Grammar guide

Polish pronouns: this, that, my and our

Words like “this”, “that”, “my” and “our” behave like adjectives in Polish: they take the gender, number and case of the noun they go with. That makes them one of the best places to practise agreement, because the same few endings come back again and again.

Every form below is produced by the grammar code the drills use.

Five genders in the singular, two in the plural

In the singular the masculine splits into people, animals and things, which only differ in the accusative. In the plural there are just two groups: groups including men (masculine personal) and everything else.

This and that: ten, tamten

ten means “this” (or just “the one we mean”), and tamten means “that one over there”. The second is the first with a prefix, apart from the feminine accusative.

ten: this / these
Case	Singular					Plural
Case	masc. personal	masc. animate	masc. inanimate	feminine	neuter	men (masc. personal)	everything else
Nominative	ten	ten	ten	ta	to	ci	te
Genitive	tego	tego	tego	tej	tego	tych	tych
Dative	temu	temu	temu	tej	temu	tym	tym
Accusative	tego	tego	ten	tę	to	tych	te
Instrumental	tym	tym	tym	tą	tym	tymi	tymi
Locative	tym	tym	tym	tej	tym	tych	tych

tamten: that / those
Case	Singular					Plural
Case	masc. personal	masc. animate	masc. inanimate	feminine	neuter	men (masc. personal)	everything else
Nominative	tamten	tamten	tamten	tamta	tamto	tamci	tamte
Genitive	tamtego	tamtego	tamtego	tamtej	tamtego	tamtych	tamtych
Dative	tamtemu	tamtemu	tamtemu	tamtej	tamtemu	tamtym	tamtym
Accusative	tamtego	tamtego	tamten	tamtą	tamto	tamtych	tamte
Instrumental	tamtym	tamtym	tamtym	tamtą	tamtym	tamtymi	tamtymi
Locative	tamtym	tamtym	tamtym	tamtej	tamtym	tamtych	tamtych

Widzę te kina.
I can see these cinemas.
"ten" agrees with kino: neuter plural, accusative. A direct object takes the accusative.
Tu są te koty.
These cats are here.
"ten" agrees with kot: masculine plural, nominative. The subject of the sentence stays in the nominative.
Myślę o tamtym zwierzęciu.
I'm thinking about that animal.
"tamten" agrees with zwierzę: neuter singular, locative. 'o' (about) takes the locative.
Nie ma tu tamtych noży.
Those knives aren't here.
"tamten" agrees with nóż: masculine plural, genitive. 'nie ma' (there isn't) takes the genitive.

Practise this and that →Choose cases and genders

My, your, his, her, our, their

Possessive	English	Owner	Changes?
mój	my	ja	Agrees with the noun
twój	your	ty	Agrees with the noun
jego	his	on / ono	Never
jej	her	ona	Never
nasz	our	my	Agrees with the noun
wasz	your	wy	Agrees with the noun
ich	their	oni / one	Never
swój	my own	the subject	Agrees with the noun

jego, jej and ich never change: they belong to the owner, not to the thing owned. All the others agree with the noun, like adjectives. swój means “one’s own” and points back to the subject of the sentence, whoever that is.

mój: my (the same endings for twój and swój)
Case	Singular					Plural
Case	masc. personal	masc. animate	masc. inanimate	feminine	neuter	men (masc. personal)	everything else
Nominative	mój	mój	mój	moja	moje	moi	moje
Genitive	mojego	mojego	mojego	mojej	mojego	moich	moich
Dative	mojemu	mojemu	mojemu	mojej	mojemu	moim	moim
Accusative	mojego	mojego	mój	moją	moje	moich	moje
Instrumental	moim	moim	moim	moją	moim	moimi	moimi
Locative	moim	moim	moim	mojej	moim	moich	moich

nasz: our (the same endings for wasz)
Case	Singular					Plural
Case	masc. personal	masc. animate	masc. inanimate	feminine	neuter	men (masc. personal)	everything else
Nominative	nasz	nasz	nasz	nasza	nasze	nasi	nasze
Genitive	naszego	naszego	naszego	naszej	naszego	naszych	naszych
Dative	naszemu	naszemu	naszemu	naszej	naszemu	naszym	naszym
Accusative	naszego	naszego	nasz	naszą	nasze	naszych	nasze
Instrumental	naszym	naszym	naszym	naszą	naszym	naszymi	naszymi
Locative	naszym	naszym	naszym	naszej	naszym	naszych	naszych

Widzę swoje siostry.
I can see my own sisters.
"swój" agrees with siostra: feminine plural, accusative. A direct object takes the accusative. "Swój" is used because the owner is the subject of the sentence.
Myślę o waszym koniu.
I'm thinking about your horse.
"wasz" agrees with koń: masculine singular, locative. 'o' (about) takes the locative.
Tu są twoje domy.
Your houses are here.
"twój" agrees with dom: masculine plural, nominative. The subject of the sentence stays in the nominative.
Nie ma tu waszych listów.
Your letters aren't here.
"wasz" agrees with list: masculine plural, genitive. 'nie ma' (there isn't) takes the genitive.

Practise the possessives →Choose which possessives