LANGUAGE LEARNING LAB

 

Lesson 40

 

---

Today we will talk about another case of Polish nouns, the Accusative case. At the end of this lesson you will be given a practice dialog regarding shopping. You will have to use the accusative case to fill in the blanks in the dialog.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Memorize new vocabulary

Poprosić

I would like, want, please

Noun Gender	Noun Ending
masculine animate (people, animals)	-a
masculine inanimate (objects)	no change
feminine	-ę
neuter	no change

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apply it to Sentence Structure

 

 

The verb poprosić can mean please, I would like or I want. This verb is very similar to the verb prosić, except for here you add the affix po-. The most useful form of this verb is poproszę meaning I would like or I want. For a full conjugation of this verb go to verb prosić in Lesson 35.

***Accusative Case***

The accusative case is the third most commonly used case in the Polish language, after the nominative and instrumental cases. (If you want to refresh your understanding of Polish cases go to Lesson 21).

How do you know when to use the accusative case?

So far you have learned four verbs that take this case: mieć (Lesson 14), studiować (Lesson 31), prosić (Lesson 35) and poprosić (this lesson).

Here is how we create the accusative form:

Masculine animate

Step 1:
student - student

Step 2:
add -a ending:
studenta

Step 3:
Ja mam studenta.
    I have a student.


Feminine

Step 1:
kawa - kaw_ - coffee

Step 2:
Change -a ending into -ę ending:
kawę

Step 3:
Ja mam kawę.
    I have coffee.

Note!
Masculine inanimate and neuter forms do not change, they stay the same.

Other examples:

Masculine animate

On ma kota.
    He has a cat.

Masculine inanimate

My mamy nowy samochód.
    We have a new car. (Notice that the noun samochód did not change its ending)

Feminine

Poproszę wodę.
    I would like some water.

Neuter
Poproszę jabłko.
    I would like an apple. (Again, notice that the noun jabłko did not change its ending)

Practice it!

I. Adjust the ending of the following nouns into the accusative form.

II. Imagine that you are in a store intending on buying a few items. Fill in the dialog below with the words from the word bank below.

Sprzedawca:        Dzień __________!
Ty:            Dzień dobry! Poproszę wodę.
Sprzedawca:        __________ wodę?
Ty:            Tą.
Sprzedawca:        Coś jeszcze?    *
Ty:             Czy jest __________ Maxwell House?
Sprzedawca:        Tak.
Ty:            To __________.
Sprzedawca:        Coś jeszcze?
Ty:            Tak. Poproszę znaczek, pocztówkę i tą __________.
Sprzedawca:        Tą gazetę?
Ty:            Nie, __________.
Sprzedawca:        Coś jeszcze?
Ty:            Nie, to wszystko.*
Sprzedawca:        23 __________.
Ty:            Proszę.
Sprzedawca:        __________ widzenia!

*coś jeszcze? - anything else?
*nie, to wszystko. - no, that’s all

Now, change this dialog around and practice it whenever you go shopping. Good luck!

*Click here for answer key*

* * *

                             ONLY $19.99

Lesson 39