Example sentences for different cases.

In this example,
"Basia nie lubi nosić.........(krótka spódnica)"
Do the bracketed words remain nominative, turn genitive (due to the negation) or something altogether different?

I have been away for over three months and I feel as though I've forgotten every word of Polish I ever learned!!!
HELP!

Basia nie lubi nosić krótkiej spódnicy.

We use genitive (negation).

And if it wasn't negated there would be normal accusative case because it's the direct object.

Merged: Example sentences for different cases.

Hi,

In an effort to try get to grips with Polish cases I'm trying to come up with example sentences using the same Polish word but in different cases. Unfortunately I'm very new to learning Polish so I could really do with a native speaker checking for any errors. If anyone could help me I'd be very grateful. Anyway, here's what I've come up with so far:

kobieta - feminine singular noun (hard stem)

(Nom) Ta jest kobieta.
(Gen) Szukam kobiety.
(Dat) Muszę kobiecie pomagać. (is this word order correct?!)
(Acc) Czekam na kobietę.
(Ins) Ona jest piękną kobietą
(Loc) Czytam książę o kobiecie
(Voc) ????

If anyone could think of better sentences I'd love to hear from you because I'm pretty sure these are awful lol! Oh, and I'd really appreciate any help with coming up with a vocative sentence.

Thanks

(Nom) Ta jest kobieta. OK
(Gen) Szukam kobiety. OK
(Dat) Muszę kobiecie pomagać. (is this word order correct?!) OK
(Acc) Czekam na kobietę. OK
(Ins) Ona jest piękną kobietą OK
(Loc) Czytam książę o kobiecie OK
(Voc) ???? kobieto :)

"Muszę pomóc (tej) kobiecie" would sound much better.

It should be "To jest kobieta".


I agree with lukham - "Muszę pomóc (tej) kobiecie" sounds better.


Classic: "Podaj mi piwo, kobieto!" :-)

Does the ten, ta, to not have to agree with the noun it refers to?



Would it still be correct and make sense the other way? I adapted that sentence from Muszę mu pomagać and because I don't really know what I'm doing I thought I'd better stick to the same order when I inserted kobiecie. Why is it better with the perfective verb?

Thanks

If you are using it to mean "that" then yes:

ta kobieta - that woman

But "to jest..." is a fixed phrase which doesn't change:

To jest kobieta - "this" is a woman

Does that make sense?

Yes I think so.

Does this mean ta jest kobieta is incorrect then? Would I have to use the instrumental case to make it ta jest kobietą or am I just confusing things?

Thanks.

Both you and the Polish language are confusing things. Luckily, although Polish is confusing, it has its own internal consistency and logic.

"To jest..." is a phrase on its own, independent of what it might actually be in gender terms. Use of the word jest leads to the noun that "to" is being instrumental.

To jest kobietą.

Now someone else will tell me I'm wrong.

Grammatically you are correct and it is even conceivable a native speaker of Polish could use this sentence. Only that I'd probably have to think of some elaborate context to justify the usage.

Now I'm really confused! To clarify could someone please tell me which of the following are grammatically correct and what they translate to in English. I understood the first one to mean that is a woman.

Ta jest kobieta

To jest kobieta

Ta jest kobietą

To jest kobietą

I understand to jest is a set phrase but does that mean ta jest is incorrect or just that it is not frequently used?

This is the only phrase which I would use.
However, you can only use in certain sense. Like when pointing at a picture of someone who has an undistinguishable sex. You could say something like, "Thats a woman" To jest kobieta.


Very crude sounding. Ta is an impolite way of referring to a female.
More likely heard as Ta, to jest kobietą!
Like in an all male discussion about an attractive woman, "That one, shes a woman!"

