At someone's place (u)

The Preposition "U" (At Someone's Place)

In Polish, to say that you are "at someone's house" or visiting a professional's workplace, you use the spatial preposition u followed by the Genitive case.

at, at the place of
u

When using pronouns with u, you must use their Genitive forms. For example, ja becomes mnie, on becomes niego, and ona becomes niej.

If the person whose place you are at is the subject of the sentence (e.g., "I am working at my own place"), use the reflexive pronoun siebie.

Today I am working at my place.
Dzisiaj pracuję u siebie.
We are at his place, and they are at her place.
Jesteśmy u niego, a oni są u niej.

This structure is very common when talking about staying over. The verb nocować means "to spend the night."

My sister often spends the night at my place.
Moja siostra często nocuje u mnie.

Appointments and Errands

You will frequently use u when running errands at a business named after the professional who works there, such as a doctor, dentist, or hairdresser. Remember to put the profession into the Genitive case.

Most masculine professions will end in -a or -y in the Genitive (e.g., fryzjer becomes fryzjera, okulista becomes okulisty).

In March I have an appointment at the eye doctor's.
W marcu mam wizytę u okulisty.
She is at the hairdresser's today.
Ona jest dzisiaj u fryzjera.

If the profession is a feminine noun that declines like an adjective, such as krawcowa (dressmaker), its Genitive ending is -ej.

Yesterday I was at the dressmaker's.
Wczoraj byłam u krawcowej.

Visiting Family and the Verb "Bywać"

The same rules apply when visiting family members. The noun teść (father-in-law) becomes teścia, and teściowa (mother-in-law, which declines like an adjective) becomes teściowej.

On Sunday we are eating dinner at my mother-in-law's place.
W niedzielę jemy obiad u mojej teściowej.

To say that you are somewhere frequently or visit often, use the habitual verb bywać (to visit frequently / to tend to be).

I rarely visit my father-in-law.
Rzadko bywam u mojego teścia.
I do not visit the doctor often, because I am healthy.
Nie bywam często u lekarza, bo jestem zdrowy.

Picking Things Up

While running errands, you often need to pick something (or someone) up. Polish uses the verbs odebrać (perfective, for a completed action) and odbierać (imperfective, for an ongoing or habitual action) for this purpose.

I am at the eye doctor's to pick up my glasses.
Jestem u okulisty, żeby odebrać okulary.
Today I am picking up a dress at the dressmaker's.
Dzisiaj odbieram sukienkę u krawcowej.
My wife is at the beautician's, and I must pick her up.
Moja żona jest u kosmetyczki, a ja muszę ją odebrać.

As a helpful bonus: odbierać is also the verb used for "picking up" or answering a phone call!

My husband does not answer the phone when he is at the doctor's.
Mój mąż nie odbiera telefonu, kiedy jest u lekarza.