The first person uses the pronounsja(“I”) andmy(“we”). These pronouns inflect for number and case, but not for gender.

Usingmnie instead ofmi puts stress on the pronoun.

The second person usesty(“singular you”) andwy(“plural you”). These also do not inflect for gender. These forms are used between peers or people familiar with each other. When addressing someone in a formal context, the pronounspan,pani,państwo are used instead, and the sentence changes to third person, with the pronouns coming after the verbs.

Usingciebie ortobie instead ofcię orci puts stress on the pronoun.

The third person useson(“he”) and its inflected formsona(“she”),ono(“it”),oni(“they, group including men”),one(“they, group that does not include men”). The third person pronouns inflect for number, case and gender.

Note that inPolish, nouns have lexicalgender, so that for non-personal objectson andona would be rendered asit upon translation toEnglish.

Usingjego orjemu instead ofgo ormu puts stress on the pronoun. The formsniego,niemu,niej, etc. are only used after prepositions:Na niego patrzę,I look at him, butJego widzę,I see him.-ń is a short masculine form suffixed to prepositions, for example:nań,doń;Patrzę nań,I look at him.

The formal second- and third-person pronounspan(“Mister, Mr., Sir”),pani(“Madame, Mrs.”) inflect for number and case. For couples and groups of people of mixed gender, the pronounpaństwo is used. Sentences in formal second person put the pronouns after the verbs to distinguish them from sentences in third person where these words are used as simple nouns.

Tenpan widział złodzieja.

Thissir saw the thief.

Czy widziałpan złodzieja?

Sir, did you see the thief?

The dated pronounpanna(“Miss”) was used for unmarried women. In modern usage, it is usually considered patronizing, and replaced withpani. In addition to these, many nouns that specify a title or a honorific can be used as pronouns in the formal second person in the same way:ksiądz,ojciec (for a priest),ekscelencja,eminencja,waszmość,waćpan,waćpanna,waść, etc.

The first-person possessive pronounmój(“my”) inflects for number, case and gender of the object, as well as the number of the subject.

The formmojego in the accusative, equal to the genitive, is used for personal and animate objects, whilemój, equal to the nominative, is used for inanimate objects. This rule is also in force fortwój andswój.Additionally, there is an alternative short declension, which is literary and used e.g. in poetry. It elides-oj- and converts-oi- to-y-, except at the end of the word.

The form used for plural subject isnasz(“our”). It inflects exactly like the hypothetical adjectivenaszy, but loses the -y in masculine nominative singular and masculine inanimate accusative.

In the second person, the pattern is the same as in the first person. The pronountwój inflects for number, gender and case of the object, as well as the number of the subject.

The second-person possessive pronountwój(“your”) has exactly the same inflection asmój.As before, there is also a literary alternative short declension.

The plural pronounwasz(“plural your”) inflects exactly likenasz.

Thethird person possessive pronounjego inflects only for gender and number of the subject. The forms are:

• m sg orn sg:jego(“his, its”)
• f sg:jej(“hers”)
• pl:ich(“theirs”)

The pronounswój(“one's, one's own”) does not indicate the person and number of the subject. It inflects likemój andtwój, and like them, has a literary alternative short declension.

The demonstrative pronounsten(“this”),tamten(“that”) inflects for gender, number and case of the subject. The pronountamten derives fromtam(“there, over there”) +ten. It is used only in the third person. There is no demonstrative pronoun for first and second persons. Note the change from -ę to -ą ending in feminine accusative singular oftamten.

The pronounjaki(“how, what”) is used to ask for a choice from a potentially uncountable set. Sometimes it is also used to connect subordinate clauses that refer to a similar category of objects, but this usage is proscribed. It inflects like adjectives.

The pronounktóry(“which, who”) is used for two purposes: to connect subordinate clauses and to ask for a choice from a gramatically countable number of options.

Która z tych sukienek najbardziej ci się podoba?

Which of those dresses do you like most?

Mężczyzna,który dokonał napadu, został już schwytany.

The manwho committed the robbery was already caught.

The pronoun inflects for number, gender and case like an adjective.

Finally, we have the pronounczyj(“whose”) and its related formsczyjś(“somebody's”),niczyj(“nobody's”) andczyjkolwiek(“anybody's”).

The pronounsktoś(“someone, somebody”) andcoś(“something”) specify unknown grammatical objects.

The pronounjakiś(“some”) is used when the particular object is not known, only its category. Examples:

Widziałemjakieś zwierzę.

I sawsome animal.(and I'm not sure what it was)

Jeśli będziesz w sklepie, to kupjakąś herbatę.

If you visit a store, buysome tea.(any tea will do)

This pronoun inflects for number, gender and case. The inflection is exactly likejaki, but with-ś added to the end in every case.

The pronounsktokolwiek(“anybody”) andcokolwiek(“anything”) indicate that the sentence applies to any object that matches the category. They are formed from the relevant form of the pronounskto,co and the suffix-kolwiek.

The negative pronouns arenikt(“nobody, no one”) andnic(“nothing”). They work similar to their English equivalents.

The selective pronounniektórzy(“some”) is used when the sentence refers only to some people in a group. When used as pronoun rather than as an adjective, the word is often pejorative.

Niektórym się to nie spodoba.

Some may not like this.

Thereflexive pronounsię, used like "yourself" or "myself" in English, indicates that the subject is both the origin and receiver of the action, e.g.Widzęsię w lustrze (I seemyself in the mirror). It inflects for case, but not for person, number or gender. The long formsiebie is used when detached from the verb. Note that the reflexive pronoun is distinct from the particlesię in reflexive verbs, which never inflects.

• Polish terms with usage examples
• Polish velar adjectives
• Polish hard adjectives
• Polish irregular adjectives
• Polish appendices

• Polish links with redundant wikilinks
• Polish links with redundant alt parameters
• Polish links with manual fragments