When you’re seeking life advice, where better to turn than to the words of those you respect and admire? 

In today’s world, quoting famous people is more popular than ever. From the musings of our favorite celebrities and authors to the life advice from some of the world’s greatest thinkers and visionaries, there’s no shortage of wise words to reflect upon and apply to our lives.

In this article, you’ll learn some of the most popular Polish quotes. We’ve included quotes that are native to Polish, as well as several quotes from other languages that have been translated into Polish. 

In learning these quotes in the Polish language, you’ll gain more cultural insight into how Poles view the world, pick up on certain elements of the language, and ultimately gain access to more wisdom than would normally be available to you. 

Ready to learn Polish quotes for every occasion? Let’s go!

Table of Contents

1. Uplifting Quotes
2. Quotes About Love
3. Quotes About Family
4. Quotes About Success
5. Quotes About Language Learning
6. The Best Polish Quotes
7. Final Thoughts

1. Uplifting Quotes

We all need a pep talk sometimes, and that’s where uplifting quotes come into play. Below, you’ll find a number of Polish quotes about life and other quotes that translate well into Polish.

→ Here’s a link to even more inspirational quotes in Polish just in case these aren’t enough.

Co nas nie zabije, to nas wzmocni. 

In English: “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

This is a phrase you’ve certainly heard many times before. But you may not know that the author of this saying is Friedrich Nietzsche, the famous German philosopher. This quote is so popular that the Polish version has made its way into everyday life in Poland. 

Proście, a będzie wam dane, szukajcie, a znajdziecie.

In English: “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find.”

The Polish language also makes use of many quotes from the Bible, with this one being quite common. In Polish, we often use only the second half of the saying: Szukajcie, a znajdziecie.

Ważne, że żyjesz w zgodzie ze sobą, nikogo nie udajesz i przed niczym nie uciekasz. Kiedy jesteś świadomie sobą i kochasz ten stan – jesteś szczęśliwy.

In English: “It’s important to live according to what you feel is right, without pretending you’re somebody else and running away from something. When you live like this and you enjoy it, that’s when you’re happy.”

Many popular Polish quotes about life are from famous Polish people and celebrities. This quote is from the well-known Polish traveler, Beata Pawlikowska. 

Przyszłość zaczyna się dzisiaj, nie jutro.

In English: “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”

Many Poles are Catholic and they hold the late Polish pope, John Paul II, in high esteem. As such, many of his quotes and sayings are commonly used in the country. 

Bądź zmianą, którą chcesz ujrzeć w świecie.

In English: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Of course, Polish people also know and use famous quotes from globally recognized moral authorities, such as Gandhi.

2. Quotes About Love

Polish love quotes can be both beautiful and practical. Who hasn’t been madly in love with someone, suffered from a breakup, or had a disagreement with a loved one? It’s amazing what the right words at the right time can do to heal your heart or bring you back down to earth!

We hope that the following quotes in Polish about love give you hope and bring a smile back to your face. 

→ Are you recovering from a breakup? Find some consolation on our list of Polish breakup quotes. Also remember to get your romance and love vocabulary up to scratch!

→ If you want more romantic quotes in Polish, see our list of Polish love quotes!

Kto nie ma szczęścia w kartach, ten ma szczęście w miłości. 

In English: “Who is not lucky at cards is lucky in love.” / “Lucky at cards, unlucky in love.”

This is one of the most popular sayings about love in Polish.

Pierwsze westchnienie miłości to ostatnie westchnienie rozumu!

In English: “The first breath of love is the last breath of reason.”

Here’s another light quote on love. It’s from the famous Polish children’s book author, Kornel Makuszyński.

Lepiej być samemu, niż z niewłaściwą osobą.

In English: “It’s better to be single than with the wrong person.”

This quote is often used in response to someone complaining about their single status! 

3. Quotes About Family

Family is a cornerstone of any society, so it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of family quotes in Polish! Here, we’ll outline just a few of them for you.

→ If you would like to learn more quotes like these, check out our list of Polish family quotes.

Rodzina to nie krew. To ludzie, którzy cię kochają. Ludzie, którzy cię wspierają.

In English: “Family isn’t blood. It’s the people who love you. The people who have your back.”

Just because someone is related to you by blood doesn’t mean they’ll always be there for you. Rather, family consists of those people you can always count on and who truly care for you.

Wszystkie szczęśliwe rodziny są do siebie podobne. Każda nieszczęśliwa rodzina jest nieszczęśliwa na swój sposób.

In English: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

This quote from Leo Tolstoy means that a happy family is one in which every aspect of the relationship is fulfilled. On the other hand, a family could be unhappy for any number of reasons.

4. Quotes About Success

Quotes about success can be helpful in finding motivation and pushing your life in a good direction. Famous people understandably know a lot about how to get where you want to be. Here are some motivational quotes in Polish to give you a nudge in the right direction.

→ If you’re keen to get more Polish quotes about success, PolishPod101 has you covered!
→ Speaking of success, we have another lesson you may be interested in if you’ve ever wondered what successful Polish learners do differently.

Chodzi o to, żeby strzelić jedną bramkę więcej od przeciwnika.

In English: “What it’s all about is scoring one more goal than your opponent.”

Well-known Polish poet Roman Gorzelski thought that succeeding shouldn’t become an obsession; rather, one should take a more practical approach to getting ahead.

Sukces: coś, czego przyjaciele nigdy ci nie wybaczą.

In English: “Success is something that your friends will never forgive you for.”

Another famous Polish poet, Julian Tuwin, warns us to be careful when wishing for success.

Kogo szczęście wyniesie, niech się upaść boi.

In English: “Who’s elevated by luck, should be scared of falling down.”

Polish writer and poet Mikołaj Rej gives us yet another warning about striving for success. Never get too comfortable with your status, because you could lose it in a moment if you’re not diligent!

Zwyciężają ci, co najwięcej mają odwagi dla siebie i od siebie żądać.

In English: “Winners are those who have the courage to have expectations towards themselves.”

Now that we have the warnings out of the way, let’s look at a couple of inspirational Polish quotes, starting with these words from the Polish philosopher and writer Stanisław Leopold Brzozowski.

Człowiek sukcesu to taki, który jest w stanie stworzyć solidne fundamenty z cegieł, które inni rzucili w niego.

In English: “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.”

Let’s end this section with an uplifting quote by David Brinkley. This one happens to translate quite well into Polish. 

5. Quotes About Language Learning

There are many quotes about learning languages that can encourage you to continue your language studies. In this section, we’ll look at some beautiful quotes in Polish that focus on the impact of language learning on one’s life. 

→ If you want to read more quotes like these, head over to our vocabulary list of language learning quotes in Polish.

Nowy język, nowe życie.

In English: “A new language is a new life.”

This motivational quote is derived from a Persian proverb. When you learn another language, it opens up so many new doors and lets you see things from a new perspective.

Nie zrozumiesz jednego języka, dopóki nie zrozumiesz co najmniej dwóch.

In English: “You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.”

This quote means that understanding a second language allows you to better understand your own language. Learning your native tongue is something you’re forced to do, and once you’ve learned it, you never really have to think much about it. But when you study a second language, it makes you think hard about the different elements of language itself.

Granice mojego języka oznaczają granice mojego świata.

In English: “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.”

We can experience the world in a completely different way when we know another language. Just imagine visiting Warsaw or Krakow and being able to speak with the locals in their native language. It’d completely change your travel experience and the way people react to you. 

Jeśli rozmawiasz z człowiekiem w języku, który rozumie, trafia to do jego głowy. Jeśli rozmawiasz z nim w jego ojczystym języku, trafia to do jego serca.

In English: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

Here, Nelson Mandela is saying that while it’s possible to communicate effectively in a common language, speaking with someone in their own language will leave a great impression on them. 

Dobrym lekarstwem na ignorancję…jest znajomość języków. 

In English: “The great remedy for ignorance…is a knowledge of languages.”

If someone ever questions your motivation or reasons for learning Polish, you can always reply with this quote from Saint Augustine. Learning a language can give you a broader perspective of the world, thus eliminating your ignorance of other cultures or topics.

6. The Best Polish Quotes

Now you know what benefits to expect from learning another language. But what can learning Polish offer you that other languages can’t? Full access to Polish culture! 

Here are some of the greatest Polish quotes to give you just a sample of what I’m talking about.

Lepiej zaliczać się do niektórych, niż do wszystkich. 

In English: “It’s better to be among some than everyone.”

This quote comes from the first part of the famous fantasy saga about Geralt of Rivia called The Witcher (Wiedźmin). Created by Andrzej Sapkowski in the nineties, the saga was turned into a series of extremely popular computer games and a Netflix series.  

Miej serce i patrzaj w serce. 

In English: “Have a heart and consult your heart.”

This is a quote from one of the most famous (and probably most disliked by Polish school children) writer Adam Mickiewicz, who was prominent in the Romantic Era.

Mickiewicz wasn’t around long enough to qualify for a Nobel Prize in literature, but there have been a number of Polish authors who’ve obtained it. In fact, the next quote comes from the recent Nobel Prize winner, Olga Tokarczuk.

Najlepiej rozmawia się samemu ze sobą. Przynajmniej nie dochodzi do nieporozumień. 

In English: “It’s best to talk to oneself, that way you can avoid misunderstandings.”

Żadna legenda nie bierze się z próżni.

In English: “No legend emerges from a vacuum.”

Here’s a quote from Jakub Żulczyk, a member of the new generation of Polish writers.

→ Remember to brush up on your vocabulary before heading to a Polish bookstore. Start with easy Polish books and continue with more challenging reads as your language skills progress.

Jak kochać to księcia, jak kraść to miliony. 

In English: “If you fall in love, fall in love with a prince. If you steal, steal millions.”

Here’s a universal quote from the Polish romantic comedy Nigdy w życiu (“Never Ever”).

Learning Polish opens up the world of Polish cinema to you. Polish movies are full of quotes like this one, which are commonly used in the Polish language and often referenced in conversations. To understand many of them, you need to watch certain movies, and to watch these movies…you need to speak Polish. 

7. Final Thoughts

Today, you’ve learned some inspirational Polish quotes that can help you find some motivation or a solution to your problems. Which quote is your favorite? Let us know in the comments. 

Becoming fluent in Polish would, of course, give you access to much more than just these famous Polish quotes and quotes translated into Polish. 

Start your free trial with PolishPod101 today to begin your journey toward Polish fluency. With us, you’ll get access to countless recordings by native speakers, hundreds of lessons, and numerous vocabulary lists. 

Happy learning, and stay safe out there!

Many people start learning Polish because they want to live and work in Poland. However, even if this is not your goal, knowing essential business phrases in Polish can help you impress your international clients and broaden your career horizons.

The Polish business phrases included in this article will help you nail a job interview in Polish, interact with coworkers, and find your feet in many other business situations. Let’s boost your business Polish skills together!

Table of Contents

1. Nailing a Job Interview
2. Interacting with Coworkers
3. Sounding Smart in Meetings
4. Handling Business Phone Calls and Emails
5. Going on a Business Trip
6. Final Thoughts

1. Nailing a Job Interview

Are you preparing for a job interview in Poland or with a company that requires you to speak Polish? No problem! With these key business phrases in Polish, you’ll nail your job interview and impress your potential employer.

A- First Things First – Introductions

Introducing yourself is the most important part of your job interview, because first impressions last. You can win the hearts of your interviewers from the very beginning with a confident self-introduction. 

• Nazywam się ___. (“My name is ___.”)

Here, you can simply state your name and surname. There are many other ways of introducing yourself in Polish, which you can read about in our article on Polish introductions.

Seeing that it’s a job interview, your interviewers would also like to hear about your education and work experience. Tell them about it with the following phrases. Note that for the first two phrases, the first one is for a male speaker and the second one is for a female speaker. 

• Ukończyłem [faculty] na [name of the educational institution]. (“I’ve graduated from [faculty] at [name of the educational institution].”)

• Ukończyłam [faculty] na [name of the educational institution]. (“I’ve graduated from [faculty] at [name of the educational institution].”)

• Mam ___ lat/a doświadczenia. (“I have ___ years of experience.”) 

B- Talking About Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Your interviewers want to know you better, so, when prompted, tell them about your strengths and weaknesses. 

• Moje największe zalety to ___. (“My biggest advantages are ___.”)

• Umiem współpracować w zespole. (“I’m a good team player.”)

• Jestem niezależny. (“I’m an independent worker.”) – male speaker

• Jestem niezależna. (“I’m an independent worker.”) – female speaker

• Moje największe osiągnięcie to ___. (“My biggest achievement is ___.”)

• Moje największe wady to ___. (“My biggest disadvantages are ___.”)

Remember to be strategic when talking about your weaknesses. If you’re not sure how to do so, check out this article from Forbes on how to discuss your weaknesses during an interview.

C- Other Useful Phrases

There’s also a handful of other professional Polish phrases you can use throughout the interview. 

• Chciałbym pracować dla Państwa firmy, ponieważ ___. (“I’d like to work for your company because ___.”) – male speaker

• Chciałabym pracować dla Państwa firmy, ponieważ ___. (“I’d like to work for your company because ___.”) – female speaker

• Przepraszam, czy może Pan/Pani powtórzyć pytanie? (“Excuse me, could you repeat the question Sir/Madam?”)

• Dziękuję za zaproszenie na tę rozmowę. (“Thank you for inviting me for this interview.”)

If you still feel like you need more help for your Polish job interview, remember to check out our lesson “A Polish Job Interview” for even more tips. For general advice, The Guardian has a great article on how to shine during your interview.

2. Interacting with Coworkers

So, you’ve managed to land a job in a Polish company or a Polish speaking environment? Well done! We hope our interview tips helped you land your dream job.

Now it’s time for the real test: interacting with your coworkers. Don’t worry, though! With these key business phrases in Polish, you’ll be able to form connections with no problems at all. 

A- Introduce Yourself…Again

Introducing yourself to new coworkers is slightly different from doing so for a job interview. Here’s how to give a self-introduction in a neat and professional manner: 

• Cześć! Jestem ___ i będę tu pracować jako ___! (“Hi! My name is ___ and I’m going to work here as ___.”)

Polish workplaces differ in terms of formality, so remember to pay attention to how people address one another. Keep in mind the “better safe than sorry” rule. 

B- When You Need Help 

Here are some useful expressions for when you need some help in your new workplace or when you need to apologize for something.

• Przepraszam, jestem tu nowy. Możesz mi powiedzieć, gdzie jest [place]? (“I’m new here. Could you tell me where to find [place]?”) – male speaker

• Przepraszam, jestem tu nowa. Możesz mi powiedzieć, gdzie jest [place]? (“I’m new here. Could you tell me where to find [place]?”) – female speaker

• Przepraszam, czy możesz mi z tym pomóc? (“Excuse me, can you help me with this?”)

• Dzięki za pomoc! (“Thanks for helping me!”)

A more formal alternative to the phrase above would be: Dziękuje za pomoc!

• Przepraszam za spóźnienie. (“I’m sorry for being late.”)

• Przepraszam, nie rozumiem. (“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”)

For more-specific phrases to use when asking for help in a difficult business situation, visit our lesson on this topic. 

C- Making Friends

It’s always easier to work in a place where you get along well with people, which is why you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of making friends. When doing business in Poland, an easy way to make someone look at you more kindly is to give them a compliment. For example, this is something you could say to someone whose hairstyle you like: 

• Super fryzura! (“Cool haircut!”)

