Masculine personal nouns in '-anin' (-anin, -anie)

Archaeological Excavations

Let's set out to the excavations (wykopaliska) to learn about ancient (starożytny) civilizations!

Note how the profession archeolog (archaeologist) takes the special masculine personal ending -odzy in the plural.

This famous archaeologist is starting the excavations.
Ten znany archeolog zaczyna wykopaliska.
After lunch, the archaeologists walk around the ruins.
Po obiedzie archeolodzy spacerują po ruinach.

Singular Nouns in "-anin"

Many nationalities and historical demographics in Polish are formed with the suffix -anin, such as Amerykanin (American) or Meksykanin (Mexican).

In the singular, these are standard masculine personal nouns. They decline normally, taking the standard -a ending in the accusative and genitive cases.

This American is looking for the temple all over the city.
Ten Amerykanin szuka świątyni po całym mieście.
I know a Mexican who studies pyramids.
Znam Meksykanina, który bada piramidy.

Dropping "-in" in the Plural

The defining feature of -anin nouns is what happens in the plural: they drop the -in suffix entirely before adding plural case endings.

For the nominative plural, add -e to the shortened stem, creating the recognizable -anie ending.

SingularNominative Plural
RzymianinRzymianie
EgipcjaninEgipcjanie
AmerykaninAmerykanie
MeksykaninMeksykanie
Ancient Romans rarely wore trousers.
Starożytni Rzymianie rzadko nosili spodnie.
The ancient Egyptians built great pyramids.
Starożytni Egipcjanie zbudowali wielkie piramidy.
The Americans are taking photos at the excavations.
Amerykanie robią zdjęcia na wykopaliskach.
The Mexicans discovered an old tomb.
Meksykanie odkryli stary grobowiec.
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