Hard-Stem Adjectives

In Polish, adjectives must match the noun they describe in gender, number, and case. Hard-stem adjectives are the most common category.

1. The Nominative Singular Endings:

• Masculine: Ends in -y (e.g., nowy - new). If the stem ends in k or g, it uses -i (e.g., polski, drogi).
• Feminine: Typically ends in -a (e.g., nowa). Note that soft-stem adjectives will require an -i- before this vowel (e.g., tania).
• Neuter: Typically ends in -e (e.g., nowe). Soft stems also require an -i- here (e.g., tanie).

2. The Mixed-Stem Category (k, g):
In these regular adjective endings, write i after k or g, not y. For these stems, the standard -y ending is replaced by -i (e.g., wysoki). Furthermore, an -i- is inserted before endings that start with -e. For example, in the masculine/neuter singular genitive, a hard stem uses -ego (nowego), but a mixed stem becomes -iego (polskiego). Additionally, the standard hard-stem ending -ym (used in masculine/neuter singular instrumental and locative) changes to -im for k/g stems (e.g., nowym becomes polskim).

3. Plural Forms:
When describing groups with at least one male person, hard-stem adjectives undergo consonant changes in the masculine-personal plural. Common mutations include r → rz (dobry → dobrzy), ł → l (mały → mali), t → ci (bogaty → bogaci), and d → dzi (młody → młodzi). For stems ending in velar consonants, the mutations are k → c (e.g., wielki → wielcy), g → dz (e.g., drogi → drodzy), and ch → si (e.g., głuchy → głusi). For the non-masculine-personal plural (used for women, animals, and objects), standard hard-stem adjectives take the -e ending (e.g., nowe domy, dobre kobiety), while mixed stems (k, g) take the -ie ending (e.g., drogie, polskie).

4. Feminine Oblique Cases:
A core feature of feminine hard-stem adjectives is the distinct -ą ending used in both the Accusative and Instrumental cases (e.g., Widzę nową książkę; Idę z nową koleżanką). Additionally, they share the exact same -ej ending in the Genitive, Dative, and Locative cases (e.g., nowej).

5. Plural Oblique Cases:
Plural endings are highly regular. The plural Genitive and Locative cases share the -ych ending (or -ich for k/g stems, e.g., nowych, polskich), and the plural Instrumental uses -ymi (or -imi for k/g stems, e.g., nowymi, polskimi).

6. Accusative Animacy:
In the Accusative case, masculine singular adjectives change depending on animacy. For animate nouns (people and animals), the adjective takes the Genitive ending -ego (e.g., Widzę dobrego psa). For inanimate nouns (objects), it stays the same as the Nominative -y/-i (e.g., Widzę nowy dom).

7. Usage:
To become proficient in identifying stem types, look at the final consonant. A major indicator is the letter ł, which is always hard (e.g., biały). When you learn a new adjective, assume it follows this hard/mixed pattern unless the stem ends in a soft consonant like ń (e.g., tani) or j.

The masculine-personal choice follows the noun’s grammatical class: dobre dzieci includes boys too, because dzieci is non-masculine-personal. Likewise, singular animacy is grammatical: some object nouns take the animate pattern, as in jem dobrego banana (I am eating a good banana).