To learn Polish compliments for every occasion, go to our article on giving compliments in Polish. If you’re not convinced that giving compliments can be a successful technique for making friends, Express has some more insight for you. 

You can also initiate interactions with someone outside of work by asking:

• Może wyskoczymy na kawę? (“Should we grab a coffee?”)

• Chcesz zjeść razem lunch? (“Do you want to eat lunch together?”)

• Wyskoczymy na piwo po pracy? (“How about a beer after work?”)

3. Sounding Smart in Meetings

In order to stand out in a workplace, you need to sound smart. Check out the Polish business phrases below to learn how to do that. 

A- Taking Initiative and Expressing Opinions

Here are some handy expressions for when you want to share your thoughts on something that’s been said: 

• Chciałbym zaprezentować wam mój nowy pomysł. (“I’d like to tell you about my new idea.”) – male speaker

• Chciałabym zaprezentować wam mój nowy pomysł. (“I’d like to tell you about my new idea.”) – female speaker

• Jeśli mogę dodać coś od siebie? (“Could I make a suggestion?”)
  

Need more? You can find more vocabulary for making a suggestion in Polish on our website.  

If you disagree with someone, you could also use one of these Polish business phrases to soften the blow of your criticism. 

• Nie uważasz, że lepiej byłoby ___? (“Don’t you think that it would be better to ___?”)

• Wiem, co masz na myśli, ale nie do końca się z Tobą zgadzam. (“I know what you mean, but I don’t fully agree with you.”)

When you agree with someone, simply say: 

• Zgadzam się Tobą w pełni. (“I fully agree with you.”)
  

B- Reporting on Progress

When you’re given a specific task, you may be asked by your manager or coworkers to report on your progress. Here’s how you can do this: 

• Wszystko idzie zgodnie z planem. (“Everything is going according to plan.”)

• Na pewno skończę przed deadlinem. (“I’ll be finished before the deadline, for sure.”)

• Powinienem mieć wszystko gotowe na [day of the week]. (“I should have everything ready on [day of the week].”) – male speaker

• Powinnam mieć wszystko gotowe na [day of the week]. (“I should have everything ready on [day of the week].”) – female speaker

Sometimes, unforeseeable situations happen and you can’t complete a task as planned. Here’s how to let others know that you’ve encountered a problem or need more time:

• Mamy problem. (“We have a problem.”)

• Nie zdążę na czas. (“I won’t make it on time.”)

• Potrzebuję więcej czasu. (“I need more time.”)

Are you feeling nervous about requesting a deadline extension at work? Indeed has some practical tricks and strategies!

4. Handling Business Phone Calls and Emails 

Answering phone calls and responding to emails are important skills in any business. In this section, we’ll provide you with some useful Polish for business phone calls and emails.

A- Answering Business Calls in Polish  

Here are some useful business Polish phrases that you can use during a business call.

• Dzień dobry, mówi ___. W czym mogę pomóc? (“Hello, it’s ___ speaking. How may I help you?”)

Instead of dzień dobry, you can also say Halo? (“Hello?”) or Słucham? (literally: “I’m listening,” but translates to “Hello?”)

• Niestety nie ma jej/go. Czy mogę coś przekazać? (“Unfortunately, she/he isn’t in. Can I take a message?”)

The phrase above is perfect for when someone is trying to reach your colleague who’s currently not in.

To say goodbye, simply repeat these words:

• [Dziękuję,] do usłyszenia! (“[Thank you,] I’ll chat with you soon!”)

B- Sending Business Emails 

Depending on the required formality, there are various Polish business phrases you can use for work emails. It’s up to you to figure out what kind of relationship your company prefers. 

Below, you can find common ways to start a business email in Polish. We’ll list them from the least formal to the most formal: 

• Cześć! (“Hi!”) 

• Cześć + [name]! (“Hi + [name]!”)

These first two phrases are only acceptable if this is how you address that person in real life, too. 

• Witam (“Hello”) 

• Witam + [name] (“Hello + [name]”)

• Dzień Dobry (“Good morning”)

• Dzień Dobry + [name] (“Good morning + [name]”)

• Szanowny Panie / Szanowna Pani (“Dear Sir” / “Dear Madam”)

• Szanowny Panie / Szanowna Pani + [name] (“Dear Sir + [name]” / “Dear Madam + [name]”)

Note that all of the phrases above are followed by a comma. 

A business email should also be concluded professionally with one of the phrases below: 

• Serdecznie pozdrawiam, (“Warm Regards,”)

• Pozdrawiam, (“Regards,”)

• Z poważaniem, (literally: “With respect,” but translated to “Yours Faithfully,”)

We hope these Polish business phrases will be useful in your correspondence! 

5. Going on a Business Trip

Going on a business trip in Poland for the first time can be very exciting. You’ll need a number of business phrases in Polish to get around, though!

A- Reservations

Some people are lucky enough to have someone who organizes booking for them. Others need to do this themselves. To book a hotel or purchase a ticket, you should say: 

Chciałbym/Chciałabym zarezerwować pokój… (“I’d like to book a room…”)

                                                            …dla jednej osoby (“for one person”)

                                                            …na dwa tygodnie (“for two weeks”)

                                                            …z wyżywieniem (“with food”)

Chciałbym/Chciałabym zarezerwować bilet… (“I’d like to buy a ticket…”)

                                                            …na jutro (“…for tomorrow”)

                                                            …w klasie biznesowej (“…in a business class”)

                                                            …tam i z powrotem (“…return”)

B- Greetings and Wrapping Up 

When meeting people at the airport or in a hotel lobby during a business trip, the phrase to use is: 

• Przepraszam, czy to Pan/Pani [name]? (“Excuse me, are you [name]?”)

When you present your Polish company to clients, this lesson from PolishPod101 may come in handy. You should also let people know that there’s no need to rush to a decision by saying: 

• Nie ma pośpiechu. (“There’s no rush.”)

• Proszę spokojnie przemyśleć tę decyzję. (“Take your time to arrive at a decision.”)

Remember to remain polite during your business dealings on the trip. Thank your clients or business partners with Polish business phrases like these: 

• Dziękuję za zaproszenie. (“Thank you for the invitation.”)

• Dziękuję za spotkanie. (“Thank you for the meeting.”)

• Dziękuję za uwagę. (“Thank you for your attention.”)

The last expression can be used after a presentation or speech. For more tips on delivering a Polish business presentation, check out our relevant lesson.

6. Final Thoughts

We hope that this guide to the key business phrases in Polish has helped you understand how to communicate in your new work environment. You’ve learned many skills today: how to nail a job interview, how to interact with coworkers, and how to sound smart during a meeting in Poland. Let us know in the comments which business Polish phrases are the most useful in your situation. 

We’ve tried to include the best Polish business phrases in this article, but our website has much more to offer. Would you like to learn how to make small talk in Poland or ask for time off? Start your free trial with PolishPod101 today to fully benefit from all of our resources (not only the business Polish vocabulary!). You can learn Polish for every occasion with us! 

Happy learning, and good luck with your business endeavors.

Like saying hello, saying goodbye is an important part of being polite. These are the most basic skills you need to have a conversation in any language, so it’s crucial that you acquire them early on. 

In this article, we’ll tell you how to say goodbye in Polish in a variety of situations. For example, you’ll learn the best parting words for formal versus informal environments, how to see someone off at the airport, and how to end a phone conversation. By the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll have the perfect Polish goodbye for any situation you find yourself in. Are you ready to get your Polish up to scratch? Start with a bonus, and download the Must-Know Beginner Vocabulary PDF for FREE!(Logged-In Member Only)

Table of Contents

1. The Most Common Ways of Saying Goodbye
2. Specific Ways of Saying Goodbye in Polish
3. Final Thoughts

1. The Most Common Ways of Saying Goodbye

Before we look into the more specific ways of saying goodbye in Polish, let’s discuss the simplest ways to do so. Remember that you should address people differently depending on whether the situation is formal or informal. 

Formal verb forms use the third person singular and the words Pan (“Mister”) and Pani (“Ma’am”). For example, to ask “What’s your name?” in a formal manner, you would say: Jak ma Pan/Pani na imię? 

The informal verb forms use the second person singular. To ask “What’s your name?” in an informal manner, you would say: Jak masz na imię? 

So how do these rules apply to Polish goodbye phrases? Let’s find out!

A- Goodbye in Polish (Informal)

The most common informal way of saying bye in Polish is: Cześć! Note that this word is also used for saying hello. (If you want to learn more about this topic, you can check out our lesson “Saying Hello No Matter the Time of Day in Polish.”)

Cześć is very versatile, and you can use it to say goodbye when you’re leaving any informal situation. We also use a variation: No to cześć!

Both Cześć! and No to cześć! are used with either the nominative case (mianownik) or the vocative case (wołacz):

• Cześć, Ania! – “Bye, Ania!” (nominative, mianownik)
• Cześć, Aniu! – “Bye, Ania!” (vocative, wołacz)

B- Goodbye in Polish (Formal)

The most common formal goodbye in Polish is: Do widzenia! This phrase is used in all kinds of formal situations, such as when you’re leaving a corner shop, post office, or doctor’s office. It’s often accompanied by Dziękuję! (“Thank you!“) if a service was provided:

• Oto Pani/Pańska reszta. – “Here’s your change.” (to a man and a woman, respectively)
• Dziękuję, do widzenia. – “Thank you. Goodbye!”

We can also say Dobranoc Panu/Pani to wish someone a good night’s rest. 

Practice your pronunciation of Do widzenia! whenever you can. Try to use this phrase in real life, even if the rest of your conversation is in English. Practice makes perfect!

2. Specific Ways of Saying Goodbye in Polish

There are many Polish language goodbyes that you can use in more specific situations. 

When you’re formal with someone, you simply don’t have certain conversations with them. This is why Do widzenia! is your go-to goodbye in formal contexts. 

Keep reading to find out how to say goodbye in Polish when the situation is informal! 

A- Alternative Ways to Say Bye in Polish

Apart from simply saying Cześć! when you’re leaving a group of friends, you can also say: 

• Na razie!
• Nara! 
• Narka!

Each of the phrases above is equivalent to “Bye for now” in Polish. Here are a few more ways to say bye in Polish:

• Pa pa!
• Pa
• No to pa!

Make sure to memorize these expressions, as they’re very often used when speaking informally. 

B- See You Later!

There are a couple of ways to say “See you” in Polish:

• Do zobaczenia! 
• Do zo! 

“See you later!” is Do zobaczenia później! You should only use this phrase, though, when you’re going to actually see that person later (for instance, later that day). In certain English-speaking countries, people say “See you later!” as a general farewell expression. But this is not a convention in Poland, and it’d confuse the person you say it to.

If you know when you’ll see that person next, you can say: 

• Do zobaczenia jutro! (“See you tomorrow!”)
• Do zobaczenia w/we [day of the week]! (“See you on [day of the week]!”) 
• Do zobaczenia w poniedziałek! (“See you on Monday!”)
• Do zobaczenia we wtorek! (“See you on Tuesday!”)

You can also use this sentence pattern with different times of day:

• Do zobaczenia wieczorem! (“See you in the evening!”)
• Do zobaczenia rano! (“See you in the morning!”)

As you can see, there are many ways to say goodbye in Polish. The more you study them, the more comfortable you’ll be having a conversation in Polish. 

C- Seeing Someone Off

How do you say goodbye in Polish when you’re taking someone to the airport or a train station, where they’re about to start a long journey? Of course, you say Do zobaczenia! But there are other things that you can add, such as:

• Trzymaj się! (“Take care!”)
• Uważaj na siebie! (“Be careful!”)
• Szerokiej drogi! (“Have a good/safe trip!”) (Literally: “Have a wide road!”)
• Napisz wiadomość jak dojedziesz! (“Text me a message when you arrive!”)
• Zadzwoń jak dojedziesz! (“Call me when you arrive!”)

Parents who are seeing their children off may say something like: 

• Nie szalej! / Tylko bez szaleństw! (“Don’t go crazy!”)

D- When You Need to Excuse Yourself

Sometimes you need to leave the party before everyone else. Here are some phrases you can use to let your hosts know you have to get going: 

• [Naprawdę] muszę lecieć! (“I [really] need to go!”)
• Będę się zbierać. (“I’ll be off!”)
• Niestety nie mogę dłużej zostać. (“Unfortunately, I can’t stay any longer.”)
• Pora na mnie! (“It’s time for me to go.”) [Literally: “It’s time for me.”]

If you’ve bumped into someone you know on the street, but don’t have time for a conversation, you can say: 

• Miło się gada, ale muszę lecieć! (“It’s nice chatting with you, but I have to go!”)
• Miło się gada, ale jestem już spóźniony/spóźniona! (“It’s nice chatting with you, but I’m already late!”) [for a male and female, respectively]

E- Polish Goodbye Phrases for Phone Conversations

Politely ending a phone call in Polish is easy: 

• Do usłyszenia! (“Chat soon!”) [Literally: “Until we hear one another again!”]
• No to do usłyszenia! (“Chat soon, then!”) [Literally: “Until we hear one another again, then!”]

You can also add a specific time reference to let the other person know when you’ll talk with them again:

• Do usłyszenia jutro! (“I’ll speak to you tomorrow!”)
• Do usłyszenia w przyszłym tygodniu! (“I’ll speak to you next week!”)

Do you have a cell phone? Learn all you need to know about Polish manners on the phone with PolishPod101.com. 

F- Saying Goodbye in a Text Message

When you’re texting with someone and you’ve set an appointment to meet with them, you can use one of the expressions we’ve already covered in this article:

• Do zobaczenia!
• Do zobaczenia niedługo!
• Do zo!

You’d probably agree that knowing how to text is an important skill in the modern world. Boost your Polish technology vocab with our lesson. 

G- Saying Goodbye to Someone Who’s Sick

When you bid farewell to someone who’s sick at home or at a hospital, it’s good manners to wish them good health. Here’s how you can do this in Polish: 

• Wracaj do zdrowia! (“Get better soon!”) 
• Szybkiego powrotu do zdrowia! (“I’m wishing you a speedy recovery!”)
• Mam nadzieję, że szybko wydobrzejesz. (“I hope you’ll get better soon.”)

To say goodbye, simply add one of the other phrases you’ve already learned, such as: Do zobaczenia!

Speaking of health, do you know how to talk about health concerns and explain your allergies in Polish? Also, if you’re moving to Poland, you may want to learn more about the Polish healthcare system.

H- Wishing Someone Good Luck

We all need a little luck sometimes, but there are life situations that call for it more than others. Such situations include taking an exam, going to a job interview, or performing in front of an audience. If you’re parting ways with someone who’s about to do something major, you can say:

• Powodzenia! (“Good luck!”)
• Połamania nóg! (“Break a leg!”)
• Trzymam kciuki! (“Fingers crossed!”)

You’re likely to hear these phrases if you study or work in Poland. Some Polish people are superstitious, though, so not everyone is going to thank you for wishing them luck. It’s believed that doing so may actually bring bad luck. In this case, you may hear the reply: 

• Nie dziękuję! (“I’m not thanking you.”)

3. Final Thoughts

By now, you definitely have a better idea of how to say goodbye in Polish in a variety of contexts. 

Remember to use these expressions whenever you can. Even if it’s the only thing you’ll say in Polish during a conversation, it’s still better than speaking only in English! 

Which way of saying goodbye do you like the most? Let us know in the comments before you go. 

