Language/Polish/Grammar/Basic-Sentence-Structure

Polish → Grammar → Basic Sentence Structure

As a Polish language teacher with 20 years of experience, I understand the importance of learning the basics of sentence structure. In this lesson, we will cover the fundamentals of forming basic sentences in Polish.

Don't hesitate to look into these other pages after completing this lesson: Plural & Gender.

Word Order

In Polish, the typical word order for a basic sentence is Subject-Verb-Object, just like in English. For example:

• Ja lubię psy. (I like dogs.)
• Ty czytasz książkę. (You are reading a book.)
• On kupił samochód. (He bought a car.)

However, Polish is more flexible than English when it comes to word order. We can use different sentence structures to emphasize different parts of the sentence.

Cases and Word Endings

In Polish, the form of a word changes depending on its grammatical function in a sentence. These changes are called cases, and they are indicated by word endings. There are seven cases in Polish: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Instrumental, Locative, and Vocative.

When forming a sentence, we need to pay attention to the case of each word in the sentence. The word order can change, but the case of a word must match its grammatical function in the sentence.

Here is an example of how the word endings change depending on the case:

Polish	Pronunciation	English
Dom	/dɔm/	House (Nominative)
Domu	/ˈdɔmu/	Of the house (Genitive)
Domowi	/dɔˈmɔvi/	To the house (Dative)
Dom	/dɔm/	House (Accusative)
Domem	/dɔˈmɛm/	With the house (Instrumental)
Domu	/ˈdɔmu/	At the house (Locative)
Dome	/ˈdɔmɛ/	O house (Vocative)

As you can see, each case has a different word ending, and we need to use the correct ending for each word depending on its grammatical function in the sentence.

Negation

To form a negative sentence in Polish, we use the word "nie" before the verb. For example:

• Ja nie lubię psów. (I don't like dogs.)
• Ty nie czytasz książki. (You are not reading a book.)
• On nie kupił samochodu. (He didn't buy a car.)

Questions

In Polish, to form a yes-or-no question, we can simply add the word "czy" at the beginning of the sentence. For example:

• Czy ty czytasz książkę? (Are you reading a book?)
• Czy on kupił samochód? (Did he buy a car?)

To form a wh-question, we use the appropriate interrogative word at the beginning of the sentence. For example:

• Gdzie jest mój telefon? (Where is my phone?)
• Kto to jest? (Who is it?)

Conclusion

Learning the basic sentence structure in Polish is crucial for building a strong foundation in the language. By paying attention to word order, cases, negation, and question formation, you will be well on your way to forming your own sentences in Polish.

Sources

• The Basics of Polish Sentence Structure & Word Order
• Polish grammar - Wikipedia
• Basic Polish Sentence Patterns You Can Use Right Away

Excellent job on conquering this lesson! Consider delving into these related pages: Acusative Case & Questions and Negations.

Other Lessons

• Cases
• Be Polite
• Prepositions
• Declension of nouns deklinacja rzeczowników
• Pronouns
• Conditional Mood
• Adverbs
• Plurals
• Perfective and imperfective verbs
• Definite Articles in Polish