Case Names: English and Polish

After Sam's helpful post on those elusive double-duty prepositions, I realised I needed to refresh myself on the actual names of the cases in English (you can do a search of this blog for functions of the cases):

1. Nominative (mianownik)
2. Genitive (dopełniacz)
3. Dative (celownik)
4. Accusative (biernik)
5. Instrumental (narzędnik)
6. Locative (miejscownik)
7. Vocative (wołacz)

Double Duty Prepositions

Once we have the cases figured out and we know what prepositions to use for each one of them, it's time to take another step and discover those prepositions which work with more than just one case, based on context and meaning.

DOUBLE DUTY PREPOSITIONS

między (between, among)

• Włóż zeszyt między książki. (Biernik)
  
• Między zeszytami leżą książki. (Narzędnik)
  

In the first example, the preposition is connected to a movement verb in the imperative, whereas in the second example we have a static verb.
Note also the expression "między nami" (between us) - Narzędnik
na

• Idziemy na egzamin. (Biernik)
  
• Grzyby są na stole. (Miejscownik)

If the preposition occurs after a movement verb, indicating the destination / purpose, then we use Biernik. If we want to indicate location, connected to a static verb, we use Miejscownik.
nad

• Jadę nad morze. (Biernik)
  
• Jestem nad morzem. (Miejscownik)
  

o

• Poproszę o rachunek / Pytam o zdanie. (Biernik)
  
• Mówiłam o tym zdaniu. (Miejscownik)
  

When meaning "for", "concerning", the preposition "o" is followed by Biernik, when meaning "about", it is followed by Miejscownik.
po

• Idę po wodę. (Biernik)
  
• Jestem po pracy. (Miejscownik)
  

The preposition "po" is usually followed by Biernik when connected to a verb of movement in order to express purpose. Otherwise, it is followed by Miejscownik.

w

• Pojechaliśmy w Tatry. (Biernik)
  
• Byliśmy w Tatrach. (Miejscownik)
  

za

• Pojechaliśmy za miasto. (Biernik)
  
• Byliśmy za miastem. (Narzędnik)
  

Once again, the verb decides the preposition and the case, thus we use Biernik for movement, and Ms. or N. for static vebs.

Witam :)

Thanks for the introduction, Biluś. The pleasure is all mine - when it comes to learning Polish, I'm like a kid in a toy store, I just can't seem to get enough of it. Give me some grammar, some words that are impossible to pronounce, add some exceptions to that and a few idioms and you've made my day. I'll be more than happy to share the stuff I discover, and I'm really excited to be contributing to this blog, which has been one of the most useful tools I've used in the process of polishing my Polish.
So I say we get down to business, jak najszybciej :)
Sam

New News!

My last post about hibernation is updated now - the blog awakes because (I'm pleased and honoured to report) of Sam, who will now take up the slack here and be posting about her own adventures in both Poland and po polsku. Introduce yourself, Sam...