Learn Polish: Polacy zawsze bronili wolności. - Poles always defended freedom.

In Polish, certain verbs require the noun that follows them to be in the Genitive case, rather than the Accusative (direct object) case you might expect. The verb bronić (to defend) is one of these verbs. So, instead of using the basic form wolność, we must use its Genitive form wolności.

How do we get the form wolności from wolność?

The word wolność is a feminine noun that ends in a consonant. For most feminine nouns ending in -ść, the Genitive singular is formed by adding -i. When you add -i to the letter -ć, the spelling changes to -ci, resulting in wolności.

Why is the verb form bronili and not broniły?

In the past tense plural, Polish has two forms: masculine personal (for groups with at least one man) and non-masculine (for groups of women, animals, or objects). Since Polacy (Poles) refers to a mixed or male group of people, we use the masculine personal ending -li to make bronili. If we were talking only about female Poles (Polki), we would use broniły.

Is Polacy a regular plural form?