Having a really hard time with Polish cases

I generally do really well in my Polish course, but lately I am having a real hard time trying to determine when to use which case. I understand how to change the case endings, however when to use them is becoming a nightmare. I have just started my third Polish course and it is becoming increasingly difficult because I do not understand how to do this. We are writing stories and what not and my cases are all over the place. If anyone can give me an explanation or a thorough reference book I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks :)

There are plenty of good books on the market and Colloquial Polish by W Mazur is a very good buy should you not already have a copy.

Michal, this was so polite!! x

The rules of Polish grammar in tabular formats (at least most of them). The rules are explained in both Polish and English.

Good luck: free.of.pl/g/grzegorj/gram/gram00.html

Hi,

For my two zloty, i.e. euros, worth, cases in any language are not transparent in the beginning to intermediate stages (just try German, for instance, much less Finnish or Hungarian, with respectively 32 such cases, on for size!!!).

Attempt instead to learn them in context. I don't know either your Polish level or your instructor's method, but I dare say, that just drilling cases all class long, is clearly drudgery and NOT the best way to do things. In the long run too, it is mostly likely not the most productive.

Admittedly, memorization/repetition, should be contextual, i.e. showing situations where, for example the instrumental vs. the dative case are used, rather than merely through dry charts or tables. The latter is a supplement rather than a subsitute, for more use-friendly learning.

Marek

Try these two grammar books, both free downloads. You may find them useful:

Small grammar book about the Polish language:

polish.slavic.pitt.edu/firstyear/nutshell.pdf

and

big grammar book

polish.slavic.pitt.edu/grammar.pdf

The larger book goes through the cases in some detail.

The remainder of the material on the web site is also well worth a look.

...oop, forgot the website url: polish.slavic.pitt.edu/sitemap.html

Thank you all so much for your help and information, I will check it all out and hopefully get a better understanding when to use the cases. I am so excited to finally have some helpful guides. Thank you again!

Terenia

I understand your problem ,identifying the cases is my biggest problem also. :)

its amazing what you can find :) try the videos by janusz

If I use the verb byc, what do I use as the direct object with pronouns?

do you mean conjugation?
See this: polishforums.com/conjugation_verb_byc-17_16685_0.html

I have just dicovered some lessons with polish cases. Have a look at this:

youtube.com/watch?v=pady3KjFOUk

youtube.com/watch?v=w5NmZHysIgM

youtube.com/watch?v=-2Jp4WudwPc

youtube.com/watch?v=Bft7pfXczaU

I hope it helps

Try A Grammar Of Contemporary Polish by Oscar E. Swan, page 327 - Uses of the Cases

KINDS OF CASE USES

There are too many possible noun-functions in sentences, and too few
Polish cases, for each noun-function to be associated with a specific case.
Instead, the same case may be used to express different functions, and dif-
ferent functions may be expressed not only by case-endings alone but also
with prepositions plus cases. By and large, prepositions serve to make general
case meanings more specific. As a rough characterization, one may dis-
tinguish among (a) "bare" or basic syntactic uses of cases; (b) governed uses
of cases, including especially uses after prepositions and verbs; (c) idiomatic
uses of cases, often figurative extensions of the basic case-use, used to express
adverbial ideas. For example, the Genitive case is used BASICALLY to express
noun-to-noun relationships, as in dom ojca house of father, father's house.
Additionally, the Genitive is GOVERNED (required) after certain prepositions
and verbs, as in bez wody without water-G, or s∏ucham muzyki I'm listening to
music-G. Finally, the Genitive occurs IDIOMATICALLY, as in the expressions of
dates; see pierwszego maja on the first of May.

You can find more detail in the book.

Merged: Polish noun cases

Can someone explain the different endings cases and genders because I'm totally lost

You need a book and maybe a teacher really. I recommend Hurra Po Polsku 1 which covers 5 of the cases with exercises, rules and examples etc. This video may help you:



There are 3 genders.

