Recently we have talked about the nouns that are uninflected in Polish (check here for details), and now the good news continues. In the Polish language there is a large group of nouns of Latin origin ending in –um (by the way, remember that they are neuter gender), which do not inflect, either, BUT only in the singular form. Try to recall some of those words, you’ve had them in your Polish lessons... Do you know now? Yes, they are: muzeum, liceum, gimnazjum, akwarium, atrium, terytorium, kolokwium, technikum, etc. When in singular form, they do not inflect, so we can say: Idę do muzeum historycznego (I’m going to a historical museum)/ Dzięki muzeum historycznemu mogłam poznać historię miasta (Thanks to the historical museum I have learned the history of the city)/ Lubię to muzeum historyczne (I like this historical museum)/ Współpracujemy z tym muzeum historycznym (We cooperate with this historical museum)/Spotkamy się w muzeum historycznym (We’re going to meet at the historical museum).
DECLENSION OF PLURAL FORM OF NOUNS ENDING IN –UM
Unfortunately, it gets more complicated when we need to use those nouns in the plural form, but let’s not lose heart! You’ll see that it’s not as difficult as it seems. To są małę muzea (These are small museums)/ Nie wyobrażam sobie wakacji bez zwiedzamia małych muzeów (I can't imagine a holiday without visiting small museums) / Dzięki tym małym muzeom poznałam interesujące fakty (Thanks to these small museums I have learned some interesting facts) / Lubię małe muzea (I like small museums) / Współpracujemy z małymi muzeami (We cooperate with small museums) / Byliśmy w małych muzeach (We’ve been to small museums).
Easy, isn’t it? You definitely know all the above endings, they are the regular endings of the plural form of other nouns. Will you now think more warmly of the Polish declension?:)
