Questions & Answers about Mam dobrych przyjaciół.
Why is 'friends' translated as przyjaciół instead of a regular plural form?
The noun przyjaciel (friend) is highly irregular in the plural. The base plural form (nominative) is przyjaciele. However, because the verb mieć (to have) requires the accusative case, we have to use its accusative plural form, which is przyjaciół.
Wait, doesn't dobrych przyjaciół look like the genitive case?
Yes, it does! For masculine personal nouns (groups that include at least one man), the accusative plural forms are identical to the genitive plural forms. So while the verb mieć forces this into the accusative case, it shares the exact same spelling as the genitive.
If I make this sentence negative ('I don't have good friends'), will the Polish words change?
No, they will stay exactly the same: Nie mam dobrych przyjaciół. Negating a verb that normally takes the accusative case forces the noun into the genitive case. Since the accusative and genitive forms match for masculine personal nouns, the spelling doesn't change here.
Would I use this same phrase if my friends were all women?
No. The forms dobrych and przyjaciół are masculine personal, meaning they describe a group of men or a mixed-gender group. If you were talking about a group of only women, you would use the feminine noun and non-masculine adjective endings: Mam dobre przyjaciółki.
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