Talking About People: Locative Pronouns
When you want to share an opinion, tell a story, or gossip about someone, you use the preposition o (about). In Polish, o requires the noun or pronoun that follows it to be in the Locative case.
Here are the personal pronouns in the Locative case:
| Nominative | Locative | With "o" |
|---|---|---|
| ja (I) | mnie | o mnie (about me) |
| ty (you) | tobie | o tobie (about you) |
| on / ono (he / it) | nim | o nim (about him / it) |
| ona (she) | niej | o niej (about her) |
| my (we) | nas | o nas (about us) |
| wy (you all) | was | o was (about you all) |
| oni / one (they) | nich | o nich (about them) |
Many common verbs describing communication and thoughts pair with o and these Locative pronouns:
- myśleć o (to think about)
- rozmawiać o (to talk about)
- plotkować o (to gossip about)
- wspominać o (to mention)
- opowiadać o (to tell about)
First and Second Person (Me, You, Us, You all)
Here is how to use the 1st and 2nd person forms (mnie, tobie, nas, was) when discussing yourself, the person you are talking to, or your group:
| I don't know if his opinion about me is honest. | Nie wiem, czy jego opinia o mnie jest szczera. |
| This rumor about you is a lie. | Ta plotka o tobie to kłamstwo. |
| In this situation, the rumors about us are false. | W tej sytuacji plotki o nas są fałszywe. |
| The boss often mentioned you at the meeting. | Szef często wspominał o was na spotkaniu. |
Third Person (Him, Her, Them)
When discussing third parties, use nim, niej, and nich. Notice that all third-person pronouns in the Locative start with the letter n. In Polish, third-person pronouns always take an initial n- when they follow a preposition.
| I think that his opinion about her is false. | Myślę, że jego opinia o niej jest fałszywa. |
| If they talk about him, it's the truth, and not a lie. | Jeśli opowiadają o nim, to prawda, a nie kłamstwo. |
| Yesterday we gossiped about them, but it was the truth. | Wczoraj plotkowaliśmy o nich, ale to była prawda. |
Once you are comfortable with the forms, you can easily combine them:
| He talked a lot about you, but he didn't mention her. | Dużo o tobie opowiadał, ale nie wspominał o niej. |
