The historical dual number
Long ago, Polish had a grammatical number specifically for pairs of things, known as the "dual" number. While it disappeared from standard grammar over time, its forms survived as the irregular plurals for body parts that naturally come in pairs: eyes, ears, and hands.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| oko | oczy | eye(s) |
| ucho | uszy | ear(s) |
| ręka | ręce | hand(s) / arm(s) |
Eyes and eyesight
When talking about vision, you will frequently use the plural oczy (eyes) alongside related vocabulary like wzrok (eyesight) and zmysł (sense). To describe someone who cannot see, use the adjective ślepy (blind).
| She has very good eyesight, however her eyes are tired. | Ma bardzo dobry wzrok, jednak jej oczy są zmęczone. |
| This blind dog must use other senses because its eyes do not see. | Ten ślepy pies musi używać innych zmysłów, bo jego oczy nie widzą. |
Ears and hearing
Similarly, for auditory perception, you will use uszy (ears) and słuch (hearing) to describe how we perceive a dźwięk (sound).
| Dogs have excellent hearing and large ears. | Psy mają świetny słuch i duże uszy. |
| Do your ears hear some strange sound? | Czy twoje uszy słyszą jakiś dziwny dźwięk? |
Hands and pointing
The plural of ręka (hand) is ręce. To describe pointing out an object, use the verb wskazywać followed by the preposition na and the accusative case. If you specify what body part you are pointing with, use the instrumental case (e.g., rękami).
| The child points at my dirty hands. | Dziecko wskazuje na moje brudne ręce. |
| This deaf boy points at us with his hands. | Ten głuchy chłopiec wskazuje na nas rękami. |
Perceiving the world
You can combine these nouns with adjectives like głuchy (deaf) to describe how humans and animals perceive the world, such as recognizing a kształt (shape).
| A deaf person does not hear sounds, whereas they see shapes well. | Głuchy człowiek nie słyszy dźwięków, natomiast dobrze widzi kształty. |
| Our eyes see a new shape, and our ears hear a quiet sound. | Nasze oczy widzą nowy kształt, a nasze uszy słyszą cichy dźwięk. |
