Bits of Polish

Despite the fact that Polish can inflect pretty much everything – and nouns if nothing else enjoy a particular richness of declination options – there are groups of nouns that behave rather unusually. Today we’ll have a look on one of them – nouns that only decline in the plural. Yes, that’s right – the words in today’s list don’t change their form in the singular, no matter the case you fancy to use them in.

What do these words have in common? For one thing, they’re easy to recognize because of their –um ending. Even though the list isn’t comprehensive, you shouldn’t have problems recognizing new words of this type when you see them.

Secondly, all of them follow the same easy pattern for building the nominative plural form: the ending changes from –um to –a. Here’s how the other case forms are created, on the example of the word liceum – high school.

Nom. licea
Gen. liceów
Dat. liceom
Acc. licea
Ins. liceami
Loc. liceach
Voc. licea!

akwarium – aquarium
W klasie są dwa duże akwaria.
In the classroom there are two big aquaria.
Przyglądam się tym akwariom.
I watch these aquaria.

centrum – centre
Centra dużych miast są często niebezpieczne.
Centres of big cities are often dangerous.
Zwiedzamy centra europejskich stolic.
We visit the centres of European capitals.

gimnazjum – junior high school (grades 7-9)
W tym mieście są trzy gimnazja.
There are three junior highs in this city.
Ci chłopcy chodzą do różnych gimnazjów.
These boys go to different junior highs.

hospicjum – hospice
Hospicja opiekują się nieuleczalnie chorymi.
Hospices take care of the terminally ill.
Wiele hospicjów ma problemy finansowe.
Many hospices have financial problems.

kolokwium – test or exam in a university course
W tym tygodniu mamy dwa kolokwia.
We have two tests this week.
Ci studenci rozmawiają o kolokwiach i egzaminach.
These students are talking about tests and exams.

liceum – high school (grades 10-12)
Moje dzieci chodzą do dobrych liceów.
My children go to good high schools.
Przestępczość w liceach jest niepokojąca.
Violence in high schools is worrying.

muzeum – museum
Piszę artykuł o nowych muzeach w moim mieście.
I’m writing an article about new museums in my city.
Nie lubię muzeów.
I don’t like museums.

technikum – vocational high school
Te technika kształcą przyszłych elektryków.
These vocational schools educate future electricians.
Uczniowie którzy nie chcą uczyć się w liceach idą do techników.
The students who don’t want to study in high schools go to vocational schools.