kolegom

Kolegom is the dative plural form of the Polish noun kolega, meaning a colleague or co-worker. In Polish, kolega has a full case system, and kolegom specifically marks a recipient or beneficiary in a sentence, roughly translating to “to the colleagues” or “for the colleagues” depending on the verb and preposition used. The form is one of several inflected forms of kolega, including koledzy (nominative plural), kolegów (genitive plural), kolegami (instrumental plural), and kolegach (locative plural).

In standard Polish usage, kolegom functions as the indirect object and appears after verbs that take a dative object or after prepositions that govern the dative in certain constructions. It is commonly found in sentences about support, communication, or actions directed toward a group of coworkers. For example: Wysłaliśmy to kolegom. (We sent this to the colleagues.) Dziękujemy kolegom za pomoc. (We thank the colleagues for help.) The form also appears in phrases like Spotkanie dla kolegów, where kolegów is genitive after the preposition dla.

Etymology and related forms: the base kolega is a native Polish noun with cognates in other Slavic languages and a likely influence from the German Kollege in historical borrowing. The plural forms follow regular Polish declension patterns for masculine nouns ending in -a in the singular.

See also: kolega, kollegial, colleagues in other languages.