Polish Pronouns

The Polish personal pronouns are ja, ty, on, ona, ono, my, wy, oni and one, and each changes form in every case. They are often left out, because the verb ending already shows who is acting.

Subject pronouns: ja, ty, on, ona

These are the forms you use for the subject of a sentence, in the nominative case.

Polish usually leaves subject pronouns out, because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. Jestem zmęczony is "I'm tired", with no ja. Adding the pronoun puts weight on it, usually for contrast:

• Mieszkam w Krakowie.
  I live in Kraków. (neutral)
• Ja mieszkam w Krakowie, a on w Warszawie.
  I live in Kraków, and he lives in Warsaw. (contrast)
• Kto tam? To ja.
  Who's there? It's me.

Polish has no separate word for "it". A thing takes the pronoun of its grammatical gender, so a film (film, masculine) is on and a book (książka, feminine) is ona. In the plural, the choice is between oni and one. Oni is for groups of men or mixed groups, like Marek and Ania. One is for everything else: a group of women, children, dogs, or keys.

Personal pronouns in all cases

Each pronoun changes form in the seven cases. The vocative is only used with ty and wy (as in Hej, ty!), so it isn't shown. Where a cell has several forms, they are the long form, the short form and the form used after prepositions.

The formal "you" words are really nouns, so they decline like nouns and take third-person verbs: Czy pan ma czas? (Do you have time?), Dziękuję pani (Thank you, to a woman).

Short and long forms: mi or mnie, go or jego

Several pronouns have a short form and a long form. They mean the same thing. The difference is stress and position.

• Short forms (mi, cię, ci, go, mu) are the default. They are unstressed, so they can't start a sentence and can't carry emphasis: Daj mi to (Give it to me), Znam go (I know him).
• Long forms (mnie, ciebie, tobie, jego, jemu) are for emphasis or contrast, and for the start of a sentence: Jemu to daj, nie mnie (Give it to him, not me).
• After prepositions you always use long forms, and the third-person pronouns add n-: dla niego (for him), z nią (with her), o nich (about them), do niej (to her place).
• Ja after some prepositions makes the preposition grow an -e: ze mną (with me), beze mnie (without me), przeze mnie (because of me), nade mną (above me), przede mną (in front of me).

• Widzę cię.
  I can see you.
• Ciebie kocham, nie jego.
  It's you I love, not him.
• Jest mi zimno.
  I'm cold.
• Mnie jest zimno, a tobie?
  I'm cold, what about you?
• Idę do niego.
  I'm going to his place.
• Zrobiłem to dla ciebie.
  I did it for you.
• Chodź ze mną.
  Come with me.
• Rozmawiamy o nich.
  We're talking about them.
• Gdzie jest moja książka? Masz ją?
  Where's my book? Have you got it?

Possessive pronouns: mój, twój, jego, jej

Some possessives change like adjectives to match the noun they describe. Others never change at all.

The changing ones follow the noun: mój brat (my brother), moja siostra (my sister), moje dziecko (my child). In the plural, use moi, twoi, nasi, wasi and swoi for groups of men or mixed groups (moi rodzice, my parents), and moje, twoje, nasze for everything else (moje siostry, moje książki). Here is mój in all cases. Twój and swój work the same way, and nasz and wasz use the same endings.

When to use swój

Swój means "one's own". Use it when the owner is the subject of the same clause. In the third person this is not optional, because jego, jej and ich would then point to someone else:

• Marek kocha swoją żonę.
  Marek loves his (own) wife.
• Marek kocha jego żonę.
  Marek loves his (another man's) wife.
• Ania dzwoni do swojej mamy.
  Ania is calling her (own) mum.
• Ania dzwoni do jej mamy.
  Ania is calling her (another woman's) mum.
• Sprzedali swój dom.
  They sold their house.

With "I", "you" and "we", both are correct, but swój is the more natural, neutral choice: Szukam swoich kluczy and Szukam moich kluczy both mean "I'm looking for my keys". Mój puts a little extra weight on "my".

Swój can't describe the subject itself. "My brother is here" is Mój brat tu jest, never swój brat. A few fixed phrases are worth learning: po swojemu (in one's own way, as in Robię to po swojemu), Każdy ma swoje problemy (Everyone has their own problems) and swój człowiek (one of us, someone you can trust).

Demonstratives: ten, ta, to, ci, te

Ten means "this" or "that", and Polish uses it for both unless a contrast is needed. Then tamten (that one over there) takes the role of "that": Ten czy tamten? (This one or that one?).

In the feminine accusative, careful Polish says tę (Znasz tę dziewczynę?, Do you know this girl?), but you will often hear tą in speech. In the instrumental it is always tą: z tą panią (with this lady).

To also works as "this is" or "these are", and then it doesn't change: To jest mój brat (This is my brother), To jest Ania, To są moje dzieci (These are my children).

Reflexive pronouns: się and siebie

Się is the short reflexive pronoun, and it is the same for every person: myję się (I wash), myjesz się (you wash), myjemy się (we wash). Many common verbs always come with it: nazywać się (to be called), uczyć się (to learn), bać się (to be afraid), śmiać się (to laugh), podobać się (to be liked). With plural subjects it can also mean "each other": Znamy się (We know each other). Like other short forms, się never starts a sentence: Jak się nazywasz? (What's your name?).

Siebie is the full form, used after prepositions and for emphasis. It has no nominative, and like się it refers to whoever the subject is.

Sobie turns up in many everyday phrases: Wyobraź sobie (Imagine), Radzę sobie (I'm managing), Jestem u siebie (I'm at my place). Every word on this site has its own page with all its forms, so you can check any noun or adjective that goes with these pronouns.