Saying goodbye is an important skill, but on its own, it’s not enough for a smooth conversation. To boost your Polish speaking and comprehension skills, get your free account with PolishPod101 today. 

Our website gives you access to countless language lessons and resources. Our recordings by native speakers will help you get the hang of Polish pronunciation in no time. You can also access your account whenever and wherever you want, thanks to our mobile apps. 

Would you like to know more about our teaching methods? Check out our lessons and methodology page to find out more. 

Happy Polish learning!

If you’re thinking about learning Polish but haven’t started yet, it’s probably because you have a few questions: Why should you learn Polish in the first place? Is Polish hard to learn, and if so, is it really worth it? 

Well, there are many reasons you may want to learn Polish: traveling to Poland, a Polish partner, a Polish heritage, personal development, and the list goes on. You surely have your own reason for wanting to learn the language. The most important thing is to not let other people scare you with their negativity and the myths they share about the Polish language.  

In this article, we’ll give you an in-depth review of what makes Polish hard to learn for some students, how to overcome those challenges, and what things about Polish are actually pretty easy. Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

1. Is Polish Hard to Learn?
2. The Hardest and Easiest Aspects of Polish
3. How to Start Learning Polish
4. Things to Keep in Mind When Learning Polish
5. Why is PolishPod101 Great for Learning Polish?
6. Final Thoughts

1. Is Polish Hard to Learn?

The short answer to this question is “No!” But we don’t blame you for asking.

Many people, before they start learning a language, try to find out whether that language is hard to learn. There are also many myths about languages—such as Polish—being particularly hard to learn. These myths, however, often come from people who failed to put enough effort into learning that language. 

We can tell you that statements such as “Polish is so difficult” (Polski jest taki trudny!) are just excuses not to learn the language. 

Other people simply study hard and manage to successfully learn Polish, whether they live in Poland or not. Of course, like any language, Polish has certain concepts that are rather challenging. But rest assured, it has plenty of simpler concepts as well! 

2. The Hardest and Easiest Aspects of Polish 

How difficult is it to learn Polish, then? It’s as difficult to learn as any other language; if you put your heart in it and keep studying, fluency in Polish is definitely accessible!

Let’s have a look at the hardest aspects (najtrudniejsze zagadnienia) of learning Polish, and then the easiest ones (najłatwiejsze zagadnienia). 

A- The Hardest Aspects of Polish

There’s a number of concepts that Polish-learners find particularly hard to master (materiał wyjątkowo trudny do opanowania). In no particular order, here are the things that make Polish hard to learn: 

• Pronunciation

Polish pronunciation can be quite challenging in the beginning. There are many Polish letters that are written similarly to each other but are pronounced differently: 

➢ dz in dzwon (“bell”)
➢ dż in dżdżownica (“earthworm”)
➢ dź in dźwig (“crane”)

➢ s in sosna (“pine”)
➢ ś in śnieg (“snow”)
➢ sz in szlak (“trail”)

➢ c in ciocia (“aunt”)
➢ ć in ćma (“moth”)
➢ cz in cześć (“hi”)

There are also letters that are spelled differently but are pronounced the same way: 

➢ ch in choinka (“Christmas tree”)
➢ h in herbata (“tea”)

➢ rz in rzeka (“river”)
➢ ż in żaba (“frog”)

➢ u in uroda (“beauty”)
➢ ó in próba (“attempt”)

Last but not least, we have the famous consonant clusters in words such as szczęście (“happiness”), czkawka (“hiccups”), or grzmot (“thunder”).

Even if Polish pronunciation is challenging, there are a few ways you can make the learning process easier. For example, both listening to Polish and repeating Polish words out loud are helpful in this regard. Check out our lesson Polish Pronunciation Made Easy for more tips. 

• Noun Gender and Agreement

Polish nouns have grammatical gender. There are three genders in the singular (żeński – “feminine” / męski – “masculine” / nijaki – “neuter”) and two genders in the plural (męskoosobowy – “masculine personal” and niemęskoosobowy – “non-masculine personal”). 

➢ kobieta (“woman”) – rodzaj żeński (feminine) 
➢ facet (“guy”) – rodzaj męski (masculine) 
➢ okno (“window”) – rodzaj nijaki (neuter)

➢ kobiety (“women”) – rodzaj niemęskoosobowy (“non-masculine personal”)
➢ faceci (“guys”) – rodzaj męskoosobowy (“masculine personal”)

Other parts of speech, such as adjectives, also undergo agreement with nouns in terms of gender, number, and case: 

➢ Inteligentna kobieta (“a smart woman”) – rodzaj żeński (feminine), singular
➢ Przystojni faceci (“good-looking guys”) – rodzaj męskoosobowy (masculine), plural

• Noun Cases and Agreement

Nouns are governed by more than just gender; they also have cases. Grammatical case refers to a noun having different forms depending on the context in which it’s used. There are seven cases in Polish:

• To jest inteligentna kobieta. (“She’s a clever woman.” Or literally: “It’s a clever woman.”) 
  • the nominative case mianownik 
• Nie znam tej inteligentnej kobiety. (“I don’t know this clever woman.”) 
  • the genitive case dopełniacz
• Opowiem ci o tej inteligentnej kobiecie. (“I’ll tell you about this clever woman.”) 
  • the dative case celownik
• Często widzę tę inteligentną kobietę. (“I often see this clever woman.”) 
  • the accusative case biernik 
• Poszłam na spacer z tą inteligentną kobietą, o której ci mówiłam. (“I went for a walk with this clever woman I told you about.”) 
  • the instrumental case narzędnik 
• Mówiłam ci o tej inteligentnej kobiecie w moim biurze. (“I told you about this clever woman from my office.”) 
  • the locative case miejscownik
• Hej, inteligentna kobieto! (“Hey, clever woman!”)
  • the vocative case wołacz

B- The Easiest Aspects of Polish

Uff! We’re done with the hardest aspects of learning Polish. Now, we’ll go over the easier aspects of learning Polish! 

• Tenses

So how easy is Polish to learn? Quite easy when you compare its tenses to those in English (which has as many as sixteen tenses!). Polish, on the other hand, has only three tenses: the past, the present, and the future. Have a look at the following examples: 

➢ Czytam gazetę. (“I’m reading a newspaper.”)
➢ Czytam gazetę codziennie. (“I read a newspaper every day.”)
➢ Czytałem/Czytałam gazetę i słuchałem muzyki. (“I was reading a newspaper and listening to music.”)

The past tense in Polish has, respectively, masculine and feminine forms of verbs.

➢ Nie czytałem/czytałam tej powieści. (“I haven’t read this novel.”)
➢ Nie wiem czy będę im czytać dziś wieczorem. (“I don’t know whether I’ll read to them tonight.”)

• Polish is a phonetic language

Do you remember when we said that Polish pronunciation can be challenging because of certain letters? Some sounds are indeed challenging, but Polish is a phonetic language which means that it’s read as it’s written. To see why this is so significant, just read the following English words to yourself: 

➢ bone – done – gone
➢ wall – wax – want
➢ loud – should – mould

Even though the bolded letter combinations are spelled the same way, they’re pronounced differently. 

Many people ask things like “How hard is Polish to learn for English-speakers?” And to me, it seems that it’s much easier than their native language at times! Let’s have a look at some words in Polish that contain the same letters: 

➢ koń (“horse”) – krowa (“cow”) – Kraków (“Cracow”)
➢ nowy (“new”) – kobieta (“woman”) – stolica (“capital city”)
➢ atak (“attack”) – tramwaj (“tram”) – mama (“mother”)

You can click on the words to go to recordings of their pronunciation. You see? The letters are read just like they’re written.

• Lack of articles 

Articles are an important part of English. So you may be surprised to hear that when native Polish-speakers start learning English, they often forget to use them because their native language has no articles. Yes, you’ve heard us right: there are no articles in Polish. 

• Kot siedzi i czeka. (“A/the cat is sitting and waiting.”)
• Pies szczeka. (“A/the dog is barking.”)
• Krowa muczy. (“A/the cow is mooing.”)

How hard is Polish to learn for English-speakers if they don’t have to learn certain grammar concepts, but forget them? It seems like a sweet deal to us. 😉

3. How to Start Learning Polish

Learning a language is a much easier process if it’s well-structured. As such, there are a few things you should focus on at the beginning of your language journey to make the entire process that much smoother.

A- Learn Pronunciation and Reading Rules

Polish pronunciation is a major reason that new learners tend to find the language difficult. That said, Polish pronunciation only seems challenging. When you put proper effort into learning it, you’re going to see that it’s really not that difficult. 

Start by focusing only on how to pronounce individual sounds, then clusters of consonants, then whole words, and then the last stage, which is sentences. You can learn Polish pronunciation rules on our Polish pronunciation page. 

While you practice your pronunciation, it’s important that you don’t forget to work on your reading skills. Reading rules in Polish are predictable, so learning to read is an easy way to see progress more quickly. Once you know how to read, it’ll also be easier to pronounce words and sentences in Polish.     

B- Learn Basic Vocabulary

You’d be surprised how much easier Polish communication is once you master the basic vocabulary. Expressing yourself will make you feel more comfortable with the language. You’ll also have a great foundation to build upon as you advance to intermediate and advanced levels. 

To learn what’s considered to be a “basic vocabulary,” check out the European Union (Unia Europejska) resource about what’s expected from lower levels according to the CEFR global scale. You can also opt to let PolishPod101 guide you through this process with our curated pathways for each level.

C- Work on Your Listening Comprehension Skills 

Learning vocabulary allows you to not only express yourself, but also to understand what’s being said to you. 

Listening to a new language can be an extremely fun activity. When you start understanding what’s being said, you’ll find it very rewarding! 

Listening to Polish is particularly important if you want to really understand things like cases and gender agreement. Instead of sitting and studying grammar rules for hours and hours, you can spend this time more productively by listening to the language and training yourself to understand what sounds right and what doesn’t. 

You can work on your listening comprehension skills by watching Polish movies (polskie filmy), listening to recordings (nagrania), and exploring the PolishPod101 lesson library. 

4. Things to Keep in Mind When Learning Polish

Instead of asking yourself “Is Polish hard to learn?” keep the following things in mind: 

1. You Should Practice Every Day

You don’t need to spend hours a day learning Polish. In fact, if you overcommit early on, you’re likely to experience burnout. Instead, focus on spending a bit of time with Polish every single day. Set a goal for yourself. Can you do ten minutes of Polish seven times a week? I’m sure you can. 

2. Don’t Listen to People Trying to Discourage You

Many people, when they hear about your plan to learn Polish, will ask you if it’s worth it. They’re just trying to put you in a negative frame of mind; they want you to focus only on the negative or difficult aspects of the language, and not on the easier aspects.

Any language is difficult to learn if you take the wrong approach. Remember that learning Polish will be as easy for you as you make it for yourself. 

3. Surround Yourself with the Language

Surround yourself with Polish as much as you can. There are Polish series and movies on platforms such as Netflix and Showmax that you can opt to watch in lieu of your regular English-language shows. In addition, you can find Polish music that you like or sneak some Polish in by changing the language of your phone and/or social media to Polish.

4. Find a Language Partner or Tutor

A language can’t be learned in a vacuum. Find someone with whom you can practice what you’re learning. You can find a language partner, but an even better option is to find a qualified language teacher or a tutor. You can upgrade your PolishPod101 account to get one-on-one access to a personal teacher. 

5. Why is PolishPod101 Great for Learning Polish?

PolishPod101 knows exactly how difficult learning Polish can be, and we provide resources specifically for people who speak English as their native language. We offer a number of functionalities that will make your language-learning experience much easier, such as: 

1. Lesson Recordings with Native Speakers

PolishPod101 has a massive library of lessons recorded by native speakers to help you learn Polish. By listening to Polish that you could hear on the street, you’ll be prepared for the real-life experience.  

2. Unique Learning Modes

As a premium member, you can benefit from many unique learning modes. You could access in-depth lesson notes, exclusive custom word lists, interactive lessons and quizzes, voice recording tools, a Polish audio library, and much more. 

3. Vocabulary Learning

PolishPod101 allows you to learn vocabulary through many different lessons, the word bank functionality, a Word of the Day email, a vocabulary slideshow, and a list of Polish core words and phrases. That’s a great opportunity to acquire all the useful vocabulary you need to get started. 

4. Blog Articles

To learn more about the Polish language and culture, you can access our blog. You’ll find useful, real-life Polish expressions there, and so much more. 

5. Learning On-the-Go

With PolishPod101, you can easily learn on-the-go on your devices. Download your InnovativeLanguage101 app for Android, iPhone, iPad, or Kindle Fire, and save time learning when you’d otherwise be idle. 

6. Final Thoughts

I hope we’ve answered the question “Is Polish difficult to learn?” and have shown you that with the right attitude and tools, it’s not so hard at all. Like in any other language, there are easier and harder aspects to the language to consider.

By now, you should also know that learning with a well-designed tool is very helpful. An easy way to learn Polish is with PolishPod101, which offers our students an organized system to master the Polish language with little trouble. Don’t take our word for it, though. Start your account today and enjoy the platform for seven days. It’s on us!

Before you go, we’re curious: Is Polish a hard language for you so far? Which things do you struggle with the most? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll do our best to help you out!

It’s natural for a beginner to make mistakes in a new language. But fortunately, there are ways in which you can minimize them. To help you do exactly that, in this article, we’re going to discuss the ten plus most common Polish mistakes. 

By understanding what kind of mistakes other students make, you can prevent yourself from falling into those same linguistic traps. For your convenience, we’ve put the most common Polish mistakes by English-speakers into groups. 

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

1. Pronunciation and Spelling Mistakes
2. Vocabulary Mistakes
3. Polish Grammar Mistakes
4. Level of Formality
5. Other Polish Mistakes
6. The Biggest Mistake
7. Final Thoughts

1. Pronunciation and Spelling Mistakes 

The most common Polish mistakes that learners of different language backgrounds tend to make have to do with pronunciation and spelling.

A- Similar Spelling, Different Pronunciation

Certain consonants in Polish are particularly difficult for language-learners due to the fact that they’re written similarly to each other. Some students also feel that their pronunciation is relatively similar. The following letters and sounds are a source of common pronunciation and spelling mistakes for Polish-learners: 

• s, ś, and sz
• c, ć, and cz
• dz, dź, and dż

Pay particular attention to how words with these letters are written when you’re reading something out loud. When writing down vocabulary, you need to be very careful as well, especially when you’re making notes of what you hear. In this case, check a given word in a dictionary to make sure you’re learning the correct form of it. Last but not least, listen to how native speakers pronounce words with these letters to train your ear. 

B. Different Spelling, Same Pronunciation

The good news here is that people learning Polish as a foreign language are not the only ones with this problem. It’s quite common for native speakers to make this spelling mistake in Polish, too! This is because the letters in question are pronounced the same way, but spelled differently. However, a mistake that hits foreigners particularly hard is trying to pronounce double letter sounds as if they were separate letters.

Here’s another source of common Polish pronunciation mistakes: 

• ch and h
• rz and ż
• u and ó

A good way to fight this problem is to learn vocabulary words along with their spelling and pronunciation. Reading plenty of articles and books can also minimize your chances of making these common pronunciation mistakes for Polish-learners. 

→ Do you feel like you need more practice? Go to our lessons “An Alphabet Full of Polish Tongue Twisters” and “Polish Pronunciation Made Easy.” 

