Demonstrative Pronouns in Polish

In Brief

Polish ten, ta, to point to a person or thing that is present, visible, or already under discussion; depending on context, English may translate them as either this or that. They match the noun in gender, number, and case: ten dom “this/that house,” ta książka “this/that book,” to dziecko “this/that child.” For a clearer sense of distance or contrast, use tamten, tamta, tamto: “that one over there.”

Overview

A demonstrative is a pointing word: English this, that, these, those are demonstratives. Polish uses them before a noun (ta kawa, “this coffee”) and on their own when the noun is understood (Wolę tę, “I prefer this one”). Although they are traditionally called zaimki wskazujące “demonstrative pronouns,” they behave much like adjectives when they accompany nouns.

This is an A1 topic because the basic pattern is simple: first identify the noun’s gender, then choose ten for masculine, ta for feminine, or to for neuter. In the plural, choose ci for a masculine-personal group and te for every other group. “Masculine-personal” means a plural group grammatically treated as male people, such as mężczyźni “men” or studenci “students.”

The extra challenge is case—a change in a word’s form that shows its job in the sentence. Polish has seven cases, so demonstratives change along with their nouns. A beginner can start with the nominative forms used for subjects and labels. The complete forms below make the article useful when you later meet objects and prepositional phrases.

How It Works

The beginner pattern: gender and number

Use these forms in the nominative case, the form normally used for the subject (the person or thing the sentence is about):

Noun type	Near/current: “this/that”	More distant: “that over there”	Example
Masculine singular	ten	tamten	ten dom, tamten dom
Feminine singular	ta	tamta	ta książka, tamta książka
Neuter singular	to	tamto	to okno, tamto okno
Masculine-personal plural	ci	tamci	ci ludzie, tamci ludzie
All other plurals	te	tamte	te domy, te książki, te okna

The ending follows the grammatical gender of the Polish noun, not the shape or sex of the real-world object. For example, książka is feminine, so it takes ta; okno is neuter, so it takes to.

Polish does not make the same neat two-way distinction as English. In many ordinary situations, ten and its forms cover both “this” and “that”: someone can point to an item on a counter and say Poproszę tę książkę, translated naturally as either “I’d like this book” or “I’d like that book.” Tamten explicitly separates a more distant item: Nie tę, tamtą means “Not this one, that one over there.”

Agreement throughout the phrase

A demonstrative agrees with its noun: its form reflects the same gender, number, and case. If there is an adjective, all three words follow the same grammatical features:

• ten nowy telefon — this new phone
• ta nowa torba — this new bag
• to nowe mieszkanie — this new apartment
• te nowe telefony — these new phones

English leaves “this” or “that” mostly unchanged except for number. Polish changes the pointing word even when the English translation does not. Learning the demonstrative together with the noun phrase makes the agreement easier to hear.

Full declension of ten

A declension is the complete set of case forms. The labels below include a plain explanation of the most common job of each case.

Case	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Neuter singular	Masculine-personal plural	Other plural
Nominative (subject/label)	ten	ta	to	ci	te
Genitive (often “of,” absence)	tego	tej	tego	tych	tych
Dative (recipient, “to/for”)	temu	tej	temu	tym	tym
Accusative (direct object)	ten / tego	tę	to	tych	te
Instrumental (often “with/by”)	tym	tą	tym	tymi	tymi
Locative (after certain prepositions)	tym	tej	tym	tych	tych

The masculine accusative has two possibilities. Use tego with masculine animate nouns—people and animals—and ten with masculine inanimate nouns in the basic pattern: Widzę tego psa “I see this dog,” but Widzę ten dom “I see this house.” Some masculine nouns have less predictable animate-style behavior, especially later vocabulary, so learn their accusative pattern with the noun.

The feminine distinction deserves special attention: standard accusative tę versus instrumental tą.

• Kupuję tę książkę. — I’m buying this book. (accusative)
• Interesuję się tą książką. — I’m interested in this book. (instrumental)

There is no separate vocative form in the table because demonstratives are not normally used to address someone directly.

