Genitive plural of masculine nouns (-ów, -y, -i)

Use the Genitive plural to talk about quantities (many items) or lack thereof (zero items). You will see it in two main situations:

• After quantity words like dużo (a lot), ile (how many), and numbers five and up (pięć, dziesięć, etc.).
• As the direct object in negative sentences (e.g., when you don't have or see items).

Masculine nouns form the Genitive plural with -ów, -y, or -i, depending on the last consonant of the noun.

The -ów Ending

The most common ending is -ów. Use it for nouns ending in a hard consonant (like n, r, t, k), as well as a few exceptions like cel (goal). Remember that nouns ending in -ek drop the "e" (ołówek → ołówków).

The -y Ending

Nouns ending in sounds like sz, rz, cz, and ż take -y (kosz → koszy, talerz → talerzy).

The -i Ending

Nouns ending in soft consonants like ć or ś take -i. The accent mark above the consonant drops, as the "i" automatically softens the sound before it (liść → liści, gość → gości).