Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let’s take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Maciej Mazur asks,
"Where are you from?"
Skąd pan jest?
First is skąd, meaning "from where." Skąd. Skąd.
Next is pan jest, "you are," in this context. Pan jest.
Let’s start with is pan, translating as “you,” in this formal context. Pan. Pan.
Note, pan is a formal way to address a male, and it often translates as Mr.
Next is jest, literally "is," but in this context it translates as "are." Jest. Jest.
Together in this conversation, pan jest literally means "Mr. is," but translates as "you are" in formal Polish. Pan jest.
Jest is from the verb być, meaning “to be.” Być.
Skąd pan jest?
Remember this question. You’ll hear it again later in this lesson.
Now, let’s take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Mark Lee says,
"I'm from New York."
Jestem z Nowego Jorku.
First is Jestem. "[I] am." Jestem. Jestem.
Note: in this sentence, jestem is a shortened form of ja jestem, "I am." In Polish, ja, "I," is usually omitted, as it’s understood from context.
Jestem is from the verb być, meaning "to be." Być.
Last is z Nowego Jorku, meaning "from New York." Z Nowego Jorku.
Let’s start with Nowego Jorku, which is placed in the genitive case, because it follows z.
Nowego Jorku is the genitive form of the proper noun Nowy Jork. "New York." Nowy Jork.
In Polish, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural.
Jork is masculine singular, a fact that will determine the form of other words in the sentence.
Jork becomes Jorku when it is placed in the genitive.
Nowy becomes nowego to agree with Jorku in gender, number, and case.
Together, Nowego Jorku.
Before Nowego Jorku is , z, “from.” Z. Z.
All together, Jestem z Nowego Jorku. "I'm from New York."
Jestem z Nowego Jorku.
The pattern is
Jestem z LOCATION
"I'm from LOCATION."
Jestem z LOCATION.
To use this pattern, simply replace the LOCATION placeholder with the name of your hometown.
Note: This pattern requires a proper noun placed in the genitive, and works with the names of cities, villages, towns or countries.
Imagine you’re from Sydney. In Polish, Sydney. Sydney. Sydney.
Note, the genitive form of Sydney is Sydney.
Say
"I'm from Sydney."
Ready?
Jestem z Sydney.
"I'm from Sydney."
Jestem z Sydney.
Polish operates with three words for "you:"
ty, “you,” informal term;
Pan, “you,” formal term to address a male;
Pani, “you,” formal term to address a female.
When talking about where you are from, the pattern Jestem z requires the proper noun of a location, and this location name must be placed in the genitive.
There are some simple rules that will help you create the genitive case based on the ending of the noun.
First, masculine nouns in Polish tend to end in consonants.
To form the genitive for masculine, singular nouns, attach -a or -u.
Kraków, "Cracow" becomes Krakowa.
Londyn, "London" becomes Londynu.
As a rule of thumb for masculine nouns, inanimate nouns or nouns of foreign origin in the genitive often end with -u.
Nowego Jorku, “New York.” Nowego Jorku
Biznes, "business" becomes biznesu.
Feminine nouns tend to end in -a.
To form the genitive of feminine, singular nouns, replace the -a ending with an -y.
Warszawa, "Warsaw," becomes Warszawy.
If the noun ends in an -kа, -ga, replace the last letter with an -i.
Polska, "Poland," becomes Polski.
If the noun ends in -ć or -ź, replace the letter with an -c or -z and attach an -i at the end.
Łódź, "Lodz" becomes Łodzi.
Neuter nouns tend to end in an -o.
To form the genitive of neuter, singular nouns, replace the ending -o with an -a.
Maroko, "Morocco" becomes Maroka.
Note, there is a set of irregular nouns, such as Seattle or Sydney that don't change in the genitive.

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