Full declension of tamten

Tamten declines according to the same overall case pattern, but keeps the stem tamt-:

Case	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Neuter singular	Masculine-personal plural	Other plural
Nominative	tamten	tamta	tamto	tamci	tamte
Genitive	tamtego	tamtej	tamtego	tamtych	tamtych
Dative	tamtemu	tamtej	tamtemu	tamtym	tamtym
Accusative	tamten / tamtego	tamtą	tamto	tamtych	tamte
Instrumental	tamtym	tamtą	tamtym	tamtymi	tamtymi
Locative	tamtym	tamtej	tamtym	tamtych	tamtych

Notice the feminine accusative: tę, but tamtą. The pair is tę książkę and tamtą książkę.

Before a noun or standing alone

A demonstrative can modify a noun:

• Ten samochód jest drogi. — This car is expensive.

It can also replace an understood noun:

• Który samochód? Ten. — Which car? This one.
• Którą sukienkę wybierasz? Tamtą. — Which dress are you choosing? That one over there.

When it stands alone, its form still reflects the missing noun and its role in the sentence. English adds “one” or “ones”; Polish normally does not.

The special identifying word to

Polish also uses an unchanging to to identify or introduce something:

• To jest mój brat. — This/That is my brother.
• To są moi rodzice. — These/Those are my parents.
• Co to jest? — What is this/that?

In this pattern, to does not agree with the noun: it remains to even before a masculine, feminine, or plural expression. Compare:

• To jest książka. — This is a book. (identifying to)
• Ta książka jest nowa. — This book is new. (agreeing ta)
• To dziecko śpi. — This child is sleeping. (agreeing neuter to)

The two uses happen to look identical with a neuter singular noun, so the sentence structure tells you which one you are seeing.

Examples in Context

Polish	English	Note
Ten dom jest stary.	That house is old.	Masculine nominative; ten can translate as “that.”
Ta książka jest moja.	That book is mine.	Feminine nominative.
To jest dobre.	This is good.	Identifying/general to.
Ci ludzie są mili.	Those people are nice.	Masculine-personal plural.
Te jabłka są świeże.	These apples are fresh.	Non-masculine-personal plural.
Tamten sklep jest otwarty.	That shop over there is open.	Tamten marks distance.
Nie znam tego człowieka.	I don’t know this man.	Genitive after negation.
Daję tej dziewczynie mapę.	I’m giving this girl a map.	Dative recipient.
Widzę tego psa, ale nie widzę tamtego kota.	I see this dog, but I don’t see that cat over there.	Masculine animate accusative.
Kupujemy tę lampę.	We’re buying this lamp.	Feminine accusative tę.
Rozmawiam z tamtą kobietą.	I’m talking with that woman over there.	Instrumental after z.
Myślę o tych wakacjach.	I’m thinking about this vacation.	Locative plural after o.
Który kubek chcesz? Ten.	Which mug do you want? This one.	The noun is omitted in the answer.
Co to jest? To jest klucz.	What is this? It’s a key.	Invariant identifying to.
To są nasi sąsiedzi.	These are our neighbors.	To remains unchanged with a plural noun.

Common Mistakes

Using ten for every noun

• Wrong: ten książka
• Right: ta książka
• Why: Książka is feminine, so the demonstrative must be feminine too. Learn a noun together with its gender rather than translating “this” word by word.

Copying English singular and plural distinctions

• Wrong: ten ludzie
• Right: ci ludzie
• Why: The plural form for a masculine-personal group is ci. For all other plural nouns, use te: te kobiety, te psy, te domy.

Treating ten as only “this” and tamten as ordinary “that”

• Awkward: Podaj mi tamtą sól when referring to the only salt directly in front of both speakers.
• Natural: Podaj mi tę sól.
• Why: Polish ten often covers an item currently indicated or under discussion, where English may say either “this” or “that.” Reserve tamten for a meaningful contrast, usually “that one over there” or “the other one.”

