In Polish, there are two types of demonstrative pronouns: ten (this) and tamten (that). We use demonstrative pronouns when we want to point to things that are either close to us or further away from us. Ten (this) points to things close to us, tamten (that) points to things further away from us. A demonstrative pronoun declines by case, number and gender.
| demonstrative pronoun (zaimek wskazujący) | |||||
| (m) masculine | (f) feminine | (n) neuter | plural non- masculine | plural masculine | |
| ten (this) – close to the speaker | ten | ta | to | te | ci |
| tamten (that) – far from the speaker | tamten | tamta | tamto | tamte | tamci |
A demonstrative pronoun declines by case in the same way as a demonstrative adjective. We can use the table that helps us decline adjectives. Before we start:
💡Tę or tą?
The demonstrative pronoun – “tę” is used in the accusative case to point to feminine (f) nouns, for example: Lubię tę koleżnkę. (I like this friend.)
The demonstrative pronoun – “tą” is used in the instrumental case, for example: Idę na zakupy z tą koleżanką. (I am going shopping with this friend.)
In colloquial speech, the use of “tą” is common in the accusative case. In the written Polish, however, the above applies.
| Demonstrative Pronoun ( Zaimek Wskazujący ) (ten) (to) (ta) (ci) (te) | ||||||
| Gender | (m) masculine | (n) neuter | (f) feminine | plural masculine | plural non – mas | |
| animate | inanimate | |||||
| Nominative | Y/I (ten) | E/IE (to) | A/IA (ta) | I/Y (ci) | E/IE (te) | |
| Genitive | EGO/IEGO | EJ/IEJ | YCH/ICH | |||
| Dative | EMU/IEMU | EJ/IEJ | YM/IM | |||
| Accusative | EGO/IEGO | Y/I (ten) | E/IE (to) | Ą/IĄ | YCH/ICH | E/IE (te) |
| Instrumental | YM/IM | Ą/IĄ | YMI/IMI | |||
| Locative | YM/IM | EJ/IEJ | YCH/ICH | |||