2. Vocabulary Mistakes

There are many vocabulary items that are confusing for learners because certain ideas don’t exist in their native language. In the following sections, we’ll outline frequent errors in Polish that foreign learners tend to make. 

A- Verbs of Motion

Polish verbs of motion are definitely among the top Polish-English mistakes. Have a look at the following verbs: 

chodzić vs. iść

Both verbs can mean “to go” in English, which certainly doesn’t make your task any easier. However, what you should remember is the context in which we use them. Iść is used for activities that happen in a given moment, while chodzić is used for repetitive actions.

• Idę do pracy. (“I’m going to work.”) 
• Chodzę do pracy pięć razy w tygodniu. (“I go to work five times a week.”)

Because chodzić refers to something that’s done frequently, it’s often accompanied by a plural form of the noun when talking about habits. Compare: 

• Idziesz na spacer? (“Are you going for a walk [now]?”)
• Chodzisz na spacery? (“Is it your habit to take walks?”)

You’d also use chodzić to speak about “walking” as a general activity and iść to refer to “walking” in a given moment. For example: 

• On nie może chodzić. (“He can’t walk.”)
• Czemu tak wolno idziesz? (“Why are you walking so slowly?”)

jeździć vs. jechać

Jeździć and jechać have a similar relationship as the previous pair of verbs. Both mean to go somewhere with a mode of transport. Jeździć is used for repetitive situations, and jechać for a description of something that’s happening in a given moment:

• Co roku jeździm nad morze. (“Every year, we go to the seaside.”)
• Dzisiaj jedziemy nad morze. (“Today, we’re going to the seaside.”)

How often do you go to the seaside? Learn how to talk about it with our lesson on how to express frequency.

Both verbs can also mean “to drive”:

• Ile lat jeździsz tym samochodem? (“How long have you been driving this car?”)
• Jadę samochodem, nie mogę rozmawiać. (“I’m driving, I can’t talk.”)

B- Imperfective and Perfective Verbs

Polish verbs have an aspect and are divided into perfective aspect and imperfective aspect verbs. 

Perfective verbs focus on completion of an action, so they’re associated with the past and the future. Imperfective verbs, on the other hand, focus on the fact that the action is being performed. 

The difference isn’t obvious to many foreigners, which makes it a common source of Polish grammar mistakes. Have a look at the following pairs with examples to see the difference:

kupować (imperfective) vs. kupić (perfective) – “to buy”

• Kupowałam pierogi, kiedy zadzwoniła mi komórka. (“I was buying pierogi, when my phone rang.”) 
• Kupiłam pierogi. (“I’ve bought pierogi.”)

Go to our lesson “10 Polish Foods” to learn what else you can eat in Poland. 

śpiewać (imperfective) vs. zaśpiewać (perfective) – “to sing”

• Śpiewam w chórze. (“I sing in a choir.”)
• Zaśpiewam ci piosenkę. (“I will sing a song for you.”)

jeść (imperfective) vs. zjeść (perfective) – “to eat”

• Jem obiad. (“I’m eating lunch.”)
• Zjesz obiad? (“Will you eat lunch?”)

C- Talking About Age

In Polish, you should use the verb “to have” (mieć) to speak about your age. This is different from English, where you use the verb “to be,” making this one of the most common mistakes in Polish made by English-speakers. Compare: 

• Mam 32 lata. (“I’m 32 years old.”)
• Ile masz lat? (“How old are you?”)

Are you still not sure how to talk about your age? Go to our “Polish in three minutes“ lesson about this topic.

D- Knowledge Verbs in Polish

There are three different verbs that refer to knowledge in Polish: umieć, wiedzieć, and znać. As luck would have it, they all translate to the English verb “to know,” and therefore, they’re among the most typical Polish mistakes made by foreigners.

umieć 

We use this verb to talk about skills, such as:

• umieć liczyć (“to know how to count”)
• umieć śpiewać (“to know how to sing”)
• umieć czytać (“to know how to read”)

wiedzieć

We use this verb to talk about knowledge in more specific situations:

• Nie wiem, co masz na myśli. (“I don’t know what you mean.”)
• Nie wiem, czy to prawda. (“I don’t know whether it’s true.”)
• Nie wiem, ile ma lat. (“I don’t know how old he is.”)

znać 

We use this verb to talk about people we know, languages we speak, and when a noun follows the verb directly:

• Nie znam jej męża. (“I don’t know her husband.”)
• Nie znam angielskiego. (“I don’t know/speak English.”)
• Nie znam prawdy. (“I don’t know the truth.”)

3. Polish Grammar Mistakes

Many of the top Polish-English mistakes have to do with grammar elements that are confusing for English-speakers. Following is a list of Polish mistakes you should always try to avoid! 

A- Expressing “Going to” in Polish

Some English-speakers try to express the idea of “going to” with verbs of movement. The confusion has to do with the fact that you can say:

• Idziemy na basen. (“We’re going to a swimming pool.”)

What’s important to remember is that the meaning of this sentence has to do with the verb iść (“to go”).

• Planujemy pójść na basen. (“We’re going to go to a swimming pool.”)

To refer to planned actions and express “going to” for future events, you should use other verbs, such as planować (“to plan”) as in the example above. 

B- Gender Agreement

Lack of gender agreement is among the most common Polish grammar mistakes. In English, nouns do not have gender, so the mere concept is alien to English-speakers. In Polish, though, each noun has gender and it always has to be in agreement with the adjective used to describe it:

• mądra kobieta (noun, feminine) – “a smart woman”
• mądry człowiek (noun, masculine) – “a smart human being”
• mądre dziecko (noun, neuter) – “a smart child”

The agreement also takes place with other parts of speech that are modified, such as pronouns: 

• taka mądra kobieta (noun, feminine) – “such a smart woman”
• taki mądry człowiek (noun, masculine) – “such a smart human being”
• takie mądre dziecko (noun, neuter) – “such a smart child”

The gender agreement is also affected by number. Compare singular and plural: 

• mądra kobieta (singular) / mądre kobiety (plural)
• mądry człowiek (singular) / mądrzy ludzie (plural)
• mądre dziecko (singular) / mądre dzieci (plural)

To learn more about the topic of gender, familiarize yourself with our lesson “The Secret to Understanding Polish Noun Gender.”

C- Case Agreement

The Polish language has seven different cases, and Polish noun cases are a source of many common Polish grammar mistakes. Students who struggle with this particular grammar concept the least are speakers of other Slavic languages.

• Ala ma kota. (“Ala has a cat.”)

The proper noun “Ala” is in the nominative case here. If you decide to add an adjective or pronoun to modify a noun, you’ll have to use the nominative case for it. Case agreement is done in conjunction with gender agreement:

• To sympatyczna dziewczyna [feminine noun]. (“She’s a nice girl.”)

Would you like to learn more Polish adjectives? Check out our lesson about high-frequency adjectives. 

The same process takes place for pronouns: 

• Moja mama [feminine noun] ma dwa psy. (“My mother has two cats.”)

This is true for all cases, and it’s something you should always keep in mind when forming sentences in Polish. A good way to practice is to create simple sentences to make sure you understand when to use which case. This process is much more effective under the eye of a teacher. You can gain access to one through a Premium PolishPod101 membership. 

This sums up the most common Polish grammar mistakes. Now, it’s time to move on and discuss another common mistake in Polish, namely, the level of formality. 

4. Level of Formality

One of many important mistakes in Polish to avoid are related to the level of formality. In English, you’re used to using “you” with almost everyone. But Polish recognizes two types of “you,” the formal one and the informal one.

The informal version, ty, is used among friends, family members, and people of the same age. It requires the second person singular form of the verb: 

• Jak się masz? (“How are you?”)

The formal version—pan for a man or pani for a woman—uses the third person singular. We use it with people who we don’t know, unless they’re children or teenagers. We can also use it if the context seems to call for it. Here are two examples: 

• Jak się pani ma? (“How are you, Ma’am?”)
• Jak się pan ma? (“How are you, Sir?”)

To be on the safe side, use formal Polish. Being too formal is certainly better than being overly familiar.

5. Other Polish Mistakes

Other common Polish mistakes have to do with question formation and negation. 

A- Forming Questions

It’s easy to make a mistake in Polish when forming questions. This is because, in the spoken language, questions are simply indicated by the change of intonation. Many other questions, even in writing, get the same word: czy. In English, on the other hand, the question word differs depending on the tense:

• Czy masz ochotę na kawę? (“Would you like a coffee?”)
• Czy Marcin kupił jajka? (“Did Marcin buy eggs?”)
• Czy mam rację? (“Am I right?”)

Of course, Polish has words for “who” (kto), “what” (co), and so on. Want to learn more? See our lesson on the 10 questions you should know. 

B- Negation

Polish allows double negation, leading to many Polish-English mistakes because it seems particularly unnatural to English-speakers. Have a look at the following examples: 

• Nikogo nie widzę. (“I don’t see anyone.”) – Literal translation: “I don’t see no one.”
• Nigdy tego nie zrobię. (“I’ll never do it.”) – Literal translation: “I’ll never not do it.”
• Marek niczego nie czyta. (“Marek doesn’t read anything.”) – Literal translation: “Marek doesn’t read nothing.”

6. The Biggest Mistake

The biggest mistake in Polish is…not practicing the language. Perfection is something many of us aspire to, but it’s impossible to achieve. You should simply try your best and keep practicing. To make a mistake in Polish isn’t a sign of weakness, but simply an indication that you’re learning. Using the language is the only way to get better at it!

7. Final Thoughts

Today, we’ve discussed the most common Polish language mistakes. Thanks to this article, you’ll be able to avoid the top Polish-English mistakes!

Before you go, remember to let us know in the comments section which of these common mistakes in learning Polish bother you the most! 

Don’t stop your learning journey here. Continue improving your Polish skills with PolishPod101. We have countless resources for you to learn with, and all of our audio and video lessons featuring native speakers will help you avoid common pronunciation mistakes in particular. Get your lifetime account today!

When you start your language-learning journey with Polish, managing to have a conversation with a native speaker is one of the most rewarding experiences. This is why it’s important to work on your conversational skills early on. 

What’s the best way to do this? By learning the top ten Polish questions with answers, of course!

Once you learn these, you’ll be prepared for whatever may appear in a simple conversation in Poland. Read on and learn how to ask a question in Polish (and answer it yourself)!

Table of Contents

1. What’s your name?
2. Where are you from?
3. Do you speak Polish?
4. How are you?
5. Where do you live?
6. What did you say?
7. How old are you?
8. “What is it?” and “Who is it?”
9. Are you hungry/thirsty?
10. How much is it?
11. Final Thoughts

1. What’s your name?

The Polish word for “question” is pytanie. 

The first and most important pytanie for conversations is “What’s your name?” In Polish, the way one asks this question depends on the level of formality. The rule of thumb is to use the formal version unless the person you’re speaking with is your age, your family member, or anyone else in an informal context. 

Formal Questions and Answers 

There’s a number of Polish questions you can ask to learn someone’s name. To just ask about their first name, you can say:

• Jak ma pani na imię? (“What’s your name, Ma’am?”)
• Jak ma pan na imię? (“What’s your name, Sir?”)

The answer would be:

• Mam na imię [name]. (“My name is [name].”)

You could also begin by giving your name, and then ask for theirs:

• Mam na imię [name], a pan/pani? (“My name is [name], and yours, Sir/Ma’am?”)

When you want to ask a question in Polish about someone’s name and surname in a formal context, you can say: 

• Jak się pani nazywa? (“What’s your name [and surname], Ma’am?”)
• Jak się pan nazywa? (“What’s your name [and surname], Sir?”)

There’s also another way of asking the same question. It’s slightly old-fashioned, but some people in Poland still use it, particularly in places that have to do with public administration: 

• [Jaka jest] pani godność? (“[What’s] your name and surname, Ma’am?”)
• [Jaka jest] pańska godność? (“[What’s] your name and surname, Sir?”)

Both types of questions would be answered with: 

• Nazywam się [name and surname]. (“My name [and surname] is {name and surname}.”)

If appropriate, you can also add a follow-up question, as follows:

• Nazywam się [name], a pan/pani? (“My name and surname is [name and surname], and yours, Sir/Ma’am?”)

Informal Questions and Answers

Polish language questions in the informal context are similar to those in the formal context. With certain exceptions, the main difference is that formal questions use the conjugated form of the third person singular, while informal questions use the second person singular. Compare: 

Formal

• Jak ma pani na imię? (“What’s your name, Ma’am?”)
• Jak ma pan na imię? (“What’s your name, Sir?”)

Informal

• Jak masz na imię? (“What’s your name?”)

You can answer this question with or without the follow-up question a ty? (“and you?”). Here are examples of how it would look to use the follow-up: 

• Mam na imię [name], a ty? (“My name is [name], and yours?”)
• Jestem [name], a ty? (“I’m [name], and you?”)

When asking informally about someone’s name and surname, you’d ask and answer:

• Jak się nazywasz? (“What’s your name and surname?”)
• Nazywam się [name and surname]. (“My name and surname is [name and surname].”)

Of course, there’s more to introductions than just giving your name. These lessons may come in handy:

• Self-Introduction: Basic Greetings in Polish
• Self-Introduction
• Introducing Yourself

2. Where are you from?

Another very useful Polish question is “Where are you from?” Here are Polish questions and answers for talking about nationality.

Formal Questions and Answers 

Below you can find the most popular way of asking this question in a formal context: 

• Skąd pani pochodzi? (“Where do you come from, Ma’am?”)
• Skąd pan pochodzi? (“Where do you come from, Sir?”)

The answer to this question is: 

• Pochodzę z Poland. (“I come from Poland.)

As always, you can also add a follow-up question: A pan/pani? (“And you, Ma’am/Sir?”).

Here’s a dialogue showcasing a different way to ask and answer the question:

• Jakiej jest pani narodowości? (“What’s your nationality, Ma’am?”)
• Jakiej jest pan narodowości? (“What’s your nationality, Sir?”)
• Jestem [nationality]. (“I’m [nationality].”)

Informal Questions and Answers

When asking this question in informal contexts, there’s one more possible way to answer. We’ll group each question and answer pair here for ease of reference:

• Skąd pochodzisz? (“Where do you come from?”)
• Pochodzę z Poland. (“I come from Poland.”)

• Skąd jesteś? (“Where are you from?”)
• Jestem z Poland. (“I’m from Poland.”)

• Jakiej jesteś narodowości? (“What’s your nationality?”)
• Jestem [nationality]. (“I’m [nationality], and you?”)

If you’re still unsure how to talk about your home country, go to our lesson “Where are you from?” and deepen your knowledge. 

3. Do you speak Polish?

Asking about someone’s language skills is a good conversation starter. Here are some Polish questions that will help you do that. 

• Czy mówi pani/pan po Polish? (“Do you speak Polish, Sir/Ma’am?”) [formal]
• Czy mówisz po Polish? (“Do you speak Polish, Sir/Ma’am?”) [informal]

• Tak, mówię po Polish. (“Yes, I speak Polish.”)
• Nie, nie mówię po Polish. (“No, I don’t speak Polish.”)

• Czy zna pani/pan Polish? (“Do you speak Polish, Sir/Ma’am?”)
• Czy znasz Polish? (“Do you speak Polish?”)

• Tak, znam Polish. (“Yes, I know Polish.”)
• Nie, nie znam Polish. (“No, I don’t know Polish.”)

