Difference between revisions of "Language/Polish/Grammar/Gender"

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[[File:Genders in Polish.png|alt=Genders in Polish|thumb|'''Genders in Polish''']]
<div class="pg_page_title">Genders in Polish</div>
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[[File:Poland-Timeline-PolyglotClub.png|thumb]]
Hi Polish Learners! 😃


Hello Everyone, 😊
➡ In today's lesson, we will learn how to use genders in Polish.


In today’s lesson we are going to study the following topic: '''”GENDERS”''' in Polish
Polish is a tough language to learn, and that's common knowledge. The reason behind it is not only the alphabet (which has 32 letters as opposed to English's 26) but, among other things, gender. It can be really confusing for non-native speakers trying to learn Polish because the language is gendered.


Please feel free to edit this page if you think it can be improved!
If you want to speak correct Polish, you must know each noun's gender. Basically, in Polish and other languages, nouns are often accompanied by adjectives describing them (big city, fantastic result, terrible performances, etc.). In Polish, adjectives have different forms and must match nouns. Polish distinguishes between the 3 genders: masculine (rodzaj męski), feminine (rodzaj żeński), and neuter (rodzaj nijaki).
__TOC__
* Other lessons: After mastering this lesson, you can also explore other related topics, such as our lessons on [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Verbs-and-Tenses|Polish Grammar Verbs and Tenses]], [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Conditional-Mood|Polish Grammar - Conditional Mood]], and [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Adjective-Agreement|Adjective Agreement]] to further improve your Polish language skills. Good luck!


Good learning!


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== Gender of Nouns in Polish ==
While masculine and feminine are referring to men or women, neuter words refer ''either'' to babies or inanimate objects.


.
How can you guess the gender of nouns in Polish? Here are basic tips below (see also the [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Gender#Polish_Grammar_-_Nouns_Gender_-_How_to_guess_it.3F|video]] at the bottom of this page):
# Masculine ends with a hard consonant (spółgłoska) and a few -a.
# Feminine nouns generally end in -a, in -i, or in a soft consonant (ń, ć…)
# Neuters end in -o, -e, -ę or -um<br>


== '''Genders in Polish''' ==
Unfortunately, there are many exceptions. Some genders are consistent with the meaning, for example the masculine:
* poeta (poet),
* dziadzio (grandfather),
* wykładowca (teacher),
* dentysta (male dentist and for a woman it would be dentistka).


==== Genres in Polish ====
The masculine is divided into "personal animates" (names expressing a human being), non-personal animates (an animal), inanimate (an object or an idea).
Polish distinguishes between the three genders: masculine, feminine and neutral.
* In the singular, the masculine are distinguished into animate (humans and animals) and inanimate (objects). 
* In the plural, they are distinguished into personal (humans) and impersonal (animals and objects). Often, the plurals of different genders are common, except the personal masculine.


1.   Feminine nouns generally end in -a, in -i, or in a soft consonant (ń, ć…),
2.  Neutrals end in -o, -e, -ę or -um,
3.   Masculine ends with a hard consonant (spółgłoska) and a few -a.
However, there are many exceptions. Some genres are consistent with the meaning, for example the masculine poeta (poet), dziadzio (grandfather), wykładowca (teacher), dentysta (male dentist and for a woman it would be dentistka).
The masculine is divided into "personal animates" (names expressing a human being), non-personal animates (an animal), inanimate (an object or an idea). In the singular, the masculine are distinguished into animate (humans and animals) and inanimate (objects). In the plural, they are distinguished into personal (humans) and impersonal (animals and objects). Often, the plurals of different genders are common, except the personal masculine.
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|'''Kind'''
!'''Gender'''
|'''Male'''
!'''Masculine'''
|'''Neutral'''
!'''Neutral'''
|'''Feminine'''
!'''Feminine'''
|-
|-
|'''''The word ends'''''
|'''''The word ends'''''
Line 40: Line 42:


-a (if male)
-a (if male)
|<nowiki>-the</nowiki>
| -o
 
-e
-and


-is
-ę


-one 
-um 
|<nowiki>-a</nowiki>
|<nowiki>-a</nowiki>


Line 54: Line 55:
|-
|-
|'''''Examples'''''
|'''''Examples'''''
|''table'' , "table"
|
* ''stół'', "table"
* ''kolega'',  "friend"
|
* ''biurko'', "desk"
* ''pływanie'', "swimming"
* ''imię'', "name"
* ''muzeum'', "museum" 
|
* ''apokalipsa'' , "apocalypse"
* ''wolność'' , "freedom"
* ''noc'' ,  "night" 
|}


