← All cases
Wołacz
Vocative(direct address)
Wołacz from wołać = "to call out to / summon." A syntactic island — always separated by comma or exclamation mark.
Endings
| Gender | Nouns | Adjectives | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine (animate) | -e (soft.) / -u (soft/k/g/ch) | szef→szefie, pan→panie, człowiek→człowieku, syn→synu, Bóg→BożeIrregulars: syn→synu, Bóg→Boże | same as nominative (-y/-i) | Szanowny Panie! (Dear Sir!), Drogi Piotrze! (Dear Piotr!) |
| Masculine (inanimate) | rare (mostly inanimate nouns not vocatively addressed) | same as nominative | (not applicable — you address people, not things) | |
| Neuter | no change | dziecko→dziecko, kochanie→kochanie | same as nominative | (not applicable) |
| Feminine | -o replaces -a; -u for diminutives; -i retained | mama→mamo, Anna→Anno, babcia→babciu, pani→pani | same as nominative (-a) | Kochana Mamo! (Dear Mom!), Droga Anno! (Dear Anna!) |
When to use it
Direct address
Calling out to someone by name or title.
Droga Mamo! Chodź tutaj.
← droga mama
Dear Mom! Come here.
Written salutations
Formal letter or email openings.
Szanowny Panie Profesorze,
← szanowny profesor
Dear Professor,
Exclamations
Strong emotional outbursts or curses.
Mój drogi Boże!
← drogi Bóg
My dear God!
Watch out — overlaps with other cases
In casual spoken Polish, nominative often replaces vocative for first names
Vocative (formal)
Anno, chodź tutaj.
Anna, come here.
Nominative (casual)
Anna, chodź tutaj.
Anna, come here.