Completely Different Words: People and Years
When recounting biographies or history, you will frequently use some of the most common nouns in Polish. A few of these nouns are highly irregular—their plural forms are completely different words from their singular forms.
- człowiek (man/human) becomes ludzie (people).
- rok (year) becomes lata (years).
Keep in mind that ludzie is a masculine personal noun, so it pairs with the masculine personal pronoun ci (these) and adjectives like dorośli (adult). Lata, however, is non-masculine personal.
Let's see these plurals in action with the verb żyć (to live):
| These adult people lived in Warsaw. | Ci dorośli ludzie żyli w Warszawie. |
| My grandmother lived a hundred years. | Moja babcia żyła sto lat. |
Drastic Stem Changes: Children and Days
Other common nouns do not change entirely, but undergo major, irregular stem changes in the plural.
- dziecko (child) becomes dzieci (children).
- dzień (day) becomes dni (days).
Both dzieci and dni are non-masculine personal, so they take the pronoun te (these).
Here are these nouns used with the verbs urodzić się (to be born) and umrzeć (to die):
| Where were these children born? | Gdzie urodziły się te dzieci? |
| This man died two days ago. | Ten człowiek umarł dwa dni temu. |
Discussing Life Spans and History
These irregular plurals are essential when describing milestones, generations (pokolenie), and memories (wspomnienia). Because these nouns represent groups of humans and periods of time, they form the backbone of any biography (biografia).
Notice how the singular and plural forms of these essential words interact with thematic vocabulary in the sentences below:
| The young generation and older people live together. | Młode pokolenie i starsi ludzie żyją razem. |
| This biography is the story of famous people. | Ta biografia to historia znanych ludzi. |
| The years after the war were very good. | Lata po wojnie były bardzo dobre. |
