Genitive Prepositions: bez, dla, od, u, według, podczas | Polish Grammar

The genitive governs more prepositions than any other Polish case. Beyond the everyday do ("to") and z/ze ("from / out of"), there is a whole family of single-case prepositions that always take the genitive — no alternation, no motion switch, just genitive every time. This page covers the most useful members of that family, with special attention to u (the "at someone's place" preposition that English lacks) and według ("according to / in my opinion"). Because they govern only one case, they are easier than the two-case spatial prepositions: learn the word, attach the genitive, done.

The core list

Preposition	Meaning
bez	without
dla	for (the benefit of)
od	from (a person/point), since
u	at someone's place / in someone's possession
według	according to / in someone's opinion
podczas	during
oprócz	except, besides
poza	besides, apart from (this sense)
wobec	toward, regarding, in the face of
zamiast	instead of

bez — "without"

bez strips something away. The thing absent goes in the genitive, which makes intuitive sense — the genitive is the case of absence and lack in Polish.

Wolę kawę bez cukru.

I prefer coffee without sugar.

Nie wychodź bez parasola, będzie padać.

Don't go out without an umbrella, it's going to rain.

dla — "for (the benefit of)"

dla marks the beneficiary — the person or thing something is meant for, or whose benefit is at stake. This is distinct from za ("for" in the sense of exchange or "in place of"). Prezent dla mamy is "a present for mum"; you would not use za there.

Kupiłem prezent dla mamy.

I bought a present for mum.

To ćwiczenie jest za trudne dla początkujących.

This exercise is too hard for beginners.

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dla (genitive) = "for the benefit of" someone. za (accusative) = "for, in exchange for" (e.g. dziękuję za pomoc "thanks for the help", zapłaciłem za bilet "I paid for the ticket"). When you can replace "for" with "for the sake of", it's dla.

od — "from (a person/point), since"

od marks a starting point — a sender, an origin in time, or the lower bound of a range. With people, od is "from": a letter from grandma is list od babci. In time it means "since / from": od poniedziałku ("from/since Monday").

Dostałam list od babci.

I got a letter from grandma.

Pracuję tu od poniedziałku.

I've been working here since Monday.

Bilety kosztują od dwudziestu złotych.

Tickets cost from twenty złoty (upwards).

u — "at someone's place"

This is the high-value one. u + genitive means "at the place of / in the domain of" a person — exactly the French chez, which English has no clean word for. U lekarza is "at the doctor's"; u babci is "at grandma's"; u fryzjera is "at the hairdresser's". It also expresses possession in someone's keeping: Klucze są u Ani ("Ania has the keys / the keys are with Ania").

Byłem wczoraj u lekarza.

I was at the doctor's yesterday.

Mieszkam u rodziców, dopóki nie znajdę mieszkania.

I'm living with my parents until I find a flat.

Zostawiłem telefon u Ani.

I left my phone at Ania's.

Note the difference from do + genitive: do lekarza is motion to the doctor ("I'm going to the doctor's"), while u lekarza is being at the doctor's ("I'm at the doctor's"). The pair do (going to) / u (being at) covers the destination-and-location idea for places defined by a person.

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u answers "at whose place?" — u lekarza, u babci, u fryzjera, u znajomych. It has no English one-word equivalent; we paraphrase with "at the doctor's", "at grandma's place", "round at a friend's". Drill it: every time you'd say "at someone's", reach for u + genitive.

według — "according to / in someone's opinion"

według means "according to", and its everyday use is to give an opinion: według mnie is literally "according to me" but functions as "in my opinion / I think". Learners badly under-use it, defaulting to myślę, że…; według mnie is shorter and very natural.

Według mnie to świetny pomysł.

In my opinion, that's a great idea.

Według prognozy jutro będzie padać.

According to the forecast, it'll rain tomorrow.

podczas, oprócz, wobec, zamiast

The rest of the family, each genitive:

podczas — "during" (a span of time or an event):

Podczas wakacji zwiedziliśmy całe Włochy.

During the holidays we toured all of Italy.

oprócz — "except / besides" (and poza in this sense too):

Wszyscy przyszli oprócz Marka.

Everyone came except Marek.

zamiast — "instead of":

Zamiast kawy wypiłem herbatę.

Instead of coffee I drank tea.

wobec — "toward, regarding, in the face of" (slightly formal):

Był bardzo uprzejmy wobec gości.

He was very polite toward the guests.

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Spelling watch: według is spelt with ł and a final g (which devoices to a [k] sound) — never wedłóg with an extra ó, and never wedug without the ł. Likewise oprócz needs the ó and the cz ending (not oprucz). Both are common misspellings; get them right.

Common Mistakes

❌ Prezent dla mamie.

Incorrect — dative used after dla

✅ Prezent dla mamy.

A present for mum. (dla → genitive)

Because dla translates as "for" and "for" often pairs with a recipient, learners reach for the dative. But dla governs the genitive: mama → mamy.

❌ Byłem do lekarza wczoraj.

Incorrect — do (motion 'to') used for being at

✅ Byłem u lekarza wczoraj.

I was at the doctor's yesterday.

Być describes being somewhere, so you need u ("at someone's place"), not do ("to" / motion toward). Idę do lekarza (going) vs jestem u lekarza (being there).

❌ Według mi to dobry pomysł.

Incorrect — dative mi instead of genitive mnie

✅ Według mnie to dobry pomysł.

In my opinion, that's a good idea.

według takes the genitive, so the pronoun is mnie, not the dative mi. The fixed phrase is always według mnie / według ciebie / według niego.

❌ Kawa bez cukier, proszę.

Incorrect — nominative instead of genitive after bez

✅ Kawa bez cukru, proszę.

Coffee without sugar, please.

bez always takes the genitive: cukier → cukru. The nominative cukier signals an unfinished case ending to any native ear.

❌ Mieszkam u rodzicami.

Incorrect — instrumental instead of genitive

✅ Mieszkam u rodziców.

I live with my parents.

u is genitive-only. The "with" of "live with parents" is u rodziców (genitive), not the instrumental — Polish reserves the instrumental "with" (z rodzicami) for accompaniment, not residence.

Key Takeaways

These prepositions take only the genitive — no alternation, no motion switch: just attach the genitive ending.
u + genitive = "at someone's place / chez": u lekarza, u babci, u fryzjera — learn it as the partner of do (going) vs u (being there).
według + genitive = "according to / in my opinion": według mnie is everyday and underused.
dla (benefit, genitive) ≠ za (exchange, accusative): prezent dla mamy but dziękuję za prezent.
Watch the diacritics: według, oprócz.

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