''colleague'' , "ami"
==Gender of Pronouns, Adjectives and Verbs==
|''desk'' , "bureau"


''swimming'' ,  "natation"
=== Demonstrative Pronouns "This" ===
The English demonstrative pronoun 'this' has in Polish language 3 variations. These are ten, ta and to. We use them depending on the grammatical gender of the nouns that the pronoun describes:
* This Man (MASCULINE GENDER) - '''TEN''' mężczyzna
* This Woman (FEMININE GENDER) - '''TA''' kobieta
* This chair (NEUTRAL GENDER) - '''TO''' krzesło
* This Baby (NEUTRAL GENDER) - '''TO''' dziecko


''name'' , "nom"
=== Adjectives ===
For instance, English adjective 'good' in Polish language has got following forms: dobry (when agrees with grammatically masculine noun), dobra (when agrees with grammatically feminine nouns), dobre (when agrees with grammatically neuter nouns). So you would say:
* dobry chłopiec - good boy
* dobra dziewczynka - good girl
* dobre dziecko - good child


''museum'' ,  "musée" 
|''apokalipsa'' , "apocalypse"


''wolność'' ,  "freedom"
More information: [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Adjectives|Adjective Agreement in Polish]]


''noc'' , "night" 
=== Verbs ===
|}
In Polish it is so important, because verbs must be inflected to every gender.


{| class="wikitable"
For example in the past simple in English, we describe only <code>verb+ed</code> or irregular form of this verb.
|'''<big>ENGLISH</big>'''
|'''<big>POLISH</big>'''
|'''<big>PRONUNCIATION IN</big>'''
'''<big>ENGLISH</big>'''
|'''<big>BRAZILIAN</big>'''
'''<big>PORTUGUESE</big>'''
|-
|
|
|
|
|-
|THIS (male)
|<big>'''TEN mężczyzna'''</big>
|'''''tehn mehn zhih chih zhih nah'''''
|Esse homem
|-
|THIS (female)
|<big>'''TA kobieta'''</big>
|'''''tah koh bih eh tah'''''
|Essa mulher
|-
|THIS (neuter)
|<big>'''TO dziecko'''</big>
|'''''toh jih eht skoh'''''
|Esse bebê
|-
|THIS (neuter)
|<big>'''TO krzesło'''</big>
|'''''toh ksheh sou oh'''''
|Essa cadeira
|}


Polish is a tough language to learn and that's common knowledge.  
In Polish past tenses we must add the right letter in the end of verb depending on the gender.  


The reason behind it is not only the alphabet (which has 32 letters as opposed to English 26) but among other things, gender.
For example :
* verb to be: '''BYĆ'''


It can be really confusing for non-native speakers that are trying to learn Polish because the language is gendered.
➡ JA BYŁ'''EM''' (said by a man)


There are three different genders.
➡ JA BYŁ'''AM''' (said by a woman)


Male, female and it.  
More information on [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Perfective-and-imperfective-verbs|Polish Verbs]].


While male and female are referring to men or women, "it" words refer ''either'' to babies or inanimate objects.
== Videos ==


=== Grammatical gender of Polish nouns ===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6b1oZ7Ah8w</youtube>


A few examples:
=== Polish Grammar - Nouns Gender - How to guess it? ===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4DQBG4vjJk</youtube>


*Chair - '''TO''' krzesło (the "it" pronoun)
== Sources ==
*Baby - '''TO''' dziecko (same as above)
* https://www.po-polsku.fr/cas.php
*Woman - '''TA''' kobieta (female)
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_grammar
*Man - '''TEN''' mężczyzna (male)
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6b1oZ7Ah8w
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4DQBG4vjJk
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Perfective-and-imperfective-verbs|Polish Verbs]]
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Adjectives|Polish Adjectives]]


 
==Other Lessons==
In Polish it is so important, because verbs must be inflected to every gender.
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Perfective-and-imperfective-verbs|Perfective and imperfective verbs]]
 
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Adjectives|Adjectives]]
For example in the past simple in English, we describe only <code>verb+ed</code> or irregular form of this verb.
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/być-to-be|być to be]]
 
