Lasów

Lasów is the genitive plural form of the Polish noun las, meaning forest. In Polish, the genitive plural is used to indicate possession, quantity, or association with multiple forests. Accordingly, lasów appears in phrases such as ochrona lasów (protection of forests), stan lasów (the state of forests), or zagrożenia dla lasów (threats to forests). It is not a standalone noun but a grammatical form that appears within larger noun phrases.

Etymology and cognates: The word las originates from Proto-Slavic *lasъ and has cognates in other Slavic languages, including Czech les and Russian лес (les). The form lasów is the genitive plural specific to Polish, used where the noun is governed by a denominator that requires the genitive plural.

Usage notes: Lasów is typically employed when referring to forests in a generic or collective sense, especially in contexts of ownership, quantity, or relation. It frequently follows numerals or quantifiers that require the genitive plural, and after verbs or prepositions that take a genitive object, such as chronić lasów in certain constructions meaning “to protect forests.” Common constructions include phrases about environmental policy, land management, or ecological studies, e.g., polityka ochrony lasów, wpływ czynników na lasy.

See also: Polish grammar, especially the declension of masculine inanimate nouns, the formation of genitive plural, and the noun las meaning forest.