The Accusative Case (Direct Objects)
When a person or thing receives the action of a verb—like buying soup or eating pizza—it becomes the direct object. In Polish, direct objects take the Accusative case, meaning their endings change.
Here is how feminine singular nouns and adjectives change.
Feminine Nouns and Adjectives
In their basic dictionary form, almost all feminine nouns and adjectives end in -a. When they become a direct object:
- Nouns change -a to -ę (zupa → zupę).
- Adjectives change -a to -ą (smaczna → smaczną).
Compare the basic form (subject):
| This soup is very good. | Ta zupa jest bardzo dobra. |
To the Accusative form (direct object):
| I am buying a tasty soup. | Kupuję smaczną zupę. |
Ordering Food and Drinks
You will use the Accusative case constantly with verbs like zamawiać (to order), jeść (to eat), and chcieć (to want).
Basic form:
| This is a hot pizza. | To jest gorąca pizza. |
Direct object:
| I am ordering a hot pizza. | Zamawiam gorącą pizzę. |
More examples of feminine foods taking the -ą and -ę endings:
| The woman is eating a tasty salad. | Kobieta je smaczną sałatkę. |
| The child wants a small sandwich. | Dziecko chce małą kanapkę. |
| We are buying cold water and a large sandwich. | Kupujemy zimną wodę i dużą kanapkę. |
Other Common Verbs
The Accusative case applies to most verbs that act on an object. For example, znać (to know) turns nowa restauracja (a new restaurant) into nową restaurację:
| Do you know a new restaurant, ma'am? | Czy zna pani nową restaurację? |
Feminine drinks like kawa (coffee) and herbata (tea) follow the exact same rule with pić (to drink):
| The man is drinking black coffee. | Mężczyzna pije czarną kawę. |
| She always drinks black tea. | Ona zawsze pije czarną herbatę. |