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Future-Tense|Future Tense]]
In Polish past tenses we must add the right letter in the end of verb.
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Indefinite-Articles-in-Polish|Indefinite Articles in Polish]]
 
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Pronouns|Pronouns]]
For example :
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Adverbs|Adverbs]]
* verb BYĆ (be)-> JA BYŁ(EM) - It says man / JA BYŁ(AM)- It says woman
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Past-Tense|Past Tense]]
* [[Language/Polish/Grammar/Plural|Plural]]
<span links></span>

Latest revision as of 22:42, 9 May 2023

Genders in Polish
Poland-Timeline-PolyglotClub.png

Hi Polish Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson, we will learn how to use genders in Polish.

Polish is a tough language to learn, and that's common knowledge. The reason behind it is not only the alphabet (which has 32 letters as opposed to English's 26) but, among other things, gender. It can be really confusing for non-native speakers trying to learn Polish because the language is gendered.

If you want to speak correct Polish, you must know each noun's gender. Basically, in Polish and other languages, nouns are often accompanied by adjectives describing them (big city, fantastic result, terrible performances, etc.). In Polish, adjectives have different forms and must match nouns. Polish distinguishes between the 3 genders: masculine (rodzaj męski), feminine (rodzaj żeński), and neuter (rodzaj nijaki).


Gender of Nouns in Polish[edit | edit source]

While masculine and feminine are referring to men or women, neuter words refer either to babies or inanimate objects.

How can you guess the gender of nouns in Polish? Here are basic tips below (see also the video at the bottom of this page):

  1. Masculine ends with a hard consonant (spółgłoska) and a few -a.
  2. Feminine nouns generally end in -a, in -i, or in a soft consonant (ń, ć…)
  3. Neuters end in -o, -e, -ę or -um

Unfortunately, there are many exceptions. Some genders are consistent with the meaning, for example the masculine:

  • poeta (poet),
  • dziadzio (grandfather),
  • wykładowca (teacher),
  • dentysta (male dentist and for a woman it would be dentistka).

The masculine is divided into "personal animates" (names expressing a human being), non-personal animates (an animal), inanimate (an object or an idea).

  • In the singular, the masculine are distinguished into animate (humans and animals) and inanimate (objects). 
  • In the plural, they are distinguished into personal (humans) and impersonal (animals and objects). Often, the plurals of different genders are common, except the personal masculine.
Gender Masculine Neutral Feminine
The word ends

with: 

a consonant

-a (if male)

-o

-e

-ę

-um 

-a

-ść (abstract nouns)

a consonant (rare irregularities) 

Examples
  • stół, "table"
  • kolega, "friend"
  • biurko, "desk"
  • pływanie, "swimming"
  • imię, "name"
  • muzeum, "museum" 
  • apokalipsa , "apocalypse"
  • wolność , "freedom"
  • noc , "night" 

Gender of Pronouns, Adjectives and Verbs[edit | edit source]

Demonstrative Pronouns "This"[edit | edit source]

The English demonstrative pronoun 'this' has in Polish language 3 variations. These are ten, ta and to. We use them depending on the grammatical gender of the nouns that the pronoun describes:

  • This Man (MASCULINE GENDER) - TEN mężczyzna
  • This Woman (FEMININE GENDER) - TA kobieta
  • This chair (NEUTRAL GENDER) - TO krzesło
  • This Baby (NEUTRAL GENDER) - TO dziecko

Adjectives[edit | edit source]

For instance, English adjective 'good' in Polish language has got following forms: dobry (when agrees with grammatically masculine noun), dobra (when agrees with grammatically feminine nouns), dobre (when agrees with grammatically neuter nouns). So you would say:

  • dobry chłopiec - good boy
  • dobra dziewczynka - good girl
  • dobre dziecko - good child


More information: Adjective Agreement in Polish

Verbs[edit | edit source]

In Polish it is so important, because verbs must be inflected to every gender.

For example in the past simple in English, we describe only verb+ed or irregular form of this verb.

In Polish past tenses we must add the right letter in the end of verb depending on the gender.

For example :

  • verb to be: BYĆ

➡ JA BYŁEM (said by a man)

➡ JA BYŁAM (said by a woman)

More information on Polish Verbs.

Videos[edit | edit source]

Grammatical gender of Polish nouns[edit | edit source]

Polish Grammar - Nouns Gender - How to guess it?[edit | edit source]

Sources[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

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