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Unlike English, where adjectives remain unchanged regardless of the noun they describe, Polish adjectives must match the noun in their class (commonly known as “gender”), number, and case. This post breaks down how adjective-noun agreement works in Polish, with practical examples and explanations to help you internalize the rules.
1. Class agreement
Polish nouns are categorized into three grammatical classes or “genders”: masculine, feminine, and neuter. These have nothing to do with the actual gender of the nouns, so don’t let that distract you! Adjectives must reflect the “gender” of the noun they modify.
Examples:
masculine: duży dom (big house)
feminine: duża książka (big book)
neuter: duże okno (big window)
Notice how the adjective duży (big) changes its ending to match the gender of the noun:
duży for masculine
duża for feminine
duże for neuter
How would the adjectives kolorowy and ładny look with these nouns?
2. Number agreement
Adjectives also change depending on whether the noun is singular or plural.
Examples:
Singular: inteligentna osoba (intelligent person)
Plural: inteligentne osoby (intelligent people)
Here, inteligentna becomes inteligentne to match the plural noun osoby. The plural form of adjectives depends on both the gender and animacy of the noun.
Masculine Personal Plural:
uczciwy człowiek → uczciwi ludzie (fair person - fair people, note the change of the plural form)
Non-Masculine Personal Plural:
dobra książka → dobre książki (good books)
duże okno → duże okna (big windows)
3. Case agreement
As you know, Polish has seven grammatical cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and vocative (In case you’ve forgotten, check out my blog post about Polish cases HERE). As you can imagine, adjectives must take the appropriate ending based on the case of the noun.
Let’s take the adjective nowy (new) and see how it changes with a masculine noun samochód (car):
Case | Example Phrase | Translation |
Nominative | nowy samochód | new car |
Genitive | nowego samochodu | of the new car |
Dative | nowemu samochodowi | to the new car |
Accusative | nowy samochód | new car (direct object) |
Instrumental | nowym samochodem | with the new car |
Locative | nowym samochodzie | in the new car |
Vocative | nowy samochodzie! | oh new car! |
Each case has its own set of adjective endings, and these endings vary depending on gender and number as well.
4. Summary of adjective endings
Here’s a simplified table showing common adjective endings for singular nouns in the nominative case:
Gender | Adjective Ending | Example |
Masculine | -y / -i | ładny chłopiec |
Feminine | -a | ładna dziewczyna |
Neuter | -e | ładne dziecko |
For plural nouns in the nominative case:
Type | Adjective Ending | Example |
Masculine Personal | -i / -y | mądrzy uczniowie |
Non-Masculine Personal | -e | ładne książki |
5. Practical tips
Learn adjectives in context: Memorizing isolated forms is less effective than learning them with nouns and in full phrases.
Practice with declension tables: Use tables to see how adjectives change across cases.
Drill with common adjectives: Start with high-frequency adjectives like dobry (good), mały (small), nowy (new), and ładny (pretty).
Use real-life examples: Read Polish texts and highlight adjective-noun pairs to see agreement in action.
Mastering adjective agreement in Polish takes time and consistent exposure. The rules are logical but require attention to detail, especially when dealing with case endings. If you're ready to dive deeper, consider studying adjective declension patterns alongside noun cases. The more you practice, the more intuitive it becomes!
Now, let’s see if you got it right:
To jest bardzo __________ kolega.
Mój sąsiad jest bardzo ________.
Ania to __________ uczennica.
Moja koleżanka jest bardzo __________.
Mam __________ mieszkanie.
Kot to bardzo __________ zwierzę.
Share your answers in the comments.