Polish/Neuter noun declension

Neuter noun declension edit

The neuter gender in Polish is least common. Many neuter words end in "-o" and their declension is somewhat similar to inanimate-masculine.

Beer Cake Chair Eye Ear
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nom./Acc./Voc. Piwo Piwa Ciastko Ciastka Krzesło Krzesła Oko Oczy Ucho Uszy
Genitive Piwa Piw Ciastka Ciastek Krzesła Krzeseł Oka Oczu Ucha Uszu
Dative Piwu Piwom Ciastku Ciastkom Krzesłu Krzesłom Oku Oczom Uchu Uszom
Locative Piwie Piwach Ciastku Ciastkach Krześle Krzesłach Oku Oczach Uchu Uszach
Instrumental Piwem Piwami Ciastkiem Ciastkami Krzesłem Krzesłami Okiem Oczami/ archaic Oczyma Uchem Uszami

The archaic instrumental oczyma doesn't have much to do with the neuter gender - it was the Indoeuropean dual number (for a pair of things), which disappeared in almost all modern Indo-European languages. You can still find it in some expressions.

In the singular locative "krześle" you can see how softening works on a group of consonants – all consonants are softened, in that case "s" changes to "ś" and "ł" to "l".

As with other declensions, "e" may appear between two final consonants if there is no vowel after them ("null" ending).

The plural instrumental is "-ami"/"-iami" in almost all nouns, and "-imi"/"-ymi" in almost all adjectives. Here you can see one of the exceptions. For some historical reasons "a" disappeared and we have "-ćmi" instead of the expected "-ciami".

In the case of "dziecko", "oko" and "ucho" you can see that a slightly different form is used as the base for the singular and plural forms. This is also quite archaic.

If you find some neuter noun, try to decline it rather like "piwo", "krzesło" and "ciastko" rather than like "dziecko", "oko" or "ucho".

Examples:

  • Dziecko je ciastka - child eats cakes (cake in accusative)
  • Dzieci nie piją piwa - children don't drink beer (beer in genitive)
  • Oczy Piotra są zielone - Piotr's eyes are green (eyes in nominative, Piotr in genitive, green in nominative)
  • Kot jest na krześle - cat is on chair (chair in locative)
  • zielone - plural neuter form of adjective "green"

Neuter nouns ending in "-e" or "-ę" edit

The most common template is:

Meeting
Singular Plural
Nom./Acc./Voc. Spotkanie Spotkania
Genitive Spotkania Spotkań
Dative Spotkaniu Spotkaniom
Instrumental Spotkaniem Spotkaniami
Locative Spotkaniu Spotkaniach

Other templates are:

Given name/First name Baby
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nom./Acc./Voc. Imię Imiona Niemowlę Niemowlęta
Genitive Imienia Imion Niemowlęcia Niemowląt
Dative Imieniu Imionom Niemowlęciu Niemowlętom
Instrumental Imieniem Imionami Niemowlęciem Niemowlętami
Locative Imieniu Imionach Niemowlęciu Niemowlętach