Learn Hardcore Polish: Ona lubi swoją książkę.

swoją is a reflexive possessive pronoun: it means her own / his own / their own, referring back to the subject of the sentence.
jej is a normal possessive pronoun: her (belonging to some female person, not necessarily the subject).

In Ona lubi swoją książkę:

Subject: ona (she)
Possessor of the book: the same she
→ So we must use swoją to show the book belongs to the subject herself.

Compare:

Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her own book.
Ona lubi jej książkę. – She likes her book (someone else’s book, belonging to another woman previously mentioned).

So here swoją is the natural choice because the book belongs to the same she who likes it.

Why is it swoją, not swój? What is this ending doing?

Polish possessive pronouns (like swój) must agree with the noun they describe in:

gender (masculine / feminine / neuter),
number (singular / plural),
case (nominative, accusative, etc.).

The base form is often written as swój, but it changes:

książka is feminine, singular.
In this sentence it is in the accusative case (because it’s a direct object).

The feminine singular accusative form of swój is swoją.

So:

swój – dictionary/base form
swoja książka – nominative (subject): her own book
swoją książkę – accusative (object): her own book (as object of the verb)

The ending -ą on swoją shows feminine singular accusative, matching książkę.

Why is it książkę, not książka?

książka is the basic (nominative) form: book.

In Ona lubi swoją książkę, the noun książka is the direct object (what she likes), so Polish uses the accusative case.

For feminine nouns ending in -a, the accusative singular typically changes -a → -ę:

Nominative: książk-a – a book (as subject)
Accusative: książk-ę – a book (as object)

So książkę is simply książka in the accusative case.

Which case is used after lubi, and is this always true?

The verb lubić (to like) takes its direct object in the accusative case.

So:

lubić + [accusative]

Examples:

Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her book. (książkę – accusative)
Lubię kawę. – I like coffee. (kawę – accusative of kawa)
On lubi filmy. – He likes films. (filmy – accusative plural of film)

This is stable: lubić doesn’t suddenly switch to another case; when it has a direct object, that object is in the accusative (except under negation, see below).

What happens in the negative? Is it still książkę after nie lubi?

Negation in Polish often changes the case of the object from accusative to genitive.

So:

Affirmative: Ona lubi swoją książkę.
- książkę – accusative (direct object)
Negative: Ona nie lubi swojej książki.
- książki – genitive (not accusative anymore)
- swojej – genitive feminine singular, agreeing with książki

So under negation:

lubić + [accusative]
nie lubić + [genitive]

This is a very common pattern in Polish.

Is the pronoun ona necessary? Can I just say Lubi swoją książkę?

You can absolutely drop ona:

Lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her book.

Polish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are usually omitted when the verb ending already shows the person:

(Ona) lubi – she likes (3rd person singular)
(On) lubi – he likes (same verb form!)

In the 3rd person, on and ona share the same verb form lubi, so context is needed to know whether it’s he or she. Speakers often omit the pronoun unless they need to emphasize or clarify:

Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her book (contrast or emphasis).
Lubi swoją książkę. – Simply likes her/his own book, context decides who.

So ona is not grammatically required, just optionally used for clarity or emphasis.

Could the word order be different, like Ona swoją książkę lubi? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible, and different orders can sound natural, but they often affect emphasis rather than basic meaning.

Possible variants (all grammatical):

Ona lubi swoją książkę.
– Neutral order: Subject – Verb – Object – Possessive. Simple statement.
Ona swoją książkę lubi.
– Slight emphasis on lubi (that she does like it), maybe in contrast to other things she doesn’t like.
Swoją książkę ona lubi.
– Emphasis on swoją książkę (it’s her own book that she likes, perhaps contrasted with other books).
Swoją książkę lubi (ona).
– Strong focus on swoją książkę; the pronoun at the end ona could be added for contrast (she likes it, maybe someone else doesn’t).

In everyday speech, Ona lubi swoją książkę and Lubi swoją książkę are the most common neutral versions. The other word orders appear more in specific contexts (contrast, focus, poetic style).

Does swoją agree with ona or with książkę?

Grammatically, swoją agrees with książkę, not with ona.

Agreement in Polish for possessives works like this:

The form (gender/number/case) of the possessive matches the possessed noun.
The meaning (who is the owner) matches the subject in the case of swój.

In Ona lubi swoją książkę:

Possessed noun: książkę – feminine, singular, accusative.
So possessive: swoją – feminine, singular, accusative.

The owner (semantically): ona (the subject), but that doesn’t affect the form directly; only the fact that owner = subject tells you to use swój instead of jej.

When should I use swój versus normal possessives like mój, twój, jej, nasz, etc.?

Use swój (and its forms: swoją, swoje, swojego, swojej, etc.) when:

The possessor = the subject of the sentence.

Examples:

Ja lubię swoją książkę. – I like my (own) book.
Ty lubisz swoją książkę. – You like your (own) book.
Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her (own) book.
Oni lubią swoje książki. – They like their (own) books.

Use mój / twój / jego / jej / nasz / wasz / ich when:

The possessor is not the subject of that verb, or you want to stress whose it is in a contrastive way.

Example:

Ona lubi jej książkę. – She likes her book (another woman’s, not her own).

For “She likes her book” (where her = the same she), swój is the standard, natural choice. Using jej in that situation often suggests it belongs to some other woman in the context.

What is the difference between lubić, kochać, and podobać się for “to like”?

Polish splits the English verb to like into several options:

lubić
- Neutral to like (people, objects, activities, food, etc.).
- Ona lubi swoją książkę. – She likes her book.
- Lubię kawę. – I like coffee.
kochać
- to love (strong emotion, usually for people, sometimes for things very strongly).
- Ona kocha swoje dzieci. – She loves her children.
- On kocha tę książkę. – He loves this book (very strong attachment).
podobać się
- Literally: to be pleasing to someone.
- Often used for first impressions, appearance, or something being nice/pleasing.
- Structure:
  - Coś podoba się komuś – Something pleases someone.
- Ta książka jej się podoba. – She likes this book (it appeals to her).
- Podoba mi się ta książka. – I like this book (I find it nice/interesting).

In Ona lubi swoją książkę, lubić is correct because it’s a stable, general liking.

How would I say “She likes her own book, but not his”?

You combine swój for her own and jego for his:

Ona lubi swoją książkę, ale nie lubi jego książki.
– She likes her own book, but she doesn’t like his book.

Notes:

swoją książkę – her own book (reflexive; owner = subject).
jego książki – his book (genitive after nie lubi).
- Nominative: jego książka
- After negated lubić → genitive: jego książki.

How do I pronounce the ą and ę in książkę? Do they always sound like that?

In książkę the nasal vowels are:

ą in książ-
ę at the end: -kę

Approximate pronunciation:

książ- ≈ “kshonsh” (with a nasal “on” sound, like French “on” + a soft “sh” from ż
- ń-like quality from sią cluster).
Final -kę: the ę before k is often pronounced more like a plain e plus a slight “n” quality, sometimes very weak in normal speech.

Important points:

ą and ę are nasal vowels, but their exact sound changes depending on what consonant follows.
At the end of a word, ę is often pronounced almost like a plain e in everyday speech (a very weak nasalization).

So książkę will usually sound close to [kʂɔ̃ʂkɛ], with a nasal vowel in the first syllable and a fairly normal e in the last.