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Grammar

Terms Glossary
Cases (Przypadki)
Tenses (Czasy)
Verbs (Czasowniki)
Nouns (Rzeczowniki)
Adjectives (Przymiotniki)
Pronouns (Zaimki)
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  1. Home
  2. Grammar
  3. Cases (Przypadki)
  4. Noun Declension
  5. Stem Softening

Noun Declension - Softening

Some endings during declension require stem softening. To soften the stem, replace its last consonant with the corresponding soft consonant.
Examples
hard consonantsoft consonantsoftening example
ppiropa - ropie
bbiząb - zębie
ffirafa - rafie
wwipaw - pawie
mmimama - mamie
tć/citata - tacie
ddź/dzisad - sadzie
sś/sinos - nosie
zź/ziprognoza - prognozie
nń/nikolano - kolanie
łlstół - stole
rrzjezioro - jeziorze
kcłyżka - łyżce
gdznoga - nodze
chszpacha - pasze
stśćtest - teście
zdźdźpojazd - pojeździe
słślumysł - umyśle
złźlwęzeł - węźle
snśń/śniwiosna - wiośnie
znźń/źnimężczyzna - mężczyźnie

Hard and Soft Consonants

The table below presents all the hard and soft consonants.
hard consonantspbfwmtdsznłrkgchstzdsłzłsnzn
soft consonantspibifiwimić / cidź / dziś / siź / ziń / nilrzcdzszść / ściźdź / ździślźlśń / śniźń / źniczżj

Endings That Require Softening

The table below presents all the places where softening must be applied.
Occurrence of Softening During Declension
Singular NumberPlural Number
CaseMasculine GenderFeminine GenderNeuter GenderMasculine GenderFeminine GenderNeuter Gender
Nominative Casebefore -y/i ending, if the noun is a personal noun and its stem ends with a hard consonant
Genitive Case
Dative Casebefore -e ending, if the noun's stem ends with a hard consonant + a
Accusative Case
Instrumental Case
Locative Casebefore -e ending, if the noun's stem ends with a hard consonant, except k, g, and ch/hbefore -e ending, if the noun's stem ends with a hard consonant + abefore -e ending, if the noun's stem ends with a hard consonant, except k, g, and ch/h
Vocative Casebefore -e ending, if the noun's stem ends with a hard consonant, except k, g, and ch/h
Jarek Hajduk

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Cases - Noun Declension

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After reading this book you will be able to decline any noun in the Polish language. This book also contains exercises with answers, which will help you practice what you learn.
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Noun Declension - y/i ending