What is your job: -nik, -arz, -ec, -ca and the obligatory feminine
A job title here is almost always derived from an object or a verb. Once you take apart a few tails, you will start guessing words you never learned. For example: “Po studiach została piekarką, jak jej mama” — After her studies she became a baker, like her mum. A rule from the Polish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A job title here is almost always derived from an object or a verb. Once you take apart a few tails, you will start guessing words you never learned.
-nik grows from an object: pole → rolnik, ogród → ogrodnik, ryba → rybak. -arz — from the work and the thing at once: piec → piekarz, lekarz; while mecenas — a lawyer from Latin — has no tail at all.
-ec and -ca — the one who does: krawiec cuts cloth, kierowca drives, sprzedawca sells. And -y from an adjective gives a specialist in: księgowy — an accountant, literally book-ish.
And the rule nobody chooses here: a woman has her own word. Rolnik — rolniczka, piekarz — piekarka, sprzedawca — sprzedawczyni. There are opaque pairs too: krawiec — krawcowa, księgowy — księgowa, sekretarz — sekretarka. To say about a woman Ona jest piekarz is impossible: it must be Ona jest piekarką.
Table
| Suffix | From what | A man | A woman |
|---|---|---|---|
| -nik | from an object | rolnik | rolniczka |
| -nik | from an object | ogrodnik | ogrodniczka |
| -arz | from a verb | piekarz | piekarka |
| -arz | a Latinism | lekarz | lekarka |
| -ec | from a verb | krawiec | krawcowa (irregular) |
| -ca | from a verb | sprzedawca | sprzedawczyni |
| -ca | from a verb | kierowca | kierowczyni |
| -y | from an adjective | księgowy | księgowa |
| -arz | a Latinism | sekretarz | sekretarka |
By example
- Po studiach została piekarką, jak jej mamaAfter her studies she became a baker, like her mum
- Jesteśmy rolnikami, a nasza córka jest lekarkąWe are farmers and our daughter is a doctor
- Kto tu jest księgowym? — Ja, od pięciu latWho is the accountant here? — I am, for five years now
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
What is your job: how does it work in Polish?
A job title here is almost always derived from an object or a verb. Once you take apart a few tails, you will start guessing words you never learned.
What does it look like in a Polish example sentence?
“Po studiach została piekarką, jak jej mama” — After her studies she became a baker, like her mum. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.