Language / Przypadki (Polish language cases) [59]

Merged: The impossibility of przypadki (cases) in Polish language

I'm English and have been learning basic level Polish for a while now, non-intensively. Is the Polish case system and its myriad difficulties a rational reason to give up learning this otherwise beautiful (and in the UK also quite useful!) language?

I know a bilingual English/Polish speaker (born in England to Polish parents) who doesn't make mistakes with cases, yet who doesn't know what cases even are! It massively impresses me how native Polish speakers can correctly apply - at speed - the often bizarre and illogical permutations of noun and adjective declinations.... like, for example, knowing what ending is needed depending on whether soft/hard consonants are involved, whether something is living or non-living, even whether it's a fruit or vegetable, or a car!

Much as I'd love to make progress with Polish, it's very frustrating and I do feel I'm getting close to giving up point, where I'm seriously wondering whether it's realistically possible for a native English speaker to master? I understand what the cases are, and their usage on a linguistic level, it's more the lack of logic and inconsistency of the declinations themselves (and committing it all to memory) which confuses me.

Any thoughts welcome. Dziękuję bardzo :)

Language / Przypadki (Polish language cases) [59]

Thanks everyone for all the useful and interesting responses :) Yes, I'm familiar with the concept of grammatical case, which I first encountered in German..... but my main difficulty seems to be with the inconsistencies of the endings themselves. For example, the instrumental case I can handle - because the endings are straightforward and consistent! I encounter difficulty where there's more than one choice of ending per case/gender, and where this is governed by seemingly complex and arcane rules.

Cases in Polish don't always replace English prepositions - they are often used in addition to!

Interesting point about absorbing cases naturally - for example, I know it's "w Londynie" and not "w Londyn", because "w Londyn" just SOUNDS wrong!

Language / Przypadki (Polish language cases) [59]

I think most languages could be accused of being illogical, including English! :D

kpc21 -


The second sentence is correct English, the first is incorrect.

Language / Przypadki (Polish language cases) [59]


Should be: "In Polish the word "mail" hadn't existed before..." so, past perfect rather than present perfect.


"Not to mention that you have to remember all these endings for two types of articles, and after adjectives, before which there can be either type of article, or no article" sounds better. But your English is pretty good, kpc21! :)

Generally, I notice that Polish people do tend to struggle with articles in English - for example, often getting confused between "a" and "the", and omitting articles where they are needed and using them where they are not needed. Which is understandable considering it's not a feature of the Polish language. Again, an example of people encountering difficulty with concepts that their native language doesn't have - like cases for me!

Btw am I right in thinking that in Polish, perfective verb forms correspond with the English perfect tenses?

Language / Przypadki (Polish language cases) [59]

Yeh but coz of that, da English language is well adaptable innit? It's a dynamic language, and has been ever since Anglo-Saxon English came into contact with Norse, and then subsequently with Norman French. English is what it is. But one can, if one so chooses, be erudite and take aesthetic pride in English....

That's a helpful explanation kpc21 - thanks :)