Having learned the nominative singular, it’s time to learn how to form the plural of Polish nouns.
To say plural in Polish, use the term liczba mnoga.
Fortunately, this is nothing too difficult. We’ll go over the basic formation step by step, and in no time you’ll be using plural nouns in Polish.
Note: The purpose of this post is simply to show how this case is formed.
| M [masculine] |
| consonant + y | kwiat (flower) dom (house) telefon (phone) | kwiaty (flowers) domy (houses) telefony (phones) |
…
If a noun is animate [a living person], the ending is not –y, but rather –i!
| consonant + i or –a becomes –i | mężczyzna (man) | mężczyźni (men) |
Make note of the little irregularity in mężczyźni.
BUT!
Don’t worry too much about this one. There are a lot of irregularities.
But for the sake of this post’s usefulness, let’s observe some of them. Irregularities are usually from animate masculine nouns.
| –owie |
| ojciec [father] | ojcowie [fathers] |
| syn [son] | synowie [sons] |
| uczeń [student] usually school-aged | uczniowie [students] |
| dziadek [granfather] | dziadkowie [grandfather] |
| wujek [uncle] | wujkowie [uncles] |
| profesor [professor] | profesorowie [professors] |
And some odd ones…
| brat [brother] | bracia [brothers] |
| chłopiec [boy] | chłopcy [boys] |
| student [student] university-aged | studenci [students] |
| nauczyciel [teacher] prior to university | nauczyciele [teachers] |
| przyjaciel [friend] | przyjaciele [teachers] |
| lekarz [doctor] | lekarze [doctors] |
| Ż [feminine] |
| –a becomes –y | kobieta (woman) szkoła (school) gwiazda (star) | kobiety (woman) szkoły (schools) gwiazdy (stars) |
…
If a noun has –k and –g as the ending or before the ending, the ending is not –y, but rather –i. This rule is followed regardless of masculine or feminine gender.
| consonant + i –a becomes –i (for -k and -g) | książka (book) lalka (doll) pociąg (train) | książki (books) lalki (dolls) pociągi (trains) |
| ŚR [neuter] |
| –e becomes –a | pole (field) morze (sea) | pola (fields) morza (seas) |
| –o becomes –a | jabłko (apple) łóżko (bed) | jabłka (apples) łóżka (beds) |
…
| –um becomes –a | muzeum (museum) | muzea (museums) |
And there you have it! This is how you form the plural of Polish nouns. I feel that this could be reorganized in a more intuitive way.
See you all again really soon!