Grammatical Gender
Grammatical gender of Polish nouns
I can identify noun gender and apply adjective agreement
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Kot jest duży.
The cat is big.
Szkoła jest nowa.
The school is new.
Mężczyzna jest wysoki.
The man is tall.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Grammatical Gender
Polish has 3 genders: masculine (consonant ending), feminine (-a), neuter (-o/-e/-ę). Some masculine nouns end in -a (mężczyzna). Gender determines adjective agreement.
Masculine nouns ending in -a (mężczyzna) are the biggest trap — they decline like feminines but take masculine agreement.
Kot jest duży.
The cat is big.
Kot jest duży — kot (cat) is masculine (ends in consonant), so the adjective is duży (masc.).
Szkoła jest nowa.
The school is new.
Szkoła jest nowa — szkoła ends in -a = feminine, so nowa (fem. form of nowy).
Mężczyzna jest wysoki.
The man is tall.
Mężczyzna jest wysoki — mężczyzna ends in -a but is MASCULINE (meaning = man). Takes masculine adjective.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Put it into practice
Try a free exercise from the courseFrequently asked questions
- When is Rodzaj gramatyczny used?
- Polish nouns have 3 genders : masculine (męski), feminine (żeński), and neuter (nijaki). Gender determines adjective and verb agreement.
- How is Rodzaj gramatyczny formed?
- Exceptions: Some masculine nouns end in -a: mężczyzna (man), kolega (colleague). Some abstract nouns ending in -ść are feminine: miłość (love). In plural, masculine personal (virile) nouns have special forms.
- What are common mistakes with Rodzaj gramatyczny?
- Masculine nouns ending in -a (mężczyzna, kolega) are the biggest trap — they decline like feminines but take masculine agreement. The masculine personal plural is unique to Polish. English speakers: No grammatical gender in English — must memorize each noun's gender. Miss the -a masculine exceptions. Russian speakers: Same 3-gender system and similar endings. But Polish masculine personal plural (virile) has no Russian equivalent. Czech speakers: Same 3 genders with similar patterns. Czech also has masculine animate/inanimate — Polish extends this to personal/non-personal in plural.