"With Me" and "With You"
To say you are doing something "with" someone in Polish, you use the preposition z followed by the Instrumental case.
When z comes before a word starting with certain difficult consonant combinations—like mną (me)—it changes to ze for easier pronunciation.
| English | Polish |
|---|---|
| with me | ze mną |
| with you (singular) | z tobą |
| Are you going with me? | Idziesz ze mną? |
| The director will talk with you tomorrow. | Dyrektor będzie jutro z tobą rozmawiać. |
Verbs of Interaction
Many common verbs that describe social interactions naturally pair with z and these Instrumental pronouns. These include talking, agreeing (zgadzać się), and arguing (kłócić się).
| Why are you arguing with me? | Dlaczego się ze mną kłócisz? |
| Are your parents arguing with you? | Czy twoi rodzice się z tobą kłócą? |
"With Him" and "With Her"
For the third-person pronouns, the base forms on (he) and ona (she) change to nim and nią in the Instrumental case.
| English | Polish |
|---|---|
| with him | z nim |
| with her | z nią |
Notice how the preposition stays as z because these pronouns do not have tricky starting consonant clusters.
| Do you agree with him? | Czy zgadzasz się z nim? |
| This girl often argues with her. | Ta dziewczyna często się z nią kłóci. |
These pronouns are used constantly when talking about playing (bawić się), discussing (dyskutować), or joking (żartować) with others.
| The small child plays well with her. | Małe dziecko dobrze się z nią bawi. |
| I like talking with him, but he often jokes. | Lubię z nim rozmawiać, ale on często żartuje. |