How would you ask “Do you speak English?” in Polish? Click on the link and check your comprehension of this topic.

4. How are you?

Asking people how they’re doing is something we do in English a lot. It’s also one of the basic questions in Polish, but it’s not used in every interaction like it is in English. When asking these kinds of questions to Polish people, expect for them to share more than just “Fine, thanks.”

Formal Questions and Answers

• Jak się pani/pan ma? (“How are you, Ma’am/Sir?”)

The answer in this case would be: 

• Dziękuję, dobrze. (“Well, thank you.”)
• Mam się dobrze, dziękuję. (“I’m well, thank you.”)

Informal Questions and Answers

There are many more basic Polish questions about someone’s well-being for informal contexts: 

• Jak się masz? (“How are you?”)
• Co dobrego? (“What’s good?”)
• Co u Ciebie? (“How are you doing?”)
• Co tam? (“What’s up?”)
• Co słychać? (“How’s it going?”)

There’s also a number of answers that can be given, depending on how much you want to share with the person you’re talking to: 

• Dobrze, dzięki. (“Good, thanks.”)
• Spoko, dzięki. (“Cool, thanks.”)
• Jakoś leci. (“It’s going.”)
• Nie narzekam. (“I can’t complain.”)
• A, daj spokój. (“Agh, give me a break.”)

The last answer often begins a list of complaints or bad things that have recently happened to that person. 

5. Where do you live?

Other common conversation questions in Polish are those for asking where someone lives.

Formal Questions and Answers

Formal questions in Polish about one’s address are usually asked in official situations, such as in a bank, at a post office, or at a police station: 

• Gdzie pan/pani mieszka? (“Where do you live, Sir/Ma’am?”) 
• Jaki jest pański/pani adres zamieszkania? (“What’s your address, Sir/Ma’am?”)

• Mieszkam w [city]. (“I live in [city].”)
• Mój adres to ulica [street name] [street number]. (“My address is [street number] [street name].”)

Informal Questions and Answers

There are two ways you can ask this in informal contexts:

• Gdzie mieszkasz? (“Where do you live?”)
• Jaki jest twój adres? (“What’s your address?”)

You can expect these answers:

• Mieszkam na ulicy [street name] [street number]. (“I live on [street number] [street name].”)
• Mój adres to ulica [street name] [street number]. (“My address is [street number] [street name].”)

Did you know that “Where do you live?” is one of the top 25 Polish questions? Check out our lesson to learn even more. 

6. What did you say?

Knowing how to ask for clarification is very handy for beginners who may not always understand what’s being said. 

Formal Questions and Answers

Here are the formal questions in Polish:

• Przepraszam, co pan/pani powiedziała? (“What did you say, Sir/Ma’am?”)
• Czy może pan/pani powtórzyć? (“Can you repeat, please, Sir/Ma’am?”)

• Przepraszam, nie dosłyszałem, czy może pan/pani powtórzyć? (“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said, can you repeat, please, Sir/Ma’am?”) [if the speaker is a man]
• Przepraszam, nie dosłyszałam, czy może pan/pani powtórzyć? (“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said, can you repeat, please, Sir/Ma’am?”) [if the speaker is a woman]

Here’s a number of possible answers to these questions: 

• Oczywiście. (“Certainly.”)
• Już powtarzam. (“I’m repeating now.”)

Informal Questions and Answers

• Co powiedziałeś/powiedziałaś? (“What did you say?”) [asked to a man and a woman, respectively]

Be careful! This question, depending on the tone, may be considered aggressive.

• Co? (“What?”)

The question above is a very common, though not extremely polite, thing to say, making it one of the most important Polish question words. 

• Sorry, nie dosłyszałem, możesz powtórzyć? (“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said, can you repeat, please?”) [said by a man]
• Sorry, nie dosłyszałam, możesz powtórzyć? (“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said, can you repeat, please?”) [said by a woman]

• Weź, powtórz. (“Come again.”)

Here are two possible answers:

• Jasne. (“Sure”)
• Zaczekaj chwilę. (“Hold on a second.”)

7. How old are you?

During an initial chat, you may want to ask about your interlocutor’s age. 

Formal Questions and Answers

In the formal context, questions about age are often asked during doctor’s appointments, for other health-related services, and in official situations. 

• Ile ma pan/pani lat? (“How old are you, Sir/Ma’am?”)
• W jakim jest pan/pani wieku? (“What’s your age, Sir/Ma’am?”) 

• Mam 30 lat. (“I’m 30 years old.”)
• Mam 22 lata. (“I’m 22 years old.”)

You can see there’s a difference between the word for “years” in the examples above. To better understand how that word would change with different numbers, check out our lesson “Talking About Your Age.”

Additionally, a man could be asked: 

• Kiedy się pan urodził? (“When were you born, Sir?”)
• Jaka jest pańska data urodzenia? (“What’s your birth date?”)

And answer:

• Urodziłem się [day] [month] [year]. (“I was born on [day] [month] [year].”)

The same dialogue with a woman would look like this:

• Kiedy pani się urodziła? (“When were you born, Ma’am?”)


• Jaka jest pani data urodzenia? (“What’s your birth date?”)

• Urodziłam się [day] [month] [year]. (“I was born on [day] [month] [year].”)

Informal Questions and Answers

When having a friendly chat, you’ll probably be more interested in learning someone’s age than getting their actual birthdate. So, the informal question would be as follows:

• Ile masz lat? (“How old are you?”)
• W jakim jesteś wieku? (“What’s your age?”)
• Mam [number] lat/lata. (“I’m [number] years old.”)

A related and often-asked informal question is: 

• Kiedy masz urodziny? (“When’s your birthday?”)
• 20 lipca. (“On the 20th of July.”)

8. “What is it?” and “Who is it?”

The two most important “wh-” questions in Polish are “What is it?” and “Who is it?”

Formal and Informal Polish Questions with Answers

The most commonly used “wh-” questions in Polish, these can come in handy when you’re confused (which happens often in a foreign country):

• Przepraszam, czy wie pan/pani co to jest? (“Excuse me, do you know what it is, Sir/Ma’am?”)
• Przepraszam, czy wie pan/pani kto to jest? (“Excuse me, do you know who it is, Sir/Ma’am?”)

• Wiesz co to jest? (“Do you know what it is?”) [informal]
• Wiesz kto to jest? (“Do you know who it is?”) [informal]
• Co/kto to jest? (“What/who is it?”) [informal]

The answer would be a simple: 

To jest + [noun in the nominative case mianownik or the person’s name]. (“This is [noun or a name].”)

Would you like to learn more about Polish sentence patterns? Read our article about it! You can also read a list of other question pronouns (Polish question words) on WikiBooks.

9. Are you hungry/thirsty?

I’m sure you would agree that communicating your basic needs and asking about the needs of others are among the most common questions and answers in Polish, and any other language.

Formal Questions and Answers

Here are some ways of asking these questions in Polish formally, and answering them likewise: 

• Chciałby pan coś zjeść? (“Would you like to eat something, Sir?”)
• Chciałaby pani coś zjeść? (“Would you like to eat something, Ma’am?”)

• Dziękuję, nie jestem głodny/głodna. (“Thank you, I’m not hungry.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]
• Dziękuję, niedawno jadłem/jadłam. (“Thank you, I’ve just eaten.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]

• Jest pan głodny? (“Are you hungry, Sir?”)
• Jest pani głodna? (“Are you hungry, Ma’am?”)

• Nie, nie jestem głodny/głodna, dziękuję. (“No, I’m not hungry.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]
• Tak, chętnie bym coś przekąsił/przekąsiła. (“Yes, I’d like to have a snack.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]

As you may already know, Poland is known for great food. If you’re not quite familiar with the Polish cuisine yet, check out this complete guide. 

• Chce się panu/pani pić? (“Would you like to drink something, Sir/Ma’am?”)
• Jest pan spragniony? (“Are you thirsty, Sir?”)
• Jest pani spragniona? (“Are you thirsty, Ma’am?”)

• Nie, dziękuję, proszę się nie kłopotać. (“No, thank you, please don’t go to any trouble.”)
• Tak, chętnie napiłbym/napiłabym się wody. (“Yes, I’d like some water, please.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]

Informal Questions and Answers

Here’s how to have a similar dialogue informally:

• Chcesz coś zjeść? (“Do you want to eat something?”)
• Jesteś głodny/głodna? (“Are you hungry?”)

• Dzięki, nie jestem głodny/głodna. (“Thanks, I’m not hungry.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]
• Nie, nie jestem głodny/głodna. (“No, I’m not hungry.”) [answered by a man and a woman, respectively]

• Chce ci się pić? (“Would you like to drink something?”)

• Nie, dzięki. (“No, thanks.”)
• Chętnie! (“Sure!”)
• Jasne! (“Okay!”)

The last three answers could also be used to answer the questions about eating. 

10. How much is it?

Some of the most common questions and answers in Polish that every beginner should learn are those for asking the price. This question is most likely to be asked in a formal context. 

Formal Questions and Answers

• Przepraszam, ile to kosztuje? (“Excuse me, how much does it cost?”)
• Przepraszam, po ile te jabłka? (“Excuse me, how much for these apples?”)

Would you like to practice how to ask “How much does it cost?” in Polish and learn more Polish question words? Go to our lesson “Asking how much something costs.”

• To kosztuje [number] złotych/złote. (“It costs [number] PLN.”)
• [Number] złotych/złote. (“[Number] PLN.”)

Are you still a bit shaky on the Polish numbers? These lessons may help you:

• Counting 1 to 10
• Counting from 10 to 100
• Counting from 100 to 10000 

11. Final Thoughts

Today you’ve learned common questions and answers in Polish. These are the top Polish questions you need to know for conversations with Polish people. Which question do you think you’ll use the most? Let us know in the comments section! 

If you’re set on truly learning Polish and knowing more than just how to ask questions in Polish, you should get an account with PolishPod101! You’ll be able to use hundreds and hundreds of Polish audio and video lessons, get access to unique materials and tools, and get your daily dose of Polish delivered straight to your inbox with 365 mini-lessons. 

Check it all out with a free trial!

Memorizing useful sentence patterns in English and Polish will help you speak Polish with more confidence. Once you know them, it’ll be easier for you to form simple Polish phrases and sentences of your own. Let’s start with the basics, though. Do you know how to say “sentence pattern” in Polish? Wzór zdania.

In this article, you’ll see more than ten sentence patterns in Polish with numerous examples. Soon, creating your own sentences in this language will be no problem for you!

Table of Contents

1. Polish Sentence Pattern: A is B
2. Using Adjectives for Description
3. The Polish Sentence Pattern for Expressing Wants
4. What Do You Need?
5. Expressing Likes in Polish
6. Please: Politely Asking Someone to Do Something
7. Asking for Permission
8. What…?: How to Ask About Something
9. When…?: Asking Questions About Time
10. Where is…?: Asking Questions About Location
11. Who…?: Asking Questions About People
12. Final Thoughts

1. Polish Sentence Pattern: A is B

Let’s start with one of the most common Polish sentence patterns: that for linking two nouns. Here are some examples:

• Marek jest moim bratem. (“Marek is my brother.”)

This Polish sentence structure requires the narzędnik (“instrumental”) case after the conjugated form of the verb być (“to be”). If you’re not sure what the forms are for this case, use this tool. 

• Mój brat jest prawnikiem. (“My brother is a lawyer.”)

As you can see, the first noun stays in the basic case (the form you’ll find in a dictionary), which is called mianownik (“nominative”). The second one requires the narzędnik (“instrumental”) case. 

• Ten prawnik jest znanym ekspertem. (“This lawyer is a well-known expert.”)

Remember that the narzędnik (“instrumental”) case is required for both the adjective znany and the noun ekspert. 

• Moi rodzice są bardzo hojnymi ludźmi. (“My parents are very generous people.”)
• Ten dom jest prezentem od moich rodziców. (“This house is a present from my parents.”)

Here, the narzędnik (“instrumental”) case applies to the noun prezent. However, the phrase moich rodziców is in the genitive case (dopełniacz) because it’s required by the preposition od (“from”). Here’s a list of hints to help you correctly predict the grammatical case on the basis of prepositions. 

Alternatively, you can avoid using the instrumental case altogether, and use a Polish sentence pattern with the same meaning that requires mianownik (“nominative”):

• Marek to mój brat. (“Marek is my brother.”)
  • Literally: “Marek this my brother.”
• Ten prawnik to znany ekspert. (“This lawyer is a well-known expert.”) 
  • Literally: “This lawyer this a well-known expert.“
• Ten dom to prezent od moich rodziców. (“This house is a present from my parents.”)
  • Literally: “This house this a present from my parents.“

If you need more vocabulary for talking about your family in Polish, click on the link for a listening comprehension exercise. 

2. Using Adjectives for Description

This easy Polish sentence pattern is used for describing things. Have a look at the following Polish sentence examples with the conjugated forms of the verb być (“to be”):

• (Ja) jestem zmęczona/zmęczony. (“I’m tired.”) 
  • For a female and male speaker, respectively

In Polish, personal pronouns are usually dropped when it’s clear from the context who the speaker is. 

Film był ciekawy. (“The movie was interesting.”)

• Bluzka, którą kupiłaś/kupiłeś jest droga. (“The shirt that you’ve bought is expensive.”) 
  • For a female and male speaker, respectively

This sentence includes a relative pronoun który (“that”). The nominative case is która for feminine nouns such as bluzka, but in this sentence, it requires the accusative case (biernik) as it answers the question “What (did you buy)?” You can learn more about Polish cases in this article about Polish grammar.   

You can also use the structure you know from the first Polish sentence pattern, to jest. When you use this pattern with adjectives, like in the example below, you can’t drop the verb:

• To jest pyszne! (“This is delicious!”)

Don’t forget to visit our page about high-frequency adjectives to expand your vocabulary.  

3. The Polish Sentence Pattern for Expressing Wants

Talking about what you want is very important when you’re trying to communicate in a foreign language. Here are some examples of how to do this:

• Chcę coś zjeść. (“I want to eat something.”)

The simplest way to express what you want is to use the conjugated form of the verb “to want” (chcieć) and the infinitive of the verb expressing the desired action. (P.S.: Need some advice on getting what you want in Poland?)

• Chcę pójść do kina. (“I want to go to the cinema.”)
• Nie chcę być niegrzeczna. (“I don’t want to be impolite.”)

In Polish, we negate by simply saying nie (“no”) in front of the verb (or the first verb, if there are two of them in a given sentence). Did you know that Polish allows the double negative? 

• Chciałabym o tym porozmawiać. (“I’d like to talk about it.”)
  • The speaker is a woman.

We can also say “I’d like to” by using the Polish conditional form of the verb chcieć (“to want”). It makes the sentence more polite.  

• Chciałbym mieć więcej wolnego czasu. (“I’d like to have more free time.”) 
  • The speaker is a man.

Are you unsure about the forms of the conditional mood in Polish? No problem. Check out the cooljugator. In addition, you can learn about the conditional mood on Wikipedia. 

4. What Do You Need?

The basic Polish sentence patterns for talking about needs express “I need” and “I have to” with forms of the verb potrzebować (“to need”). Familiarize yourself with the examples below:

• Potrzebuję dziś samochodu. (“I need the car today.”)

• Nie potrzebujesz mojej pomocy. (“You don’t need my help.”)
• Potrzebujemy pieniędzy. (“We need money.”)