There are 7 cases.

There are rules for declining nouns and adjectives based on gender and case, of course there are exceptions also which need to be learnt.

So for butelka there are 7 possible endings in singular and 7 possible endings in plural.

The video left out the case wołacz.

Gumishu has an explanation about cases here that I found interesting:
https://polishforums.com/language/lubie-ten-kobieta-proper-grammar-56725/#msg1228188

Merged:

Polish cases are confusing

Cześć.

I've been trying to learn Polish for awhile now, and my biggest holdup has been the 7 Polish cases and conjugations. I've looked far and wide for explanations and ways to learn them but without much success. Could someone explain them? Thank you very much.

Have a look through these threads, there might be some help there https://polishforums.com/index.php?phrase=polish+cases&action=search&searchGo=1

Polish inflections can and often do look rather daunting in the beginning, I will confess.
Having said that, there are in fact on occasion regular patterns which emerge, particularly in the feminine gender or "rodzaj zenski".

Too little space to enumerate right here, but sometimes, the best way to internalize such endings is to read as much as possible in the beginning, everything from instruction manuals, kiddie mags, even tooth paste tubes (quite literally!) in order to simply gain a feel for the language as an outsider.

Believe me, it works, oddly enough:-)

The cases are explained better or worse here : lingua.website/polish/polish-grammar/1-noun-cases.htm. Maybe this can be useful.

Probably a decent source, RobertP12.
Not to knock the other fellow's merchandise, there are so many sources both online as well as in paper form from which to choose, surely there can be no definitive site!

But again, wrapping oneself up in case endings right at the start without learning to simply communicate in the basic spoken language, is a mistake in my opinion.

I've taught German for nearly thirty-odd years and I try to spare my beginners the pain of too much immersion in the grammar right at the outset.

Learning in context is to my mind the ideal way of learning any language after the age of childhood.

Powodzenia,

Hello,
Yes, it is true that Polish cases are complicated. But you can learn them. I recommend interesting materials on the Instagram of the Online Polish Courses account (instagram.com/online_polish_courses/). I also recommend taking a look at the website's blog (onlinepolishcourse.com/blog/), where interesting materials are published.

Yes, but only for the first 40 years of dealing with them. Later on they become a bun with butter which means a piece of cake.

Polish cases MUST once again, be learned in context rather than as isolated grammar!

"Grammar" is an abstraction anyhow and obscures actually getting a handle on the nuts and bolts of speaking another language.

While nobody denies that the cases in Polish are crucial, merely going down a list of each seven cases in singular and plural, will create more headaches and disillusionment in the long run than true learning success:-)

Furthermore, many Poles will say that they don't know their own grammar perfectly either, not even close, except for university-educated ones.

No @Lyzko, you are wrong this time. Poles know their Polish language and they learn grammar just by listening.

Instinctively though.
I will agree that Poles, as with all native speakers of their mother tongue, acquire their first language by listening, not via the institutional methods of foreigners trying to learn a foreign language!

Often times, I remember asking rank-and-file Polish native speakers both here and in Poland, which case was required in any given instance. Except for one young woman who was a teacher/translator or Polish, the rest balked at providing an explanation....in Polish OR English.

terrible idea, most Poles can't even match the (Polish) names of cases with the forms... you ask what case is used by using frames (I used to have a bunch of them for that purpose)

you can also ask kto co, kogo co, kogo czego etc.

Lyzko meant Poles don`t know how to name grammar concepts in Polish. He didn`t mean that Poles don`t know how to use their language grammar correctly.

And he was right. When I ask my mature students about cases, they look at me in complete amazement.

I wonder why? It is very simple: mianownik, dopełniacz, celownik, biernik, nadrzędnik, miejscownik and wołacz. Even Alien knows that.

Lyzko said: except for university-educated ones.
And he was right again.

I understand, Lyzko is always right.... .