Numerals

Ordinal Numerals All ordinal numerals, such as, first, second, third, act as adjectives and agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and case. The declination of the ordinal numerals follows the pattern of the adjective declension. For example, "first," "second," and "third" are presented below in masculine, nominative, singular form:

pierwszy, drugi, trzeci

Cardinal Numerals

Cardinal numerals, such as one, two, three, are divided into groups, each of which has its own set of rules. A summary of the rules governing cardinal numerals and the nouns and adjectives they modify is presented below: The declension endings for the cardinal numerals:

1 - Jeden

The numeral 1 agrees with the noun it modifies in gender, number and case. It is declined in the same way as the indeterminate pronoun "jeden" according to the mixed adjective/noun declination. When this numeral stands alone, it agrees with its antecedent in gender and number. The forms in the nominative case are:

The plural form of the numeral 1 is used to modify nouns which only have a plural form, like "nożyczki" (scissors) or "drzwi" (door). The singular forms can also mean: "certain, one, a".

Note: Compound numerals ending in "jeden" (1) (21, 31, 41, etc.) require that the noun they modify be in the genitive plural form but the predicate in singular. The numeral "jeden" in compounds does not decline.

Agreement with Nouns

Numerals in oblique (animate accusative, genitive, prepositional, dative, instrumental) cases agree with the noun they modify.
2 - dwa is the masculine and neuter nominative form, dwie is the feminine nominative form
3 - trzy
4 - cztery

The numeral 2 has both a masculine/neuter and a feminine form, as noted above. When 2, 3, or 4 is in the nominative or feminine and inanimate accusative form, the case of the noun and any modifying adjectives are governed by these numerals. They require that the noun they modify be in the nominative plural form. In oblique cases, the case of the numeral 2, 3 or 4 is governed by the case of the noun it modifies.

Numeral "dwa" has the following declension:

Please note that this numeral has a separate form dwaj in nominative singular. A separate form in masculine nominative have also 2 other numerals: trzy (trzej) and cztery (czterej).

5-999

These numerals govern the nouns they modify and they require the genitive plural case. They also have a separate form for masculine persons. This form ends in "-u" as it is shown below:

"pięćbudynków" (five buildings) but "pięciu chłopców" (five boys).

Note also that these numerals breach the concord in number between the subject, noun in the plural, and the predicate form in singular in certain sentence structures:

Jest piec dziewczat (There are five girls);

The predicate "jest" is in the singular, present tense.

This sentence corresponds to: "sa dziewczyny" (there are girls), in which the predicate is plural.

Bedzie siedem chlopców. (There will be seven boys);

The predicate is in the singular, simple future tense.

This sentence corresponds to: "beda chlopcy" (there will be boys), in which the predicate is plural.

1,000, 1,000,000, 1,000,000,000

These numerals require the genitive plural of the noun and adjective regardless of their own case.

Ta fabryka produkuje milion męskich półbutów na rok.

(This factory produces a million men's shoes a year.)

Both the noun and its modifying adjective are in the genitive plural form.

Note: In written Polish, the function of the period and the comma is reversed. The comma is used to indicate a decimal and the period is used to separate the thousands from the hundreds etc.

Indefinite Numerals

Some grammar books will describe these words of quantity as indefinite numerals, and others as adverbs of measure. These words are used with the genitive singular or plural of the noun, depending on whether the noun refers to a substance (singular) or is countable (plural). And even these numerals require the predicate in the singular (neuter form in the past tense), for instance:

Ostatnio publikuje sie wiele nowosci. (Many new books were published lately).