The meaning of both “have to” and “must” is usually expressed by a conjugated form of musieć:

• Muszę to zrobić. (“I must do it.”)
• Tym razem muszę się z Tobą zgodzić. (“This time I have to agree with you.”)

5. Expressing Likes in Polish

Expressing likes comes in handy when introducing ourselves to others, as well as in many other life situations. Here are some examples of great Polish sentences for beginners: 

• Lubię cię. (“I like you.”)

This is one of the simplest Polish sentence patterns for expressing likes. The conjugated form of the verb lubić (“to like”) can be followed by an object in the accusative case (biernik) or another verb in the infinitive. 

• Lubię gotować. (“I like cooking.”)
• Lubię francuskie filmy. (“I like French movies.”)
• We wtorkowe wieczory lubię chodzić na spacery. (“On Tuesday evenings, I like to go for walks.”)
• Nie lubię truskawek. (“I don’t like strawberries.”)

Remember that adding nie (“no”) in front of the appropriate form of lubić is enough to express your dislike. 

Would you like to learn more verbs to express likes and dislikes in Polish? Check out our article about verbs in Polish. 

6. Please: Politely Asking Someone to Do Something

Asking people to do things in a polite way is a useful skill, even for complete beginners. Here are some of the Polish sentence patterns that will help you do exactly that with the use of the word proszę (“please”) and the required verb in the infinitive: 

• Proszę cię. (“Please.”) 
  • Literally: “I ask you.”
• Proszę, usiądź. (“Sit down, please.”)
• Proszę, uspokój się. (“Please, calm down.”)
• Proszę, podaj mi sól. (“Pass me the salt, please.”)

This is the simplest way of asking for things in Polish. You can see a more complicated structure below: 

• Proszę, żebyś przestał tak się zachowywać. (“Please, stop behaving in this way.”)
  • Literally: “I ask you to stop behaving in this way.”

To learn how to ask about a bill, head to our survival phrases lesson “Check, please.”

7. Asking for Permission

An easy Polish sentence pattern used for asking permission requires the conjugated form of the verb móc (“can” or “to be able to”):

• Czy mogę wejść? (“Can I come in?”)
• Czy mogę ci coś powiedzieć? (“Can I tell you something?”)
• Czy mogę odejść od stołu? (“Can I leave the table?”)
• Czy mogę poprosić o szklankę wody? (“Can I ask for a glass of water?”)

Remember that using czy is optional for forming questions in the spoken language, as a question is often expressed through a rising intonation. 

• Czy mógłbym poprosić cię do tańca? (“Could I ask you to dance?”) 
  • For male speakers

The form of the verb móc used in conditional is considered more polite, just like in the case of the verb chcieć discussed in an earlier section.

• Czy mogłabym prosić o napój bez słomki? (“Could I ask for a drink without a straw?”)
  • For female speakers

To find out how to ask “Can I Take Your Picture in Poland?” don’t forget to go to our survival phrases lesson about this topic. 

8. What…?: How to Ask About Something

“What is this?” and related questions use an easy Polish sentence pattern, which is incredibly useful for a beginner. Have a look at the following examples to learn how to construct your own sentences: 

• Co to jest? (“What’s this?”)
• Co robisz? (“What are you doing?”)
• Co się stało? (“What’s happened?”)
• Co mogę dla ciebie zrobić? (“What can I do for you?”)
• Co to za zwierzę? (“What animal is that?”)

Be careful, though. To say “What’s your name?” in Polish, you’d say: Jak masz na imię? This question is on our list of the top 25 Polish questions, so we recommend you check it out. 

9. When…?: Asking Questions About Time

Sentence patterns in English and Polish often differ, but this one is rather similar. You should use the word kiedy (“when”) to form questions about time:

• Kiedy masz urodziny?/Kiedy są twoje urodziny? (“When is your birthday?”)
• Kiedy wyjeżdżasz? (“When are you leaving?”)
• Kiedy jedziesz na wakacje? (“When are you going on holiday?”)

• Kiedy masz czas się spotkać? (“When do you have time to meet?”)

As we’ve promised, it’s quite a simple Polish sentence pattern.

10. Where is…?: Asking Questions About Location

Were you glad that the sentence patterns for “when” questions are very similar in Polish and English? Then we have some more good news for you! This is also true for the “where is” question pattern. Have a look below to learn how to ask about location or position in Polish: 

• Gdzie jest toaleta/łazienka/WC? (“Where is the restroom?”)
• Gdzie jest wyjście? (“Where’s the exit?”)
• Gdzie jest Adam? (“Where’s Adam?”)
• Gdzie jest posterunek policji? (“Where’s a police station?”)
• Gdzie jest najbliższy przystanek autobusowy? (“Where is the nearest bus stop?”)

In case you need more help with the word gdzie, we suggest looking at the following pages:

• Polish in Three Minutes: Asking Where
• Where is the Closest Store?
• Where in Poland Do You Live?

11. Who…?: Asking Questions About People

Sentence patterns in English and Polish can differ when it comes to “who” questions with Kto…? Carefully study the examples below: 

• Kto to jest? (“Who is it?”) 
  • Literally: “Who this is?”

Note that some “Who is…?” questions in Polish can be in reverse order of the English versions. Here’s another example in the past tense: 

• Kto to był? (“Who was it?”) 
  • Literally: “Who this was?”

• Kto tam? (“Who’s there?”) 
  • Literally: “Who there?”

In this question, the verb disappears entirely. However, it’s a correct and natural way of asking the question in Polish. 

• Kto ma tyle pieniędzy? (“Who has so much money?”)
• Kto mógłby pomóc mi z pracą domową? (“Who could help me with [my] homework?”)

In the last two examples, the order is exactly the same in the two languages. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t count on it. To learn more about the Polish word order, read our article about it.  

12. Final Thoughts 

How many sentence patterns are there in Polish? Many. But what’s more important is that today you’ve learned the most useful Polish sentence patterns that will help you form your own sentences. As you’ve seen, Polish and English sentence patterns can be quite different from each other. Remain mindful of that, and you’ll learn to speak Polish correctly. 

Which sentence pattern do you find the most useful? Let us know in the comments section.

Learning sentence patterns is important to get you speaking Polish. On its own, however, it’s not enough to allow you to have valuable conversations. If you really want to work on your Polish, you need a proper plan of action. We’ve gathered many resources for people like you on PolishPod101.com: you’ll find thousands of lessons with recordings from native speakers on our website. Get your free lifetime account today!

An adverb is a word or a phrase used as a modifier of adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. We’re going to introduce you today to the rules of use and formation of adverbs in Polish, as well as the 100 most common Polish adverbs. Are you ready to learn about adverbs in Polish? 
Language blog posts and other resources such as Must-Know Adverbs and Phrases for Connecting Thoughts are waiting for you on PolishPod101.com.

Table of Contents

1. Polish Adverbs: Placement and Formation
2. Gradation of Adverbs in Polish
3. Uncomparable Adverbs
4. The Diminutive Form of Polish Adverbs
5. Polish Adverbs of Time
6. Polish Adverbs of Frequency
7. Polish Adverbs of Place
8. Polish Adverbs of Manner
9. Final Thoughts

1. Polish Adverbs: Placement and Formation

You already know from the introduction what a Polish adverb (przysłówek) can be used for and what it modifies. Now, it’s time to have a look at the placement and formation of basic Polish adverbs, and phrases that behave like adverbs. Just a note before we start: some adverbs in Polish look like adjectives to native English speakers, so don’t be surprised by their translations. 

1- Placement of Adverbs

In most cases, adverbs in Polish are placed in front of verbs, like in this example: 

• On wolno biega. 

“He runs slowly.”

However, it’s acceptable to place Polish adverbs after the verb for emphasis. When an adverb in Polish modifies an adjective, it’s also placed before it:

• Ona jest źle wychowana. 

“She’s badly behaved.”

2- Formation of Adverbs

Adverbs in Polish are formed from adjectives. To create an adverb, you need the stem of an adjective, which is usually obtained by removing the last letter from the masculine form of an adjective. If you don’t feel confident with adjectives in Polish yet, familiarize yourself with our resources: Using Adjectives and High Frequency Adjectives.

Have a look at what’s happening with the adjective szybki (“quick”) in order to form an adverb: 

szybki (“quick”) -> szybk 

Once you have a stem like szybk, you need to add an appropriate ending to form an adverb. In this case, it’s -o:

szybki (adjective) -> szybko (adverb) [“quickly”]

This is the most common pattern in Polish adverb formation. Here are some other examples: 

mocny (adj.) [“strong”] -> mocno (adv.) [“strongly”]

jasny (adj.) [“light”] -> jasno (adv.) [“lightly”]

suchy (adj.) [“dry”] -> sucho (adv.) [“dryly”]

Another pattern governs adjectives with a stem ending in a consonant other than -k and -l, and followed by -n. These adverbs take the ending -ie:

spokojny (adj.) [“calm”] -> spokojnie (adv.) [“calmly”]

wygodny (adj.) [“comfortable”] -> wygodnie (adv.) [“comfortably”]

ładny (adj.) [“pretty”] -> ładnie (adv.) [“prettily”]

pogodny (adj.) [“bright”] -> pogodnie (adv.) [“brightly”]

The final rule applies to adjectives with the masculine form ending in -ry. These adverbs take the ending -rze:

mądry (adj.) [“wise”] -> mądrze (adv.) [“wisely”]

dobry (adj.) [“good”] -> dobrze (adv.) [“well”]

As you know about languages, where there are rules, there are exceptions: 

zły (adj.) [“bad”] -> źle (adv.) (“badly”)

stary (adj.) [“old”] -> staro (adv.) (“old”)

2. Gradation of Adverbs in Polish

An adverb in Polish, unlike an adjective, is unchangeable. This means that it looks the same regardless of the word it modifies. However, an adverb can be susceptible to gradation, and when it is, it has comparative and superlative forms. 

As someone who wants to learn about adverbs in Polish, vocabulary formation rules regarding gradation will come in very handy for you. 

1- Comparatives

Very often, a comparative adverb can be obtained by adding the suffix -ej or -iej to the stem of an adverb:

łatwo (“easily”) -> łatwiej (“more easily”)

trudno (“difficult”) -> trudniej (“more difficult”)

przyjemnie (“pleasantly”) -> przyjemniej (“more pleasantly”) 

Exceptions mostly include changes to sounds, and become predictable as you practice Polish: 

gorąco (“hot”) -> goręcej (“hotter”)

wesoło (“cheerfully”) -> weselej (“more cheerfully”)

zielono (“green”) -> zieleniej (“greener”)

The comparative can also be formed by adding the word bardziej (“more”) in front of the adverb. It’s always an acceptable alternative. Here’s an example of both gradation techniques:

ciemno (“dark”) -> ciemniej (“darker”)

    -> bardziej ciemno (“darker”)

How do you know whether the comparative or superlative form is correct? You can use this Polish online dictionary to double-check.

2- Superlatives

The superlative is based on the comparative. You need to add the prefix -naj: 

łatwiej (“more easily”) -> najłatwiej (“the most easily”)

goręcej (“hotter”) -> najgoręcej (“the hottest”)

weselej (“more cheerfully”) -> najweselej (“the most cheerfully”)

Just like in the case of comparatives, it’s possible to create superlatives by adding a word in front of an adverb in Polish. This time it’s najbardziej (“the most”): 

ciemniej (“darker”) -> najciemniej (“the darkest”)

bardziej ciemno (“darker”) -> najbardziej ciemno (“the darkest”)

3. Uncomparable Adverbs

When trying to learn about adverbs in Polish, grammar basics are necessary. Unfortunately, not all adverbs undergo gradation. It very often has to do with the meaning of a particular adverb, as its gradation wouldn’t make sense. 

A good example is the Polish equivalent of the word “absolutely” (absolutnie). It’d sound strange in English too, to say “more absolutely” or “the most absolutely.” Here are some more uncomparable adverbs: 

• bezgotówkowo (“cashless”)

W tym sklepie płaci się bezgotówkowo.

“This store is cashless.” (Literally: “In this store, one can only pay cashless.”) 

• aktualnie (“at the moment” / “currently”)

Aktualnie nie ma takiej potrzeby. 

“Currently, there’s no such need.” 

• bezczynnie (“without any activity” / “doing nothing”)

Siedzi bezczynnie. 

“He’s sitting there doing nothing.”

• bezsennie (“sleepless”)

Leżę w łóżku bezsennie. 

“I lay in my bed sleeplessly.” 

• bezpłatnie (“for free”)

Można zbadać się bezpłatnie. 

“One can do a check-up for free.” 

• boso (“barefoot”)

Moja córka kocha chodzić boso. 

“My daughter loves walking barefoot.”

• całkowicie (“entirely”)

Ufacie mu całkowicie. 

“You trust him entirely.”

• głównie (“mainly”)

Jest to problem głównie wśród młodzieży. 

“It’s a problem mainly among teenagers.”

• ledwo (“barely”)

Ledwo nam się udało. 

“We barely managed.”

• magicznie (“magically”)

Było magicznie! 

“It was magical!”

• niechętnie (“unwillingly”)

Niechętnie przyznał jej rację. 

“Unwillingly, he admitted that she was right.”

• chętnie (“willingly” / “gladly”)

Chętnie pójdę na spacer. 

“I’ll willingly go for a walk.”

• naprawdę (“really”)

Twój dom jest naprawdę piękny. 

“Your house is really beautiful.”

4. The Diminutive Form of Polish Adverbs

Polish adverbs can also be modified to create their diminutive forms. There’s a number of endings that can be added to a Polish adverb for this purpose, but only one is applicable in most cases. Look at what happens with the adverb cicho (“quietly”):

-utko

cichutko

The changes in sounds are often similar to the ones governing comparatives: 

wesoło (adv.) -> weselej (comp.) -> weselutko (dim.)

czerwono (adv.) -> czerwieniej  (comp.) -> czerwieniutko (dim.)

Now that you know all of the basics, it’s time to begin our Polish adverbs list! 

5. Polish Adverbs of Time

Polish adverbs of time answer the question “When?” (Kiedy?). 

• przedwczoraj (“the day before yesterday”)

Kupiłam to przedwczoraj. 

“I bought it the day before yesterday.”

• wczoraj (“yesterday”)

Wczoraj poszłam do kina. 

“I went to the cinema yesterday.”

• dziś / dzisiaj (“today”) – these two forms are interchangeable 

Dziś / dzisiaj nie mam czasu. 

“I don’t have time today.”

• wcześnie (“soon”)

Jest za wcześnie! 

“It’s too soon!”

• późno (“late”)

Już późno. 

“It’s already late.”

• najpierw (“firstly”)

Najpierw zjedz obiad. 

“Firstly, eat your lunch.”

• ostatecznie (“lastly,” “finally”)

Ostatecznie się zgodził. 

“Lastly/Finally, he agreed.” 

• przedtem (“before”)

Nawet przedtem to się zdarzało. 

“It happened even before.”

• potem (“after”)

Najpierw wypił sok, a potem piwo. 

“Firstly, he drank his juice and then a beer.” 

• teraz (“now”)

Teraz jest za późno. 

“Now, it’s too late.”

• wcześniej (“previously”)

Wcześniej nie wiedzieliśmy jak to zrobić. 

“Previously, we didn’t know how to do it.”

• niedawno (“recently”)

Niedawno się wprowadzili. 

“They moved in recently.”

• obecnie (“currently”)

Obecnie nie macie pracy. 

