Collective Numerals in Polish
liczebniki zbiorowe
Special numeral forms used for groups containing children, animals, or objects existing only in the plural.
Collective numerals in Polish (liczebniki zbiorowe) are a unique class of numerals used in specific lexical contexts to count nouns of particular groups. They correspond to counting entities as a collective set. The most common collective numerals are dwoje (two), troje (three), czworo (four), pięcioro (five), and so on.
You must use collective numerals in three strictly defined cases: 1) with persons of different genders referred to together (e.g., dwoje studentów - a male and a female student); 2) with young children and young animals whose names end in "-ę" in the singular (e.g., troje dzieci, pięcioro kociąt); 3) with pluralia tantum nouns, which are nouns that exist only in the plural form (e.g., dwoje drzwi - two doors, troje skrzypiec - three violins). Note that they require the noun to be in the genitive case.
A common mistake for learners is using cardinal numerals instead of collective ones (e.g., saying dwa dzieci instead of dwoje dzieci, or dwa drzwi instead of dwoje drzwi). Another error is incorrect case agreement, such as using the nominative case instead of the genitive after a collective numeral (e.g., saying troje psy instead of troje szczeniąt).
Examples
W klasie było dwoje dzieci.
There were two children in the classroom.
Kupiliśmy do nowego domu dwoje drzwi.
We bought two doors for the new house.
W koszyku bawiło się pięcioro szczeniąt.
Five puppies were playing in the basket.
Dwoje studentów czekało na profesora przed gabinetem.
Two students (a male and a female) were waiting for the professor outside the office.
Na stole leżało troje nożyc.
Three pairs of scissors were lying on the table (scissors is pluralia tantum in Polish).
Related terms
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