Ja kocham swój dom.

I love my home.

Breakdown of Ja kocham swój dom.

• ja: I
• dom: the house
• kochać: to love
• swój: its

Questions & Answers about Ja kocham swój dom.

Do I really need to say Ja, or can I just say Kocham swój dom?

In everyday Polish you usually omit the subject pronoun, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• Kocham swój dom. – completely natural, probably the most common.
• Ja kocham swój dom. – also correct, but emphatic: I love my home (as opposed to someone else, or in contrast to another statement).

So: you don’t have to say Ja; you use it when you want to add emphasis or contrast.

Why is it swój and not mój for my?

Polish has a special reflexive possessive pronoun swój.
You use swój when:

• The possessor is the subject of the sentence, and
• The thing possessed belongs to that subject.

In Ja kocham swój dom:

• Subject: ja (I)
• Possessor: also ja (it’s my own home)
  So you use swój.

Compare:

• Ja kocham swój dom. – I love my own home.
• Ja kocham mój dom. – grammatically possible, but sounds a bit unusual or contrastive; more like: I love *my house (not yours / not hers)*.

For third person, the difference becomes very important:

• On kocha swój dom. – He loves his own home.
• On kocha jego dom. – He loves his (someone else’s) home.

So: swój = one’s own (subject’s own),
mój / twój / jego / jej etc. = my / your / his / her in a general sense.

What does swój agree with: the person (I, you, he…) or the noun (dom)?

Swój always agrees in gender, number, and case with the noun it describes, not with the person.

• swój dom – dom is masculine singular → swój (masc. sg.)
• swoja książka – książka is feminine singular → swoja
• swoje dziecko – dziecko is neuter singular → swoje
• swoje domy – domy is plural → swoje

The person (I, you, he…) is shown by the subject and the verb ending, not by the form of swój.

What case is dom in here, and why does it look like the dictionary form?

The noun dom is in the accusative case here, because it’s the direct object of the verb kocham:

• Who loves? – (Ja)
• Loves what? – dom → accusative object

For masculine inanimate nouns like dom, the accusative = nominative in form:

• Nominative (dictionary form): dom
• Accusative: dom (same shape)

So it looks like the dictionary form, but its function in the sentence is accusative.

Is kochać only for romantic love, or can I use it like English love?

Kochać overlaps with English to love, but tends to sound stronger and more emotional than just liking something.

Typical uses:

• Romantic love: Kocham cię. – I love you.
• Family: Kocham swoich rodziców. – I love my parents.
• Strong attachment: Kocham swój dom. – I really love / am very attached to my home.

For weaker feelings (like I love coffee / I love this song in casual English), Poles often use lubić:

• Lubię kawę. – I like coffee.
• Lubię ten film. – I like this film.

Saying Kocham kawę is possible but sounds exaggerated or humorous, like I adore coffee.

How is kocham formed, and what are the other forms of kochać?

Kocham is the 1st person singular present tense of kochać (to love).

Present tense forms:

• ja kocham – I love
• ty kochasz – you (singular, informal) love
• on / ona / ono kocha – he / she / it loves
• my kochamy – we love
• wy kochacie – you (plural) love
• oni / one kochają – they love

This verb follows a regular -ać pattern, so you can use it as a model for many other verbs ending in -ać.

Can I change the word order, like Kocham ja swój dom or Swój dom kocham?

Polish word order is flexible, but not every order sounds natural.

• Ja kocham swój dom. – normal, with emphasis on ja.
• Kocham swój dom. – normal, neutral.
• Swój dom kocham. – possible; sounds poetic or strongly emphatic, like It’s my home that I love.

But:

• Kocham ja swój dom. – sounds unnatural / wrong in modern Polish.

General rule: basic order is Subject – Verb – Object, but you can move parts for emphasis, rhythm, or style. Just don’t copy English word-for-word; not every reordering works.

How do I pronounce Ja kocham swój dom?

Approximate English-based guide:

• Ja – ya (like ya in yard).
• kocham – KOH-ham
  
  • ko like co in coffee,
  • ch is a throaty kh (like German Bach),
  • stress on the first syllable: KOH-ham.
• swój – svooy
  
  • s as in see,
  • w as English v,
  • ó is pronounced like u in rule,
  • j is like y in yes.
• dom – dom (like dome but with a short o, not ou).

Polish almost always stresses the penultimate syllable, but here each word is one or two syllables, stress on the first: JA KO-cham SWÓJ DOM.

Does dom mean house or home?

Dom can mean both, depending on context:

• the physical building – house
  
  • To jest mój dom. – This is my house.
• the idea of home / where you live / feel at home – home
  
  • Kocham swój dom. – I love my home.

If you want to be more specific:

• dom – house (often also home)
• mieszkanie – apartment / flat
• rodzinny dom – family home / childhood home

Why is Ja not capitalized like English I?

In Polish, personal pronouns (including ja) are normally not capitalized in the middle of a sentence:

• Ja kocham swój dom.

The one common exception is polite forms in letters or emails, where you may see capitalized forms like Ty, Tobie, Ciebie to show respect to the addressee. But ja for I stays lowercase in standard writing.