Polish · A1 · Grammar
The Polish genitive in negatives: From mam bilet to nie mam biletu
With verbs such as mieć, a direct object that would be accusative in an affirmative sentence normally becomes genitive when the verb is negated: Mam bilet becomes Nie mam biletu. The same pattern gives you Mam kawę and Nie mam kawy; it does not change a dative object into a genitive.
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Compare visible changes
Mam kawę → Nie mam kawy. I have coffee → I don’t have coffee.
Widzę psa → Nie widzę psa. I see a dog → I don’t see a dog. Here the forms are identical on the surface: psa is the accusative in the first sentence and the genitive in the second.
Learn a few phrases where absence matters
Nie ma mleka means There is no milk; Nie mam czasu means I don’t have time. You also meet the genitive after bez (without): bez mleka, bez cukru. Learn these as separate patterns; bez takes the genitive regardless of whether the sentence is negative.
Know where the shortcut stops
Pomagam Ani → Nie pomagam Ani means I help Ania → I don’t help Ania. Ani is dative in both: the shortcut applies to an accusative direct object and does not reset every noun after a negative verb. Try changing Mam wodę to Nie mam wody.