polski · A1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Family
Introduce relatives with possessives and gendered family nouns.
Understand the choice
Family vocabulary provides a clear gender map and useful irregular plurals. Learn each relationship with the possessive form that reveals its grammatical class.
Core rule: Possessives agree with the possessed noun: mój brat, moja siostra, moje dziecko, moi rodzice.
Notice it in context
Moja siostra ma na imię Lena, a mój brat ma na imię Paweł.
My sister is named Lena, and my brother is named Paweł.
Moja agrees with feminine siostra; mój with masculine brat; mieć na imię is the naming phrase.
Moi rodzice mieszkają w Krakowie.
My parents live in Kraków.
Masculine-personal plural rodzice takes moi and mieszkają.
Moje dziecko bawi się z babcią i dziadkiem.
My child plays with grandma and grandpa.
Neuter dziecko takes moje; z requires instrumental babcią/dziadkiem.
What to remember
- Rodzice is plural-only for parents; one parent is rodzic.
- Ojciec has genitive ojca and instrumental ojcem with a stem change.
Common trap: Do not choose moja based on the speaker’s gender; it agrees with the relative noun.