Refers to a female person, or to a noun with feminine grammatical gender, especially as the subject of a clause.
Examples
Ona pracuje dziś z domu.
She is working from home today.
Czy widziałeś ją rano?
Did you see her this morning?
Rozmawiałem z nią po spotkaniu.
I spoke with her after the meeting.
Ta książka jest stara, ale ona nadal pomaga.
This book is old, but it still helps.
Kiedy ona zadzwoni, przekaż wiadomość.
When she calls, pass on the message.
Nie patrz na nią tak długo.
Do not look at her for so long.
To ona znalazła klucze.
It was she who found the keys.
Similar words
uóna
Archaic feminine demonstrative
pronoun
literary
archaic
Points to a feminine person or thing already known from context in older or literary Polish, close to "that" or "that one".
Examples
Wspominał oną sprawę przez lata.
He remembered that matter for years.
Do onej krainy prowadziła stara droga.
An old road led to that land.
Pod oną lipą odpoczywali pielgrzymi.
Pilgrims rested under that linden tree.
Czytano o onej królowej w kronice.
The chronicle told of that queen.
Za oną przyczyną opuścił miasto.
For that reason he left the city.
W onej chwili ucichła sala.
At that moment the room fell silent.
Przed oną bramą czekali strażnicy.
Guards waited before that gate.
Similar words
ta
owa
Etymology
Inherited through Old Polish from the Slavic demonstrative and personal-pronoun family related to Proto-Slavic ona.
FAQ
What does ona mean?
Ona usually means "she" for a female person or "it" for a grammatically feminine noun.
What are the main forms of ona?
The key forms are ona, jej, ją, nią, and niej, chosen by case and preposition.
When is nią used?
Nią is the instrumental form and also the accusative form after a preposition, as in z nią or na nią.
Can ona refer to things?
Yes. Polish grammatical gender lets ona refer to feminine nouns such as książka or droga.
Is the demonstrative ona common today?
No. The demonstrative sense meaning ta or owa is archaic and mostly belongs to older or stylized writing.
Comments & contributions
Know this word from another angle? Add a correction, a nuance, or a usage note. New posts go public after a quick review.
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Contribution
Cloudy Reindeer
Jul 14
The old demonstrative sense is the thing behind bookish forms like onej nocy or onego czasu. Modern everyday Polish would normally go with tej, tego, owej, owego, depending on the sentence. dont read onej as regular her there lol
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Minty Yak
Jul 16
I only meet this in songs and old books, never in chat
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Kind Sparrow
Jul 13
Ona is often extra in past tense. Przyszła already tells you a female person came, if the context is clear. Add ona when you need clarity or that she, not him emphasis.
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Lucky Hawk
Jul 1
Jej is doing more than one job. Ufam jej means I trust her, but jej brat means her brother and that possessive jej will not change for case. Then after a preposition you get niej, like o niej or bez niej.
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Jaunty Chipmunk
Jun 30
Say it like o-na, with normal Polish o. Not English own-a.
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Steady Weasel
Jun 27
My case shortcut was: without a preposition widzę ją, with a preposition usually nią or niej. So patrzę na nią, idę z nią, mówię o niej. na nią still feels weird because it looks like the instrumental form, but it is just the preposition version of ją there.
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Sleek Cheetah
Jun 28
same, na nią was my nightmare for a while
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Rapid Marmot
Jun 26
If the woman is in front of you, use pani, not ona. Czy pani chce kawę? is polite. Czy ona chce kawę? sounds like you are asking a third person about her.
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Jolly Warbler
Jun 25
Karta can be ona. Boring grammar, not poetry.
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Jaunty Falcon
Jun 19
The swój problem deserves its own warning here. Ona czyta swoją książkę is her own book, the woman doing the reading owns it. Ona czyta jej książkę points to another woman's book, at least in careful Polish. English just says her for both, so learners keep dragging the ambiguity into Polish and it sounds off.
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Jovial Elk
Jun 20
this one clicked for me only after I stopped translating her every time