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Lesson 14A1

Adjective Agreement

Adjective Agreement

Polish adjectives change their ending to match the noun they describe — something English adjectives never do at all — and they sit right before the noun, same as in English.

Grammar Comparison

Grammar Comparison

Adjectives Match the Noun's Gender

Polish

wysoki, wysoka

English

tall

An English adjective like 'tall' never changes, no matter what it describes. Most Polish adjectives have a distinct ending for each gender: -y for masculine, -a for feminine, -e for neuter — wysoki mężczyzna (a tall man), wysoka kobieta (a tall woman), wysokie dziecko (a tall child). Learn the masculine form as the 'dictionary' form, then swap the ending to match.

Adjectives Precede the Noun

Polish

mały dom, ładna szkoła

English

a small house, a pretty school

Just like English, Polish puts the adjective before the noun it describes — mały dom is literally 'small house', in the same order you'd say it in English. This is one place where your English instinct for word order transfers directly, with nothing to unlearn.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

wysokivih-SOH-kee
English
tall (m)
wysokavih-SOH-kah
English
tall (f)
małyMAH-wih
English
small (m)
małaMAH-wah
English
small (f)
dużyDOO-zhih
English
big (m)
dużaDOO-zhah
English
big (f)
ładnyWAHD-nih
English
pretty (m)
ładnaWAHD-nah
English
pretty (f)
dobryDOH-brih
English
good (m)
dobraDOH-brah
English
good (f)
młodyMWOH-dih
English
young (m)
młodaMWOH-dah
English
young (f)