NoSpeakyPolski don't worry just stick to "to jest kobieta" this is the only correct way to express "this is a woman" (out of the forms you metioned)

the other forms are almost never used... I could probably think of a situation when one could use them but it would a really weird and complicated situation... and the meaning would be a bit different than simple "this is a woman"

Ta osoba jest kobietą would be correct. (This person is a woman)

This person is a woman:
In this instance "woman" is an instrument of "person", hence the instrumental case. (This is how I think of it!).
"This is a woman" is nominative as no actions are being done in the sentence, so kobieta - nominative.
Correct me if I am mistaken

Merged:Why does luty become w lutym?

Why does luty become w lutym? In my dictionary it says it is a mascline word and so with preposition w should it not take either -'e or -u ending for locative case? Is it just an irregular word? What am I missing?

Thanks.

Although it's a noun it declines like an adjective. Apparantly, the word comes from an old Polish language and means "cold", "freezing" but since this word is not being used in this context anymore but only as a name of the month, it became a noun.

Nominative – luty
Genitive – lutego
Dative – lutemu
Accusative – luty
Instrumental – lutym
Locative – lutym
Vocative – luty

I also heard another version, that 'luty' is derived from an old Polish adjective for 'bleak' or 'severe'.

It might be the meaning. I didn't search for an answer, I only said what I remembered. It surely is an adjective not used anymore.

thanx-:)

You're very welcome!

I suppose practically all of the names of both the weekdays as well as the months in Polish have a special meaning:

poniedziałek = Monday (day AFTER Sunday, guessing a bit here, I'll admit-:))
środek = Wednesday (middle of the week)
czwartek = fourth day of the week
piątek = fifth " " "

luty = February (the cold, gloomy period of Winter's end) ??
sierpień = August, the pre-harvest month ('sierp' = scythe???)
listopad = November (when the 'liście' or leaves fall from the trees ???)

etc...

Sorry, I meant 'środa' (Wednesday) NOT 'środek' (means)-:)

Marek

days of the week (very approximate ideas of the meanings)

niedziela = not work (similar to 'nie działa')

poniedziałek = after not working (po = after)

wtorek = second

środa = middle

czwartek = fourth

piątek = fifth

sobota = sabbath

Nice addendum to my bare attempt-:)))! LOL

Much appreciated, (ale jak zwykle)

STYCZEŃ originally called TYCZEŃ from the word “tyczka” a (bean pole), that's the month the farmers were preparing bean poles for the upcoming planting season.

LUTY meant something cold, fierce. In old polish there was a phrase "luty wiatr" meaning (cold fierce wind). Lutość in old polish meant (fierce).

MARZEC is derived from Latin "Martius" english "March".
KWIECIEŃ is derived from the word KWIETNY meaning (flower-covered). The month when fields are covered with wield flowers.
MAJ again Latin influence "Maius" english "May" derived from the name of a Roman Goddess Maia in polish MAJA mother of Mercury.

CZERWIEC is derived from CZERWIE a (honeybee pupae).
LIPIEC that's the month when LIPA (lime tree) blooms. The flower is harvested and dried, brewed as a tea, good to take during the cold or used as detox. Taken in a small dose has a calming effect.

SIERPIEŃ associated with the word SIERP (scythe), The month of harvest.
WRZESIEŃ that's the month when (heather) blooms in polish WRZOS.
PA-DZIERNIK month when LEN (fiber flax) is harvested and processed, the waste and the bits leftover after the fiber extraction from flax are called PA-DZIERZE (awn ???), hence the name.

LISTOPAD literally meaning time of falling leaves.
GRUDZIEŃ derived from a noun GRUDA, (a dirt clod).

In a similar way ja jestem w Zakopanem. It acts like an adjective but it is not w Zakopanym for some reason.

Maybe because it looks like it's a plural adjective? Zakopany would be a singular adjective?

...as compared with so to speak "plural" place names, e.g. 'Katowice' (w Katowicach), 'Siedlice', 'Niemcy' (w Niemczech) etc....

Pioruń, very informative your explanations. Glad to see too that I was right at least about 'sierpień' as derived from 'sierp'-:)

'kwiecień' was another obvious one. LOL