Pronouns: Declension — Polish Grammar

Pronouns are words used to replace nouns to avoid repetition or to refer to unspecified people or objects. In Polish, pronouns are highly inflected parts of speech. This means they change their form (decline) based on the grammatical case required by the verb or preposition in the sentence.

Interrogative Pronouns: Kto and Co

The pronouns who and what are used to ask questions. refers to people and generally triggers masculine singular verb forms. refers to objects or abstract concepts and triggers neuter singular verb forms.

When the function of the pronoun changes in a sentence (for example, becoming the direct object), the form changes:

changes to (Genitive/Accusative), (Dative), or (Instrumental/Locative).
changes to (Genitive), (Dative), or (Instrumental/Locative).

Kto to jest?
Who is this?
Kogo widzisz?
Who do you see?
Czym się interesujesz?
What are you interested in?

Indefinite and Negative Pronouns

The pronouns something and nothing are derived from the base form . They follow a similar declension pattern.

is used for indefinite objects. While it declines (e.g., , ), it is often used in the nominative or accusative forms which look the same.

Mam coś dla ciebie.
I have something for you.
Szukam czegoś innego.
I am looking for something else.

represents the absence of something. Polish requires a "double negative" structure. If you use , the verb must also be negated with . In the Genitive case (often triggered by negation), becomes , though is also acceptable in colloquial speech.

Nic nie widzę.
I don't see anything.
Nie boję się niczego.
I am not afraid of anything.

The Demonstrative 'To'

The pronoun this/it is used to point out specific things or refer to a previously mentioned situation. It functions grammatically like a neuter adjective.

Genitive:
Dative:
Instrumental/Locative:

To jest mój dom.
This is my house.
Nie chcę tego robić.
I don't want to do this.
Dzięki temu jestem szczęśliwy.
Thanks to this I am happy.

Universal Pronouns: Wszystko vs. Wszyscy

Learners often confuse and because they both translate to concepts of "all" or "every," but they are grammatically distinct.

everything refers to things or abstract concepts. It is singular and neuter. It declines like an adjective (e.g., , ).

Rozumiem wszystko.
I understand everything.
Życzę ci wszystkiego najlepszego.
I wish you all the best.

everybody/everyone refers to people. It is plural and takes "masculine personal" verb forms. It also declines like an adjective (e.g., , ).

Wszyscy są gotowi.
Everybody is ready.
Znam wszystkich w tej szkole.
I know everyone in this school.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Polish course

88 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 2. A few of them, with the words “Pronouns: Declension” is about in bold:

To moja przyjaciółka Ania. Jest studentką.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Jesteś pierwszą osobą, która to zauważyła!
You are the first person to notice!
Lesson 337
Po namyśle, to zły pomysł.
On second thought, that is a bad idea.
Lesson 338

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