Instrumental case: NARZĘDNIK

Here we go! Finally today a bit of grammar... and a few words about endings! As you may already know, Polish people change the endings of all words all the time and it's pretty hard to learn when to use which ending. But I will help you to understand it, to practise and to remember.

For example if someone's name is ADAM, I can say: To jest Adam. (This is Adam). But when I say: Chcę zatańczyć z Adamem (I want to dance with Adam), I change the ending of his name- I dont use any more: Adam, but Adamem. And again, when I say: Myślę o Adamie (I'm thinking about Adam), I change the ending for diffrent
one. So we have: Adam, Adamem, Adamie.. looks pretty confusing for now, doesnt it? But let me explain step by step.

Firstly, you should know we have 7 cases in Polish (cases are resposible for those endings changes):

Mianownik- Nominative (basic form, the one you find in dictionary)

Dopełniacz- Genitive

Celownik- Dative

Biernik- Accusative

Narzędnik- Instrumental

Miejscownik- Locative

Wołacz- Vocative

We use cases to change the endings of adjectives and nouns.

Today, I will give you the first information about:

NARZĘDNIK (INSTRUMENTAL)

Before that, you should remember how to understand which noun is masculine, which one is feminine and which one is neutral. It is very important if you want to learn cases! So most of the time feminine nouns finish with -a (e.g. kawa, woda, spódnica), neutral with -e or -o (e.g. piwo, dziecko, okno) and the rest of them are masculine. 

Now: 

What are the Instrumental endings?

 MASCULINE:

a) nouns: -em or -iem (if the last consonant is k or g), e.g. sok- sokiem, dom- domem, park- parkiem,

b) adjectives: -ym or -im ( after k or g), e.g. wysoki-wysokim, gruby- grubym, duży- dużym,

FEMININE:

a) nouns:- ą, e.g. kawa- kawą, dziewczyna- dziewczyną

b) adjectives:-ą, e.g. piękna- piękną, duża- dużą

NEUTRAL

the same endings like for masculine, e.g. wysokie dziecko- wysokim dzieckiem, ciemne piwo- ciemnym piwem

And finally, the most important: when to use Instrumental?

Always when the nouns follows:

a) z (with) 

e.g. Let's try to say: a coffe with milk. You can't say: kawa z mleko. You should say: kawa z mlekiem
The word 'mleko' follows 'z', so it needs instrumental ending.

b) verb: być- to be (ja jestem, ty jesteś, on jest, my jesteśmy, wy jesteście, oni są)

e.g. Anglik (English man)---> I'm English: Jestem Anglikiem.

Francuz (French man)--> I'm French: Jestem Francuzem.

wysoki Francuz (a tall French man)--> I'm a tall French: Jestem wysokim Francuzem.

Hiszpanka (a Spanish woman)--> I'm Spanish (woman): Jestem Hiszpanką.

piękna Hiszpanka (a beautiful Spanish woman)--> I'm beautiful Spanish (woman): Jestem piekną Hiszpanką.

Did you notice? Everything what follows the verb 'być' needs Instrumental endings!

c) verb: jechać- to go (by transport)

autobus- a bus
tramwaj- a tram
taksówka- a taxi,

but if you want to say:

Please go by bus or please go by taxi, you need to use instrumental endings for the words:  a bus and a taxi, because they follow the verb 'jechać'. So we will say:

Proszę jechać autobusem.
Proszę jechać taksówką.

Of course there are much more words which are followed by Instrumental case, but those 3 are enough for today:). We will continue soon!

Now try to translate the sentences and send me them in comments on blog or funpage! Remember to use Instrumental!

I want a coffee with milk.
I want a room with bathroom.
I would like a tea with lemon.
Please go by tram there.
I'm not Polish.
I'm a tall woman.
I'm student.
She is a beautiful girl.
He is a very nice teacher.

When you finish, you will definitly deserve a nice break!;)