Confusing tę and tą

• Wrong in careful standard Polish: Kupuję tą książkę.
• Right: Kupuję tę książkę.
• Why: The direct object takes the accusative tę. Use instrumental tą in a phrase such as z tą książką “with this book.” You will hear accusative tą in casual speech, but tę is the safest form in edited and formal language.

Changing identifying to to match the following noun

• Wrong: Ta jest moja siostra. (when identifying the person)
• Right: To jest moja siostra.
• Why: Identifying to is fixed. The agreeing form ta belongs inside a noun phrase: Ta kobieta jest moją siostrą “That woman is my sister.”

Ignoring case after a preposition

• Wrong: Rozmawiam z ta kobietą.
• Right: Rozmawiam z tą kobietą.
• Why: Z meaning “with” requires the instrumental case, so both the demonstrative and noun change.

Usage Notes

Word order and emphasis

The neutral position is before the noun: ten problem, ta ulica, te pytania. Polish word order is flexible, however, and a demonstrative can follow the noun for emphasis or contrast: problem ten sounds formal, official, or deliberately emphatic rather than like everyday conversation. Beginners should use demonstrative + noun.

A demonstrative is not required every time English uses “the.” Polish has no articles corresponding directly to English the and a, but that does not make ten a universal replacement for “the.” Use it when you are genuinely pointing out, selecting, contrasting, or referring back to a specific item. Książka leży na stole can simply mean “The book is on the table”; ta książka adds “this/that particular book.”

Distance is contextual

Tamten often signals physical distance, but it can also separate things in memory, time, or discussion: w tamtych czasach means “in those days.” Conversely, ten can refer to something not physically close if it is the current topic: ten film, o którym mówiłeś “that film you were talking about.” The speaker’s mental focus matters as much as literal distance.

Spoken accusative tą

Many speakers use tą instead of standard accusative tę in everyday conversation. This is widespread and easily understood. In careful writing, exams, and formal contexts, keep the traditional distinction: widzę tę kobietę but idę z tą kobietą.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following points at A1, but you will meet them later.

The masculine-personal plural distinction affects the whole phrase, not only the demonstrative: ci dobrzy studenci przyszli “these good male/mixed-gender students came,” compared with te dobre studentki przyszły “these good female students came.” It also appears in accusative case: Widzę tych studentów but Widzę te studentki. This is part of a wider agreement system involving adjectives, numerals, and past-tense verbs.

Polish has other demonstrative words built on related ideas. Taki means “such,” “that kind of,” or sometimes “like this”: Taki jest plan “That is the plan / Such is the plan.” Ten sam means “the same”: Mamy ten sam problem “We have the same problem.” Ów is a literary or formal demonstrative meaning roughly “that aforementioned”; it is useful to recognize but unnecessary in ordinary beginner speech.

In conversation, forms of ten can also act as hesitation fillers when a speaker is searching for a noun: Podaj mi ten… no… długopis (“Pass me the, um… pen”). This is not the core pointing use and should not be copied as a grammar rule, but recognizing it will make spontaneous Polish easier to follow.

Finally, the identifying construction often omits jest in compact definitions and labels: Warszawa to stolica Polski “Warsaw is the capital of Poland.” Here to links two noun expressions. This structure is related to demonstrative to but develops into an important Polish sentence pattern of its own.

Practice Tips

1. Sort nouns into four groups. Take ten familiar nouns and pair them with ten, ta, to, or plural ci/te. Say the whole phrase aloud: ten telefon, ta kawa, to miasto, ci lekarze, te stoły.
2. Practice contrasts with real objects. Point to two similar items and say ten kubek, tamten kubek or ta torba, tamta torba. Then omit the noun: Wolę tę. Nie, tamtą. This connects the forms to an actual choice rather than a translation list.
3. Add cases one phrase at a time. Build a short chain around one feminine noun: ta książka → nie mam tej książki → kupuję tę książkę → z tą książką → o tej książce. Repeating the demonstrative and noun together trains agreement.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Gender — helps you choose the masculine, feminine, or neuter demonstrative form.