Locative

Locative - where / Miejscownik - Gdzie?

We use "locative" case in Polish language when we want to express the place where is something or the topic we are talking about.

Here you are some example of locative used to express the place:

- e.g. I am in Poland: jestem w Polsce.

- e.g. I live in Rome: mieszkam w Rzymie.

- e.g. there is a fly in the soup: w zupie jest mucha.

Attention: this complement is static: we use it to express where something is, where somebody stays. We do not use the locative when when something or something goes somewhere, comes from somewhere, passes through somewhere, e.g.:

- e.g. I go to Rome: idę do Rzymu

- e.g. I come from a small town: jestem ze wsi

Those are examples of movements towards somewhere or from somewhere. In those cases we do not use the locative, as we are not talking about static situations.

We use the locatice also when I express the topic of the discussion:

• e.g. I speak about the war: mowie o wojnie
• e.g. I think of my childhood: myślę o moim dzieciństwie

We use the locative case with the following prepositions:

• na (on, over), e.g. There is a dish on the table: na stole jest talerz.
• w (in), e.g. It is dark in the cinema: w kinie jest ciemno.
• przy (next to), e.g. I stay next to the car: stoję przy samochodzie.
• po (after), e.g. After the storm there is the rainbow: po burzy jest tęcza.

The locative case is maybe the most difficult case.

For this reason, keep calm and carry on when you see those tables: we will comment them together and try to make a resume just like we have always done so far.

Locative Singular Adjectives

GENDER	NOUN
Masuline and Neutral	- ym - im (if the name ends with -k or -g)
Feminine	- ej -iej (if the name ends with -k or -g)

There are no problems with the adjective: there is no distinction between animated masculine and non animated masculine; furthermore, masculine and neutral adjectives are declined in the same way.

The locative declension of the nouns depends on how the base ends.

When we speak about the base we do not mean the nominative, to whom we often take away the last vowel in order to obtain the base:

- kino → kin...

Locative Singular Nouns

GENDER	ENDING	EXAMPLE
All the words which end with: b, p, m, n, w, f, s, z	- ie	klub – klubie sklep – sklepie kino – w kinie
All the words which ends with these letters change their roots too: t → cie d → dzie zd → ździe sł → śle r → rze st → ście ł → le	- e	palto - w palcie samochód - w samochodzie pojazd - w pojeździe krzesło - na krześle rower - na rowerze most - na moście kanał - w kanale
Masculine and neutral which end with: k, g, h, ch, c, cz, dz, rz, sz, ż, j, l, i, ś, ń, ć, ź	- u	rok - w roku koniec - na końcu koń - na koniu
Feminine which ends with: k, g, h, ch	- e	lalka - w lalce noga - na nodze blacha - na blasze
Feminine which ends with: c, dz, cz, sz, rz, ż	- y	msza - na mszy dzicz - w dziczy
Feminine which ends with: j, l, i, ś, ń, ć, ź	- i	toń - w toni pamięć - w pamięci

Don't you worry, as a Polish speaker would tell you: "it is a matter of pronounciation, in this way it is EASIER to pronounce it". You just need to nod astonished...

Actually, after some practice the endings will come out spontaneously from your mouth, because there is a deep dark Slavic logic behind all of this.

Plural Locative

Luckily the plural locative is far easier:

GENDER	ADJECTIVES	NOUNS
MASCULINE, FEMININE AND NEUTRAL (all genders)	- ych - ich (se il nome finisce con -k o con -g)	- ach

Exercises