English "all" and "every" cover a lot of ground with very little grammar — you just put the word in front and you're done. Polish carves the same territory into three distinct words that encode distinctions English ignores: każdy ("every/each", singular, one at a time), wszyscy/wszystkie ("all", plural, taken together), and wszystko ("everything", a neuter singular). On top of that, the plural "all" splits by the masculine-personal gender (wszyscy vs wszystkie). Choosing the right one is mostly about whether you mean "each one separately" or "the whole group together".
każdy — every / each, one at a time
Każdy is distributive: it picks out the members of a set one by one. It is always singular and is followed by a singular noun and a singular verb, even though the meaning ranges over many things. It declines like an adjective (with a couple of pronoun-like quirks in the plural, which you rarely need). Forms: masculine każdy, feminine każda, neuter każde.
Każdy student dostał inny temat na egzamin.
Every student got a different topic for the exam.
Każda minuta jest teraz ważna.
Every minute matters now.
Każde dziecko dostało po cukierku.
Each child got a sweet.
Because każdy is distributive, it pairs naturally with "a different one for each": każdy dostał inny temat ("each got a different topic"). It also gives the standard way to say "every day / daily" — in the genitive, każdego dnia, with both words inflected.
Dzwoni do mamy każdego wieczoru.
He calls his mum every evening.
każdy z nas — each of us
To say "each of us / each of you / each of them", use każdy plus the genitive plural pronoun: każdy z nas, każdy z was, każdy z nich. The verb stays singular, because każdy is singular.
Każdy z nas ma swoje zdanie na ten temat.
Each of us has their own opinion on this.
wszyscy / wszystkie — all, taken together
Wszyscy/wszystkie is collective: it takes the whole group at once. It is always plural, followed by a plural noun and a plural verb. The choice between the two forms is the masculine-personal split that runs through the whole Polish plural system:
- wszyscy — masculine-personal: groups that include at least one male person (wszyscy ludzie, wszyscy studenci, wszyscy mężczyźni).
- wszystkie — everything else: women, animals, things, abstractions (wszystkie kobiety, wszystkie koty, wszystkie książki).
Wszyscy goście już przyszli.
All the guests have already arrived.
Wszystkie bilety zostały sprzedane.
All the tickets have been sold.
Wszyscy moi koledzy z pracy są na urlopie.
All my colleagues at work are on holiday.
This is why "all the students" is wszyscy studenci if any of them is male, but wszystkie studentki for a group of female students only. The gender of the people decides the form — see the masculine-personal plural for the full logic.
wszyscy z nas vs wszyscy
For "all of us / all of you", you usually just say wszyscy (or my wszyscy, wy wszyscy) — Polish does not need a "z nas" the way English needs "of us":
Wszyscy jedziemy na wesele w sobotę.
All of us are going to the wedding on Saturday.
wszystko — everything
Wszystko is the neuter singular meaning "everything" — a thing, not a group of people. It takes a singular (neuter) verb. Don't confuse it with wszystkie (plural "all"): wszystko answers "what?" (an undefined mass of things), while wszystkie modifies a countable plural noun.
Wszystko będzie dobrze, nie martw się.
Everything will be fine, don't worry.
Zjadł wszystko, co było w lodówce.
He ate everything that was in the fridge.
Its counterpart for people is wszyscy used on its own as a pronoun meaning "everyone" (plural): Wszyscy o tym wiedzą ("Everyone knows about it"). So Polish neatly mirrors kto/co ("who/what"): wszyscy = "everyone" (people, plural), wszystko = "everything" (things, singular).
Wszyscy wiedzą, że to nieprawda.
Everyone knows that it isn't true.
They all decline
None of these words is frozen. Każdy and wszyscy/wszystkie/wszystko inflect for case along with their noun. A few high-frequency forms:
| Case | każdy (masc. sg) | wszyscy (masc-pers. pl) | wszystko (neut. sg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | każdy | wszyscy | wszystko |
| Genitive | każdego | wszystkich | wszystkiego |
| Dative | każdemu | wszystkim | wszystkiemu |
| Accusative | każdego / każdy | wszystkich | wszystko |
| Instrumental | każdym | wszystkimi | wszystkim |
| Locative | każdym | wszystkich | wszystkim |
Dziękuję wam wszystkim za pomoc.
Thank you all for your help.
Życzę ci wszystkiego najlepszego!
I wish you all the best!
That last sentence — wszystkiego najlepszego (literally "of everything the best") — is the standard birthday wish, and it shows wszystko in the genitive, wszystkiego. Learn it as a fixed phrase.
Common Mistakes
❌ Wszyscy dzień chodzę do pracy.
Incorrect — 'every day' needs the distributive singular każdy
✅ Każdego dnia chodzę do pracy.
I go to work every day.
❌ Każdzi studenci dostali dyplomy.
Incorrect — każdy can't be plural; for the whole group use wszyscy
✅ Wszyscy studenci dostali dyplomy.
All the students got diplomas.
❌ Wszystkie ludzie to wiedzą.
Incorrect — ludzie is masculine-personal, so it needs wszyscy
✅ Wszyscy ludzie to wiedzą.
All people know this.
❌ Wszystko przyszli na imprezę.
Incorrect — for people use the plural wszyscy with a plural verb
✅ Wszyscy przyszli na imprezę.
Everyone came to the party.
❌ Każdy z nas mają inne plany.
Incorrect — każdy is singular, so the verb must be singular: ma
✅ Każdy z nas ma inne plany.
Each of us has different plans.
Key Takeaways
- każdy / każda / każde — distributive "every/each", singular noun and singular verb ("each one separately"). Declines: każdego, każdemu, każdym.
- wszyscy / wszystkie — collective "all", plural; wszyscy for masculine-personal groups (any male person), wszystkie otherwise.
- wszystko — "everything", neuter singular; its people-counterpart is wszyscy used as "everyone".
- All of them decline for case along with their noun; learn każdego dnia ("every day") and wszystkiego najlepszego ("all the best") as ready-made phrases.
Now practice Polish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- The Masculine-Personal Plural (Męskoosobowy)B1 — Polish plurals split into masculine-personal vs everything-else — and a single male human in the group flips the noun, adjective, verb, and pronoun.
- Determiners: OverviewA2 — A survey of Polish determiners — demonstratives, possessives, quantifiers and question words — which agree with their noun and, unlike English articles, are optional rather than obligatory.
- Quantity Words: dużo, mało, kilka, parę, wieleA2 — The vague quantity words — dużo, mało, kilka, parę, wiele, trochę — all govern the genitive and trigger neuter-singular verb agreement, exactly like the numbers five and above.
- Negative Pronouns and Double Negation: nikt, nic, nigdyA2 — Polish requires double (and triple) negation: a negative pronoun like nikt or nic does not replace the verb's nie but stacks with it — Nikt nie przyszedł, literally 'nobody didn't come'.
- Interrogative Pronouns: kto, coA1 — The question words kto 'who' and co 'what' fully decline — the case you choose telegraphs how the answer fits into the sentence, and kto always triggers masculine agreement.