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### The Magic Suffix "-ś"

To solve mysteries like a true detective, you need to talk about unknown people, things, and places. In Polish, you can turn a question word into an indefinite pronoun or adverb simply by adding the suffix **-ś**. This is exactly like adding "some-" or "any-" in English.

### Someone and Something: Ktoś and Coś

If you take the words for *who* (**kto**) and *what* (**co**) and add the **-ś** suffix, you get words for unspecified people and things:

- **kto** (who) + **ś** = **ktoś** (someone, somebody, anybody)
- **co** (what) + **ś** = **coś** (something, anything)

Just like **kto** and **co**, these pronouns change their endings depending on the grammatical case they are in. 

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### Somewhere and Sometime: Gdzieś and Kiedyś

You can use the exact same trick for places and times:

- **gdzie** (where) + **ś** = **gdzieś** (somewhere, anywhere)
- **kiedy** (when) + **ś** = **kiedyś** (sometime, once, in the past, ever)

Because these words are adverbs, they never change their form or decline.

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### Some kind of: Jakiś

Finally, you can add **-ś** to the question word **jaki** (what kind / which) to create the adjective **jakiś**. This word translates to *some*, *some kind of*, or *a certain*.

Because **jakiś** is an adjective, it must agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun it describes. It declines exactly like **jaki**, with the **-ś** tacked onto the very end of the new ending.

For example, if the noun requires the Genitive or Accusative case for a masculine animate noun, **jakiś** becomes **jakiegoś**.

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Indefinite pronouns (-ś)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

This is (to jest)

The verb to be, singular (być)

Formal address (Pan, Pani)

Demonstrative pronouns (ten, ta, to)

Adjective agreement

Negation (nie)

Basic questions (czy, kto, co, gdzie, jak)

The verb to be, plural (być)

Present tense -m/-sz verbs

Reflexive verbs (się)

Coordinating conjunctions (i, a, ale)

Feminine direct objects (Accusative)

Inanimate direct objects (Accusative)

Animate masculine direct objects (Accusative)

Present tense verbs 2 (-ę, -isz / -ysz)

Expressing location (w, na)

Locative adjective agreement

Professions and nationalities (Instrumental)

Accompaniment (z + Instrumental)

Present tense verbs 3 (-ę, -esz)

Plural possessives (nasz, wasz)

Numbers 1 to 10

Genitive of possession

Genitive of negation

Lack or absence (nie ma)

Basic quantifiers (dużo, mało, trochę)

Liking things (podoba mi się)

Modal verbs (móc, musieć)

Subordinating conjunctions (bo, że)

Unidirectional motion verbs (iść, jechać)

Expressing age (mieć... lat)

Habitual motion (chodzić, jeździć)

Expressing destination (do)

Days of the week (poniedziałek, wtorek...)

Plural nouns for objects and animals

Plural nouns for people

Plural adjective agreement

Accusative object pronouns (go, ją, je...)

The past tense of to be (był)

Singular past tense (-łem, -łam...)

Expressing age (mieć + lata / lat)

Plural past tense (-li / -ły)

Perfective past tense

Future tense (będę + infinitive)

Age: one year (mieć rok)

Prices and currency (złoty, grosz)

Destination (na + accusative)

Non-masculine plurals (-e, -y, -i)

Instrumental pronouns (ze mną, z tobą)

To know (znać vs wiedzieć)

The future perfective tense

The imperative mood

Months of the year (styczeń, luty)

Greetings and farewells (dzień dobry, cześć)

Introducing yourself (mam na imię)

Thank you and sorry (dziękuję, przepraszam)

Left, right, up and down (po lewej stronie)

Parts of the body (ręka, noga)

Parts of the day (dzień, noc, południe)

What is it like? (jaki, jaka, jakie)

Speaking Polish (mówić po polsku)

Instrumental for adjectives (dobrym, dobrą)

Please do... (proszę + infinitive)

Interests (interesować się + Instrumental)

Can one? (można, trzeba, nie wolno)

By bus or by train (jechać autobusem)

Where are you from? (jestem z Polski)

Where exactly? (obok, przy, przed, za, pod, nad)

What time is it? (Która godzina?)

Not seeing her (go, jej, ich; niego, niej, nich)

When I have time (kiedy as a conjunction)

Irregular past stems (miał, mieli)

The verb 'iść' in the past (szedł, szli)

Imperfective future (będę odpoczywał)

Past aspect (robił vs zrobił)

Future aspect (będzie malował vs pomaluje)

Perfective motion with po- (pójść, pojechać)

Arrival verbs with przy- (przyjść, przyjechać)

Departure verbs with wy- (wyjść, wyjechać)

The Vocative case (Panie, Mamo)

Plural possessives (moi, moje)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (swój)

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

Genitive plural of feminine and neuter nouns

Genitive plural of adjectives (-ych, -ich)

Accusative plural of masculine personal nouns

Question	Answer
to steal	ukraść
Someone stole my phone yesterday.	Ktoś ukradł wczoraj mój telefon.
detective	detektyw
Some detective is asking who did it.	Jakiś detektyw pyta, kto to zrobił.
The detective sees something on the table.	Detektyw widzi coś na stole.
suspect	podejrzany
somewhere	gdzieś
The suspect is somewhere in the city.	Podejrzany jest gdzieś w mieście.
sometime	kiedyś
This suspect once lived near us.	Kiedyś ten podejrzany mieszkał blisko nas.
trace	ślad
But there is no trace here!	Ale tu nie ma żadnego śladu!
mystery	tajemnica
This is a big mystery, but someone must know something.	To jest duża tajemnica, ale ktoś musi coś wiedzieć.
When the detective has time, he looks for some trace.	Kiedy detektyw ma czas, szuka jakiegoś śladu.
There is a mystery somewhere in this house.	Gdzieś w tym domu jest tajemnica.
Someone once stole this painting.	Ktoś kiedyś ukradł ten obraz.
Is there something you like?	Czy coś ci się podoba?
The suspect has no time, so he is going somewhere far away.	Podejrzany nie ma czasu, więc jedzie gdzieś daleko.
the crime	przestępstwo
Did someone see this crime?	Czy ktoś widział to przestępstwo?
the witness	świadek
to hide	ukrywać
Some witness is hiding something here.	Jakiś świadek coś tu ukrywa.
the motive	motyw
Someone must have some motive.	Ktoś musi mieć jakiś motyw.
the weapon	broń
We must find the weapon somewhere in the house.	Musimy znaleźć broń gdzieś w domu.
The suspect was hiding the weapon somewhere, but the detective found it.	Podejrzany gdzieś ukrywał broń, ale detektyw ją znalazł.
There is no witness, but someone left a trace.	Nie ma świadka, ale ktoś zostawił ślad.
Will we ever understand this motive?	Czy kiedyś zrozumiemy ten motyw?
I would like to find some proof of this crime.	Chciałbym znaleźć jakiś dowód tego przestępstwa.
to hide (something) (perfective; imperfective ukrywać)	ukryć
Where did he hide the money?	Gdzie on ukrył pieniądze?
The suspect hid the weapon in the forest.	Podejrzany ukrył broń w lesie.

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