Breakdown of Nauczyciel liczy trzy krzesła i pięć stołów w sali.
w
in
i
and
stół
the table
krzesło
the chair
pięć
five
trzy
three
nauczyciel
the teacher
liczyć
to count
sala
the classroom
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Nauczyciel liczy trzy krzesła i pięć stołów w sali.
Which case is krzesła in, and why isn’t it in the accusative?
krzesła is in the nominative plural. In Polish, when you count with the numbers 2, 3, or 4, the counted noun takes the nominative plural form—even if it’s the direct object of the verb. So you say trzy krzesła (not trzy krzeseł or trzy krzesła in accusative).
Which case is stołów, and why does it appear as genitive plural?
stołów is in the genitive plural. After numbers 5 and above, Polish requires the counted noun to go into genitive plural. Hence pięć stołów instead of pięć stoły or pięć stoł.
What case is sali, and why?
sali is locative singular. The preposition w (“in”) takes the locative case when you describe a static location: w sali means “in the room.”
Why is the verb liczyć in the form liczy?
liczy is the third person singular present-tense form of the imperfective verb liczyć (“to count”). Polish verbs change their ending for person and number, so nauczyciel liczy means “the teacher counts.”
Why is there no subject pronoun like on (“he”) in front of liczy?
Polish is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -y in liczy already signals “he/she/it.” Adding on is possible but usually unnecessary unless you need extra emphasis.
Why aren’t there articles (like “the” or “a”) in this sentence?
Polish does not have definite or indefinite articles. Context and word order carry the information that in English would be expressed by “the” or “a.”
What’s the difference between liczyć and policzyć?
liczyć is imperfective (describing an ongoing or habitual action: “to be counting”), whereas policzyć is perfective (focusing on the completed action: “to have counted”). Here the teacher is performing the counting action, so we use the imperfective liczy.
Can I switch the order to say pięć stołów i trzy krzesła?
Yes. Polish has relatively free word order, so you can say Nauczyciel liczy pięć stołów i trzy krzesła w sali without changing the meaning.