - byc on/ona?



VincentThreads: 15
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Joined: Sep 9, 07 [Moderator] 		  Oct 30, 08, 11:25 /  #
In the following text- On jest chłopcem, Ona jest dziewczynką On jest mężczyzną and Ona jest kobietą why are the endings used like this and not chłopiec, dziewczynka, mężczyzna and kobieta? Not sure if this is the dative case, but if it is then it might explain it?

Also in what context would you use panu , pana and the female panią as opposed to pan, pani?
rsm109Threads: -
Posts: 18
Joined: Oct 29, 08 		Edited by: rsm109   Oct 30, 08, 15:43 /  #
The Polish verb być "to be" takes the instrumental case, the suffix -ą for feminine gender nouns (and a few masculine gender ending in a), -em for masculine and neuter nouns and -ami for plurals of all genders.

You use "panu" (dative) if something's being given or done to the gentleman and "pana" if he's the object of a sentence (accusative) or you're talking about something belonging to him (genitive). I can never remember the declension of "pani" but I think "panią" is the accusative. (EDIT: it is, as well as the instrumental.)

Hope that helps. :-)
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rsm109:

Hope that helps. :-)


This has been a great help,many thanks.
sausageThreads: 25
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Joined: Sep 21, 07 		  Oct 30, 08, 16:13 /  #
Vincent:

This has been a great help

Vincent, have you seen the book "Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook" by Dana Bielece. It's not cheap (per page) but it is pretty good... Bite-sized lessons and exercises.
VincentThreads: 15
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sausage:

Vincent, have you seen the book "Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook" by Dana Bielece. It's not cheap (per page) but it is pretty good... Bite-sized lessons and exercises.



No I haven't sausage...must look out for it online.
sausageThreads: 25
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Joined: Sep 21, 07 		  Oct 30, 08, 16:23 /  #
Vincent:

No I haven't sausage...must look out for it online.

I can scan in and send you a couple of pages if you want...
Instrumental (narzędnik) is the easiest Polish case in terms of rules..
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sausage:

I can scan in and send you a couple of pages if you want


...yes can you do that please
rsm109Threads: -
Posts: 18
Joined: Oct 29, 08 		Edited by: rsm109   Oct 30, 08, 16:26 /  #
sausage:

Vincent, have you seen the book "Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook" by Dana Bielece. It's not cheap (per page) but it is pretty good... Bite-sized lessons and exercises.

If it's as good as her other Polish grammar book I'd second this recommendation.

Vincent, glad I could help. I know studying the declensions gave me a few headaches when I started learning Polish. Complicated but absolutely essential.

EDIT:
sausage:
Instrumental (narzędnik) is the easiest Polish case in terms of rules..

Indeed. I don't think I could have summarised the suffixes for other cases quite as concisely.
sausageThreads: 25
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Joined: Sep 21, 07 		  Oct 30, 08, 16:26 /  #
ok, coming right up!
Aramroth   Oct 30, 08, 16:35 /  #
Mianownik / Nominative (kto? co? | who? what?): dziewczynka
Dopełniacz / Genitive (kogo? czego? | whom? what?): dziewczynki
Celownik / Dative (komu? czemu? | to whom? to what?): dziewczynce
Biernik / Accusative (kogo? co? | whom? what?): dziewczynkę
Narzędnik / Instrumental (z kim? z czym? | with whom? with what?): z dziewczynką
Miejscownik / Locative (o kim? o czym? | about whom? about what?): o dziewczynce
Wołacz / Vocative: dziewczynko!
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Aramroth:

Aramroth [Guest]



thanks for these details about each case, much appreciated.
Michal2Threads: -
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Joined: Aug 30, 08 		  Nov 3, 08, 08:29 /  #
Vincent:

On jest chłopcem, O

On jest chłopakiem.
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Michal2:

On jest chłopakiem.



Is the first one defiantly wrong Michal ? I got it from a book
benszymanskiThreads: 9
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Joined: Feb 29, 08 		  Nov 3, 08, 08:37 /  #
Michal2:

On jest chłopakiem


That means something else. Chłopak (guy/boyfriend) and chłopiec (boy) are two different words.
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