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A2 · Basics · Lesson 07
Accusative & genitive
The two cases that carry most everyday sentences.
The accusative marks the object — the thing an action lands on. The genitive is the 'of / negation / after certain prepositions' case. The two rules that pay off most: a feminine -a noun becomes -ę as an object, and any object flips to genitive when the sentence is negative.
| Case | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Accusative | object (lubić, mieć, pić) | Piję kawę |
| Genitive | negation | Nie piję kawy |
| Genitive | 'of' / possession | filiżanka kawy |
| Genitive | after do, od, z, bez, dla | Idę do sklepu |
- •Feminine -a → -ę in the accusative: kawa → kawę.
- •Masculine things do not change: Mam bilet.
- •Masculine animate (people, animals) take -a: Widzę psa.
Quick check
Lubię ____ . (herbata)
Feminine -a becomes -ę in the accusative.
Nie mam ____ . (czas)
A negated object switches to the genitive.
Idę do ____ . (sklep)
do takes the genitive: sklepu.
Practice
Now produce the answers yourself — type them, choose the form, or build the sentence.
Lubię ___ . (herbata)
feminine object: -a → -ę.
Nie piję ___ . (kawa)
negation → genitive: kawy.
Mam ___ . (siostra)
Idę do ___ . (sklep)
do + genitive.
Widzę ___ . (pies — animate)
masc. animate accusative looks genitive.
Say: I'm buying bread.
Build the sentence — tap the words in order:
What this lesson covered
The accusative and genitive are the two cases that carry most everyday Polish, and this lesson introduced both. The accusative marks the direct object — what you see, have or like: for feminine nouns the -a shifts to -ę (lubię kawę), and for animate masculine nouns the ending copies the genitive (mam kota). The genitive does a lot of work: it appears after negation (nie mam czasu), after verbs like szukać (szukam pracy), and to show possession (dom mojego brata). Getting these two cases even roughly right unlocks a huge range of natural sentences. The practical takeaway is to watch what happens to a noun when it stops being the subject: its ending changes to signal its new job. These patterns take repetition, so the drills and daily review are where they'll really stick.