“Currently, you’re unemployed.”

Below, you can find a table of other adverbs in Polish referring to time:

	Last	This	Next
Week	W ostatnim tygodniu	W tym tygodniu	W przyszłym tygodniu
Month	W ostatnim miesiącu	W tym miesiącu	W przyszłym miesiącu
Year	W ostatnim roku	W tym roku	W przyszłym roku

W ostatnim tygodniu nic nie zarobił. 

“He didn’t earn any money last week.”

W tym miesiącu kupujemy samochód. 

“We’re buying a car this month.”

W przyszłym roku kończy studia. 

“He’s graduating next year.”

That’s not all you should know about the time in Polish. To learn how to ask “What time is it?”, simply click on the link. If you want to learn about more Polish adverbs related to time, check out our blog post about telling the time.

6. Polish Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency in Polish are words used to answer the question “How often?” (Jak często?). 

• Have you read our article about 100 Polish verbs yet? While you’re at it, check out our list of 2000 core words. 

Here’s a list of Polish adverbs of frequency: 

• nigdy (“never”)

Nigdy bym tak nie powiedziała. 

“I’d never say that!”

• rzadko (“rarely”)

Rzadko się widujemy. 

“We rarely see one another.” 

• nieczęsto (“seldom”)

Nieczęsto wychodzi z domu. 

“He doesn’t leave home often.”

• często (“often” / “frequently”)

Często nie ma nas w domu. 

“We’re often not at home.”

• zazwyczaj (“usually”)

Zazwyczaj o tej porze czytam gazetę. 

“At this time, I usually read a newspaper.”

• zawsze (“always”)

Zawsze mam rację. 

“I’m always right.”

• cały czas (“all the time”)

Ona cały czas płacze. 

“She cries all the time.”

• czasami (“sometimes”)

Czasami nas odwiedzają. 

“Sometimes they visit us.”

There’s also a number of adverbial expressions with co (“what,” but here it should be translated as “every”), which are useful for talking about frequency: 

Co…

…godzinę (“every hour”)

 Bierz jedną tabletkę co godzinę. 

“Take one tablet every hour.”

…dziennie [spelled together] (“every day”)

Codziennie to samo. 

“It’s the same thing every day.”

…tydzień (“every week”)

Robert co tydzień odwiedza matkę. 

“Robert visits his mother every week.”

7. Polish Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place answer the question “Where?” (Gdzie?).

• tutaj (“here”)

Tutaj wybudujemy dom. 

“We’ll build a house here.”

• tam (“there”)

Tam nie ma już słoneczników. 

“There are no more sunflowers there.” 

• wszędzie (“everywhere”)

Szukałam wszędzie. 

“I’ve looked everywhere.”

• wewnątrz (“inside”)

Wewnątrz nic nie ma. 

“There’s nothing inside.”

• na zewnątrz (“outside”)

Maja trzyma psy na zewnątrz. 

“Maja keeps her dogs outside.”

• na górze (“upstairs”)

Zostawiłam je na górze. 

“I left them upstairs.” 

• na dole (“downstairs”)

Na dole mieszkają moi rodzice. 

“My parents live downstairs.”

• za granicą (“abroad”)

Magda zawsze chciała mieszkać za granicą. 

“Magda’s always wanted to live abroad.” 

• poza (“away”)

Oni uczą się poza domem. 

“They study away from home.”

• dookoła (“around”)

Rozejrzałam się dookoła. 

“I’ve looked around.” 

• blisko (“near”)

Pracujecie blisko domu. 

“You work near home.”

• daleko (“far”)

Wyjeżdżasz daleko? 

“Are you going far (away)?”

Do you already know how to talk about directions and finding places in Poland? If not, click on the link to learn all you need to know about it. 

8. Polish Adverbs of Manner 

Polish adverbs of manner are used to describe the manner in which a given action has been performed:

• powoli (“slowly”)

Chodzimy powoli. 

“We walk slowly.”

• prędko (“quickly”)

Prędko to nie nastąpi. 

“It won’t happen quickly.”

• ostrożnie (“carefully”)

Prowadźcie ostrożnie. 

“Drive carefully.”

• lekkomyślnie (“carelessly”)

Beata zachowuje się lekkomyślnie. 

“Beata behaves carelessly.”

• głośno (“loudly”)

Jest tu za głośno. 

“It’s too loud here.”

• szczęśliwie (“happily”)

Żyli długo i szczęśliwie. 

“They lived happily ever after.”

• nieszczęśliwie (“unhappily”)

Adam jest nieszczęśliwie zakochany. 

“Adam is unhappily in love.”

• pięknie (“beautifully”)

Wyglądała pięknie. 

“She looked beautifully.”

• brzydko (“ugly”)

Brzydko tu jest. 

“It’s ugly here.”

• dosłownie (“literally”)

Ania bierze wszystko dosłownie. 

“Ania takes everything literally.”

• zwyczajnie (“simply” / “ordinarily”)

Zwyczajnie nie masz racji! 

“You’re simply wrong!” 

• płytko (“shallowly”)

Jest tu za płytko. 

“It’s too shallow here.” 

• głęboko (“deeply”)

On jest głęboko wierzący. 

“He’s deeply religious.”

• niezręcznie (“awkwardly”)

Zachowała się niezręcznie. 

“She behaved awkwardly.”

• miło (“nice”)

Miło mi Cię poznać. 

“It’s nice to meet you.”

• nerwowo (“nervously”)

Nerwowo poprawiła włosy. 

“She nervously rearranged her hair.”

• nudno (“boring”)

Na lekcji było nudno. 

“The lesson was boring.”

• ciekawie (“in an interesting way”)

Ciekawie opowiadał o historii. 

“He spoke about history in an interesting manner.”

• koniecznie (“necessarily”)

Koniecznie mi o tym opowiedz. 

“You must tell me about it.”

• długo (“long”)

Długo już czekamy. 

“We’ve been waiting long.” 

• krótko (“shortly”)

Nie będzie mnie krótko. 

“I will be gone shortly.” (The meaning here is: “for a short time.”)

• wysoko (“high”)

Czy trzeba się wysoko wspinać? 

“Do you need to climb high?”

• nisko (“low”)

Samolot leci nisko. 

“The plane is flying low.”

• drogo (“expensive”)

W tym sklepie jest drogo. 

“This shop is expensive.” (Literally: “It’s expensive in this shop.”)

• tanio (“cheaply”)

Gdzie tanio kupić mleko sojowe? 

“Where can you buy soy milk cheaply?”

9. Final Thoughts

We hope you find this article helpful on your journey in learning about adverbs in Polish. Language blog posts like this one are here on PolishPod101.com to clearly explain complex grammar concepts to you. Speaking of, have you read our article on Polish conjugations and Polish pronouns yet?

PolishPod101 is much more than just another language blog, though! We have countless lessons and resources for you to learn Polish with ease. Our audio and video recordings with native speakers will keep you interested and entertained. Are you ready to polish your Polish? Start your free account with us today.

Don’t go yet! In the comments section, tell us what the comparative and superlative forms of the adverb zwyczajnie are, based on what you’ve learned today. Good luck!

Learning vocabulary is very important, but to improve your language skills, you need to know certain grammar rules too. For example, to be able to speak Polish properly, you have to learn the rules of Polish verb conjugation. 

You may be wondering what a verb conjugation is. Don’t worry! We’ve prepared this article so that even an absolute beginner can learn the basic Polish verb conjugation rules.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

1. Verb Conjugation: Introduction
2. Conjugation Verb Groups
3. The Conjugation of “To Be” in Polish
4. Polish Verb Conjugation in the Past Tense
5. Let’s Talk About the Future
6. Polish Conjugation Practice
7. Final Thoughts

1. Verb Conjugation: Introduction

When a verb is conjugated, it means that it has different forms, depending on certain factors. In Polish, these factors are: tense, aspect, mood, person, number, and grammatical gender. In the following sections, we’ll be going over each of these Polish language conjugation factors.

1- Tense

In modern Polish, there are three tenses:

• The past tense (czas przeszły) — “I bought bread.” (Kupiłam chleb.)

• The present tense (czas teraźniejszy) — “I’m eating breakfast.” (Jem śniadanie.) 

The present tense can also be used for talking about your daily routine in Polish. 

• The future tense (czas przyszły) — “I’ll go away in a week.” (Wyjadę za tydzień.)

This is very different than English, which has an astonishing number of sixteen tenses. 

2- Aspect

Grammatical aspect is more prevalent in some languages than others. In Polish, there’s:

• An imperfective (niedokonany) aspect, used for uncompleted actions and actions that are habitual. The imperfective aspect exists in the past, present, and future tenses.

• A perfective (dokonany) aspect, used for completed actions. This one doesn’t exist in the present tense.

3- Mood

There are three moods in Polish:

• The indicative mood, used for statements

• The imperative mood, used for orders

• The conditional mood, which refers to possibilities

Today, we’ll focus on the indicative mood.

4- Person and Number

Grammatical person and number go together in Polish verb conjugation. There are six grammatical persons and two numbers in Polish. Have a look at the chcieć (“to want”) Polish conjugation in the present tense:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja chcę (“I want”)	my chcemy (“we want”)
ty chcesz (“you want”)	wy chcecie (“you want”)
on, ona, ono chce (“he, she, it wants”)	oni, one chcą (“they want”)

It’s important to remember that the personal pronoun is often dropped in Polish. That’s because the form of the verb is enough to tell who the subject is. A pronoun is used only when it’s needed to avoid ambiguities. 

Compare these examples:

• Chcę coś powiedzieć. (“I want to say something.”)

It’s clear that “I” is the subject because of the verb form.

• Chce coś powiedzieć. (“[He/she/it] wants to say something.”)

In this case, we would add the appropriate pronoun to indicate who the subject is, unless it’s easy to guess from the context. For instance, you could be standing next to a man, in which case the subject would remain understandable and the pronoun could be omitted. 

5- Gender 

In the singular, Polish has three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. In the plural, there are two: masculine personal and non-masculine personal. For simplicity, we’ll be referring to the masculine personal gender as masculine, and the non-masculine gender as feminine. 

Gender can influence the form of the verb in some cases. The table above shows the conjugation of a verb in the present tense, where gender has no bearing. Nevertheless, there’s a number of cases where gender matters. For example, in the conditional mood and in the past tense.

Before we move on, keep in mind that this article focuses on Polish conjugation rules; if you’re looking for more verbs to learn, check out the resource 100 Most Common Polish Verbs for Beginners.  

2. Conjugation Verb Groups

Polish conjugation patterns are grouped according to what the first and second person singular look like. There are four main conjugation groups, but certain sources mention as many as eleven. 

1- Conjugation I

The first Polish conjugation pattern uses the ending -ę in the first person singular and -esz in the second person singular. Here’s the Polish conjugation table for the verb kopać, meaning “to kick” or “to dig”:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja kopię (“I kick”)	my kopiemy (“we kick”)
ty kopiesz (“you kick”)	wy kopiecie (“you kick”)
on, ona, ono kopie (“he, she, it kicks”)	oni, one kopią (“they kick”)

Example: Kopiemy czy nie? (“Are we digging or not?”)

Other verbs that conjugate according to this pattern include: 

• pisać (“to write”)
  Piszę list. (“I’m writing a letter.”)

• dawać (“to give”)
  Daję radę. (“I’m managing.”)

• nieść (“to carry”)
  Niosę walizki. (“I’m carrying suitcases.”)

• płakać (“to cry”)
  Nie płaczę. (“I’m not crying.”)

The examples above show you why you need to know the form of the first person singular to be able to predict the conjugation pattern. As you can see, the first person differs from the infinitive form in a way that’s difficult to predict. 

2- Conjugation II

Second conjugation verbs in the first person singular also end in -ę. Fortunately, the second person singular with -isz and -ysz endings come in handy here in differentiating the two. Here’s a Polish verb conjugation table for the second group, using the verb robić, meaning “to do” or “to make”:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja robię (“I do”)	my robimy (“we do”)
ty robisz (“you do”)	wy robicie (“you do”)
on, ona, ono robi (“he, she, it does”)	oni, one robią (“they do”)

Example: Robię pranie. (“I’m doing the laundry.”)

Some other verbs that conjugate according to the second conjugation pattern are: 

• płacić (“to pay”)
  Płacisz mi. (“You pay me.”)

• ganić (“to scold”)
  Ganisz swoje dzieci? (“Do you scold your children?”)

• wrócić (“to come back”)
  Wrócisz jutro? (“Will you come back tomorrow?”)

• suszyć (“to dry”)
  Suszysz pranie w mieszkaniu? (“Are you drying your clothes at your flat?”)

3- Conjugation III

The third Polish conjugation pattern uses the ending -(a)m in the first person singular, and the ending -a(sz) in the second person singular. Have a look at this Polish conjugation table of the verb grać (“to play”):

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja gram (“I play”)	my gramy (“we play”)
ty grasz (“you play”)	wy gracie (“you play”)
on, ona, ono gra (“he, she, it plays”)	oni, one grają (“they play”)

Example: Gram w tenisa. (“I play tennis.”)

Here are some additional verbs that follow the third conjugation pattern: 

• czytać (“to read”)
  Czytam książkę. (“I’m reading a book.”)

• mieć (“to have”)
  Nie mam dzieci. (“I don’t have children.”)

• padać (“to fall”)
  Pada śnieg. (“It’s snowing.”) [literally: “Snow is falling.”]

• wołać (“to call”) [when you want someone to come to you]
  Wołam Cię! (“I’m calling you!”)

4- Conjugation IV

The last Polish conjugation pattern uses -(e)m in the first person, and -(e)sz in the second person singular. Here’s a Polish verb conjugation table for the verb wiedzieć (“to know”):

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja wiem (“I know”)	my wiemy (“we know”)
ty wiesz (“you know”)	wy wiecie (“you know”)
on, ona, ono wie (“he, she, it knows”)	oni, one wiedzą (“they know”)

Example: Wiesz kto to? (“Do you know who this is?”)

The fourth conjugation group is the rarest one. Here are two more verbs conjugated according to this pattern: 

• jeść (“to eat”)
  Jem obiad. (“I’m eating lunch.”)

• umieć (“to know [how to do something]”)
  Umiem czytać. (“I can [know how to] read.”)

Remember that to know how to conjugate Polish verbs, you need the first (and preferably the second) form of the singular. 

3. The Conjugation of “To Be” in Polish

The form of the first person singular in Polish often differs from the infinitive, but no form is as different as that of the irregular verb “to be.” Here’s a Polish conjugation table for być (“to be”) in the present tense:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja jestem (“I am”)	my jesteśmy (“we are”)
ty jesteś (“you are”)	wy jesteście (“you are”)
on, ona, ono jest (“he, she, it is”)	oni, one są (“they are”)

Example: Jesteśmy szczęśliwi. (“We’re happy.”)

Perhaps not surprisingly, this verb in the past tense also has an unpredictable form. In the table below, you can find the right way to conjugate the Polish verb być in the feminine gender:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja byłam (“I was”)	my byłyśmy (“we were”)
ty byłaś (“you were”)	wy byłyście (“you were”)
ona była (“she was”)	one były (“they were”)

Example: Byłam na Ciebie zła. (“I was angry with you.”)

You can find the forms for the masculine gender below:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja byłem (“I was”)	my byliśmy (“we were”)
ty byłeś (“you were”)	wy byliście (“you were”)
on był (“he, she, it was”)	oni byli (“they were”)

The form for the third person singular ono (“it”) is było. 

