A1 · The cases · about 7 minutes
The locative: w domu, w Krakowie, o mamie
the locative
The case for “where?” and “about what?” — always after a preposition, and often with a changed stem.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need3
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- aptekachemist’s, pharmacy
- spacerowaćto go for a walk, to stroll
- hotelhotel
Understand
RememberWhere and about what: locative — and before -e the stem softens.
- Signal words
- w
- na
- o
- przy
- po
- gdzie?
The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Polish.
| -e (with i after p, b, m, n, w) | Kraków → w Krakowie, Warszawa → w Warszawie, sklep → w sklepie, Berlin → w Berlinie |
| t → ci, d → dzi | kot → o kocie, ogród → w ogrodzie |
| r → rz, ł → l | teatr → w teatrze, szkoła → w szkole, stół → na stole |
| st → ści | miasto → w mieście |
| k → c, g → dz (feminine) | Polska → w Polsce, apteka → w aptece, noga → na nodze |
| -u after k, g, ch (masculine, neuter) | park → w parku, Gdańsk → w Gdańsku, łóżko → w łóżku |
| -u after a soft ending | hotel → w hotelu, pokój → w pokoju |
| -i, -y (feminine, soft) | kuchnia → w kuchni, ulica → na ulicy |
| special cases with -u | dom → w domu, syn → o synu, pan → o panu |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The locative only stands after a preposition.
Mieszkam w Warszawie.I live in Warsaw.
The ending -e softens the consonant before it.
Książka leży na stole.The book is on the table.
With -ka and -ga, k becomes c and g becomes dz.
Pracuję w aptece.I work at a chemist’s.
Masculine and neuter words in k, g, ch take -u.
Spacerujemy w parku.We are going for a walk in the park.
After o “about” the locative follows too.
Rozmawiamy o pracy.We are talking about work.
Example sentences
Ania mieszka w Polsce.Ania lives in Poland.
Spotykamy się w kawiarni.We are meeting at the café.
Kot śpi na łóżku.The cat is sleeping on the bed.
6 more example sentences
Piotr pracuje w szkole.Piotr works at a school.
Czytam książkę o Krakowie.I am reading a book about Kraków.
Klucze są w kuchni.The keys are in the kitchen.
Dzieci bawią się na ulicy.The children are playing in the street.
Wieczorem jesteśmy w teatrze.In the evening we are at the theatre.
Mieszkamy w małym mieście.We live in a small town.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
In English a place name never changes: in Kraków, in Berlin, in London. So the Polish name easily stays in its basic form. Names take the locative ending too — w Krakowie, w Londynie.
Quick check
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Next on the path: 29 · Question words: kto, co, gdzie, kiedyBack to the learning path
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The locative (miejscownik) answers gdzie? “where?” and o kim? o czym? “about whom, about what?”. It never stands alone, always after a preposition: w “in”, na “on, at”, o “about”, przy “by, next to”, po “after, around”. Where English only needs the preposition — “in Kraków” — Polish needs the preposition and an ending.
The most common ending is -e, and in front of it the last consonant softens. t becomes ci, d becomes dzi, r becomes rz, ł becomes l, and after p, b, m, n, w an i slips in: Kraków → w Krakowie, szkoła → w szkole, teatr → w teatrze, miasto → w mieście.
In feminine words in -ka and -ga, k becomes c and g becomes dz: Polska → w Polsce, apteka → w aptece. Masculine and neuter words in k, g, ch, by contrast, take -u: w parku, w łóżku.
Words with a soft ending take -u (masculine, neuter) or -i, -y (feminine): w hotelu, na plaży, w kuchni. And three common words take -u although they end hard: w domu, o synu, o panu.
Worth knowing1
Worth knowing
w or na?
Both often translate as “in” or “at”. na goes with open spaces, events and certain institutions: na poczcie (at the post office), na dworcu (at the station), na uniwersytecie, na koncercie. Learn these words with their preposition, as you learnt “on the bus” but “in the car”.
Czekam na dworcu.I am waiting at the station.
The verbs on this page, in every form: pracować · mieszkać · spać · czytać · rozmawiać · spotykać · spacerować