Example: Byliśmy w domu. (“We were at home.”)

As you can see, the form for the Polish past tense conjugation is completely different. Now, let’s have a look at this verb in the future tense:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja będę (“I will be”)	my będziemy (“we will be”)
ty będziesz (“you will be”)	wy będziecie (“you will be”)
on, ona, ono będzie (“he, she, it will be”)	oni, one będą (“they will be”)

Example: Będziesz grzeczny? (“Will you be nice?”)

Remember to learn these forms by heart; it’s important to know how to conjugate the top ten Polish verbs, including this one. In fact, why don’t you learn with us the top 25 Polish verbs straight away? 

4. Polish Verb Conjugation in the Past Tense

The Polish past tense is useful for talking about past events and Polish history. What are the Polish verb conjugation rules for the past tense? We’ll have a look at some Polish verb conjugation tables, using the examples we’ve already discussed for the Polish present tense conjugations. The first conjugation table is applicable to feminine subjects:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja kopałam (“I kicked”)	my kopałyśmy (“we kicked”)
ty kopałaś (“you kicked”)	wy kopałyście (“you kicked”)
ona kopała (“she kicked”)	one kopały (“they kicked”)

Example: Kopałam piłkę. (“I was kicking the ball.”)

Masculine subjects require the following changes to their endings:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja kopałem (“I kicked”)	my kopaliśmy (“we kicked”)
ty kopałeś (“you kicked”)	wy kopaliście (“you kicked”)
on kopał (“he kicked”)	oni kopali (“they kicked”)

Example: Kopaliście doły. (“You were digging holes.”)

The form for neuter in the third person singular would be kopało.

Example: Dziecko kopało psa. (“The child was kicking a dog.”)

Now, look at the forms of the verb “to do” (robić) for feminine subjects:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja robiłam (“I did”)	my robiłyśmy (“we did”)
ty robiłaś (“you did”)	wy robiłyście (“you did”)
ona robiła (“she did”)	one robiły (“they did”)

For masculine subjects, we’ll have the same changes as in the previous masculine examples:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja robiłem (“I did”)	my robiliśmy (“we did”)
ty robiłeś (“you did”)	wy robiliście (“you did”)
on robił (“he did”)	oni robili (“they did”)

The forms of the first person singular for grać (“to play”) are grałam and grałem for feminine and masculine subjects, respectively. For wiedzieć (“to know”), the forms are wiedziałam and wiedziałem. Can you predict the rest of the forms in the past tense? Let us know your answers in the comments’ section!

1- Perfective and Imperfective Aspects

We mentioned aspects in the introduction, but it’s important to understand how they work in practice. The English verb “to buy,” for instance, has two equivalents in Polish: kupić and kupować. Kupić is a perfective verb, while kupować is imperfective. Compare: 

• Kupiłam chleb w tym sklepie. (“I bought bread in this shop.”) [female speaker]

It’s a completed, once-off action and an example of the perfective aspect.

• Kupowałam chleb w tym sklepie. (“I used to buy/had been buying bread in this shop.”) [female speaker]

The action here is not defined as completed, but repetitive. Maybe I used to buy bread in this shop, or I had been buying it, until something happened. The point is that, in the past, I repeatedly bought bread in this shop.

Have a look at another possible use of the imperfective form: 

• Kupowałam chleb w tym sklepie, gdy ktoś krzyknął. (“I was buying bread in this shop, when someone shouted.”) [female speaker]

As you can see, aspects are crucial in Polish. More often than not, there are (at least) two Polish verbs for one English one. How do you know which one is which? You have to learn it by heart. Fortunately, there are certain regularities, so you should be able to get the hang of it with practice. 

5. Let’s Talk About the Future

Are you wondering how to conjugate Polish verbs in the future tense? There are three ways to form the future tense in Polish: one for the perfective verbs, and two for imperfective verbs. Now, let’s look at some examples of the conjugation of Polish verbs for future tense.

1- Perfective Verbs in the Future Tense

I have some good news for you! In the case of perfective endings, the forms are very easy to predict when you know the rules of the Polish present tense conjugation. 

We’ve already discussed the conjugation of the verb robić (“to do” and “to make”) in the present. It’s an imperfective verb, as it has a present form. Another verb for “to do” is zrobić in the perfective aspect. You can find the forms in the Polish conjugation table below:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja zrobię (“I will do”)	my zrobimy (“we will do”)
ty zrobisz (“you will do”)	wy zrobicie (“you will do”)
on, ona, ono zrobi (“he, she, it will do”)	oni, one zrobią (“they will do”)

You can see that the perfective verbs follow the same Polish conjugation patterns as verbs in the present tense. 

Example: Zrobimy dla Ciebie pierogi. (“We’ll make pierogi for you.”)

Can you eat Polish food? If you don’t know what pierogi are or whether you can eat them, you should certainly check out our lesson about the top 5 Polish dishes. 

2- Imperfective Verbs in the Future Tense

There are two Polish future tense conjugation patterns for perfective verbs. We’re going to have a look at the forms for robić again for ease of comparison. 

First of all, you should remember that the future forms for imperfective verbs need a “helping” verb. This is one of the forms of the Polish “to be” conjugation in the future, which we discussed earlier. Here are two conjugations of Polish verbs in the future tense for imperfective verbs:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja będę robić (“I will do”)	my będziemy robić (“we will do”)
ty będziesz robić (“you will do”)	wy będziecie robić (“you will do”)
on, ona, ono będzie robić (“he, she, it will do”)	oni, one będą robić (“they will do”)

The first version requires the infinitive form of the second verb, which makes it very easy to use. There’s no difference in how often this version is used compared to the second version, so the former is a better choice for beginners.

The second pattern requires changes to the second verb, and these changes depend on the subject’s gender. For feminine subjects, this conjugation looks like this:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja będę robiła (“I will do”)	my będziemy robiły (“we will do”)
ty będziesz robiła (“you will do”)	wy będziecie robiły (“you will do”)
ona będzie robiła (“she will do”)	one będą robiły (“they will do”)

For the masculine gender, the conjugation pattern changes to:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja będę robił (“I will do”)	my będziemy robili (“we will do”)
ty będziesz robił (“you will do”)	wy będziecie robili (“you will do”)
on będzie robił (“he, she, it will do”)	oni będą robili (“they will do”)

For neuter, the third person singular would be ono będzie robiło. 

6. Polish Conjugation Practice

Today you’ve learned how to conjugate in Polish. Now it’s time for a bit of language practice with our quick quiz: 

1. Ja (kupować) ____________ dziś mleko.   

“I bought milk today.” (male speaker)

a) kupiłam
b) kupię
c) kupiłem
d) kupić

2. On (grać) _____________ w piłkę nożną.

“I play football.” 

a) wygram
b) grałam
c) gra
d) grasz

3. My (być) _______________ Polakami. 

“We are Polish.”

a) jestem
b) jesteście
c) jesteś
d) jesteśmy

4. Ty (zrobić) ______________ sałatkę. 

“You’ll make a salad.”

a) zrobię
b) zrobimy
c) zrobisz
d) robicie

5. Oni (chcieć) _____________ spać. 

“They want to sleep.”

a) chcą
b) chcemy
c) zrobimy
d) chcę

Now think about the answers…

Keep scrolling…

1. Ja (kupować) __kupiłem___ dziś mleko.   

“I bought milk today.” (male speaker)

Ja is the first person singular, so we need that form for the past tense in the masculine gender.

a) kupiłam – first person singular, past tense, feminine gender
b) kupię – first person singular, future tense
c) kupiłem – first person singular, past tense, masculine gender
d) kupić – infinitive, imperfective aspect

2. On (grać) ____gra_________ w piłkę nożną.

“He plays football.” 

On is the third person singular, so we need the form of the present tense. 

a) wygram – first person singular, future tense, the verb is wrong (wygrać)
b) grałam – first person singular, past tense, feminine gender
c) gra – third person singular, present tense
d) grasz – second person singular, present tense

3. My (być) ___jesteśmy________ Polakami. 

“We are Polish.”

a) jestem – first person singular, present tense
b) jesteście – second person plural, present tense
c) jesteś – second person singular, present tense
d) jesteśmy – first person plural, present tense

4. Ty (zrobić) __zrobisz_____ sałatkę. 

“You’ll make a salad.”

Ty is the second person singular, so we need its form in the future tense. 

a) zrobię – first person singular, future tense
b) zrobimy – first person plural, future tense
c) zrobisz – second person singular, future tense
d) robicie – second person plural, present tense, wrong verb (robić)

5. Oni (chcieć) ____chcą_____  spać. 

“They want to sleep.”

Oni is the third person plural, so we need the form of the present tense. 

a) chcą – third person plural, present tense
b) chcemy – first person plural, present tense
c) zrobimy – first person plural, future tense, wrong verb (zrobić)
d) chcę – first person singular, present tense

7. Final Thoughts

Today, you’ve learned all about how to conjugate Polish verbs in the present, past, and future, taking into account numerous variables. 

Now that you know the grammar rules of the chcieć Polish conjugation and others, you may want to learn some additional verbs to expand your vocabulary. We recommend you check out this list of the Top 20 Polish Verbs. 

If you’re ever in doubt when it comes to the right form of the verb, don’t guess. Use an online conjugation tool such as cooljugator instead. 

We hope you found this resource helpful. If you want to get access to many more Polish learning tools and materials, start a free trial with PolishPod101. Learn the language with audio and video lessons featuring real teachers, use our word of the day service, and more!

Before you go, please remember to let us know how well you managed to do on the test in the comments section! 🙂

A verb is a crucial part of any sentence. Today, we’re going to introduce you to the most commonly used Polish verbs, the basic rules governing their placement in a sentence, and their conjugation. By the time you finish this article, you’ll be able to see massive progress in your Polish-speaking abilities! 
Other similarly useful articles you should have a look at are: 100 Adjectives (link) and 100 Nouns (link).

Table of Contents

1. Using Polish Verbs in a Sentence
2. Polish Verb Conjugation Rules
3. Polish Verbs of Motion and Action
4. Verbs for Talking About Feelings, Thoughts, and Preferences
5. Polish Modal Verbs
6. Final Thoughts

1. Using Polish Verbs in a Sentence 

We’re not going to go into much detail, but it’s important that you understand certain concepts about Polish language verbs so that you can use them correctly.

A. Various Forms of Polish Verbs

Before we start introducing you to new Polish verbs, we’d like you to understand that they can have different forms. Polish verbs are modified depending on the:

• Tense

There are three modern Polish verb tenses: the past tense (czas przeszły), the present tense (czas teraźniejszy), and the future tense (czas przyszły). For the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on one of the Polish verb tenses: the present tense. 

• Aspect

There are two aspects in Polish: imperfective (niedokonany) referring to incomplete actions, and perfective (dokonany) referring to complete actions. 

• Mood  

There are three moods of Polish verbs: indicative, imperative, and conditional. 

• Person and Number

Each person, depending on the number, has a form of the verb attributed to it. This is why personal pronouns are often dropped in Polish. If you’d like to know more about Polish pronouns, we’ve written a whole article about them (link). 

• Grammatical Gender

Some verb forms differ depending on the gender of the person to whom the verb is referring. This is relevant, for example, when creating forms in the past tense. 

B. Verb Placement in a Sentence

Where do you place a verb in an affirmative sentence in Polish? It’s quite easy, as Polish uses a similar sentence structure as English:

Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)

• “I’ve eaten a banana.”

Ja zjadłam banana. 

As we’ve mentioned before, pronouns in Polish are often dropped. This is why it would be more natural to get rid of the pronoun “I” (ja), and say:

• Zjadłam banana.

If you’re not a fan of bananas, find the name of your favorite fruit or vegetable on our food vocabulary list. Now, to form a question, we just have to add the word czy before this sentence:

• “Have I eaten a banana?”

Czy zjadłam banana? 

While in English, you use different words depending on the context, such as “does,” “do,” and “did,” in Polish you always use czy. Czy is also often dropped, especially in speech:

• Zjadłam banana? 

To learn more about questions in Polish, check out our list of “Top 25 Polish Questions You Need to Know.” 

2. Polish Verb Conjugation Rules 

Verbs in Polish are conjugated and there are four conjugation groups. So how does Polish conjugation work?

Well, Polish verb conjugation rules are a bit different than those in many other languages. Namely, the verbs aren’t grouped according to the verbs’ endings. To know a conjugation pattern, you need at least the first-person singular. 

It may come in handy to have a Polish verbs PDF with conjugation patterns. You can create one by choosing “Print” and “Save as PDF” from your browser settings on this page. Here are three other ways to convert a webpage to PDF. 

A. Conjugation I

Have a look at the first conjugation. It’s defined by the form of the first-person singular ending in –ę and the second-person singular ending in –esz. We’ll use the verb pisać (“to write”) as an example in the Polish verb conjugation chart below:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja piszę (“I write”)	my piszemy (“we write”)
ty piszesz (“you write”)	wy piszecie (“you write”)
On / ona / ono pisze (“he / she / it writes”)	oni, one piszą (“they write”)

• Ona pisze list. 

“She’s writing a letter.” 

Some other verbs that follow this conjugation pattern are: 

1- Nieść (“to carry”)

Niosę walizki. 

“I’m carrying the suitcases.” 

2- Kopać (“to kick”) or (“to dig”)

Kopię dół. 

“I’m digging a hole.”

3- Dawać (“to give”)

Dajemy prezent Annie. 

“We’re giving a present to Anna.”

4- Płakać (“to cry”)

Płaczę przez Ciebie. 

“I’m crying because of you.”

B. Conjugation II

The second conjugation is associated with different Polish verb endings: the first-person singular ending is –ę and the second-person singular ending is –isz or –ysz. We’ll examine this by looking at the Polish verb conjugation table for płacić (“to pay”):

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja płacę (“I pay”)	my płacimy (“we pay”)
ty płacisz (“you pay”)	wy płacicie (“you pay”)
on / ona / ono płaci (“he / she / it pays”)	oni, one płacą (“they pay”)

• Ja płacę! 

“I’m paying!”

Other verbs following the same conjugation pattern are: 

1- Ganić (“to scold”)

Dlaczego mnie ganisz? 

“Why are you scolding me?”

2- Suszyć (“to dry”)

Czy suszysz włosy? 

“Are you drying your hair?” 

3- Robić (“to do”)

No i co mi zrobisz? 

“And what will/can you do to me?”

4- Wrócić (“to come back”)

Nigdy nie wrócę! 

“I’ll never come back!”

C. Conjugation III

It’s time to learn more about the third conjugation pattern, where the first-person singular ends in -(a)m and the second-person singular in -(a)sz. Below, you’ll find the Polish verb conjugation table for czytać (“to read”): 

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja czytam (“I read”)	my czytamy (“we read”)
ty czytasz (“you read”)	wy czytacie (“you read”)
on / ona / ono czyta (“he / she / it reads”)	oni, one czytają (“they read”)

• Czytasz gazety? 

“Do you read newspapers?”

Other verbs following the same conjugation pattern include the following: 

1- Padać (“to fall”)

Pada deszcz. 

“It’s raining.” (Literally: “Rain is falling.”)

2- Grać (“to play”)

Gramy w bingo. 

“We’re playing bingo.” 

3- Mieć (“to have”)

Czy macie dzieci? 

“Do you have children?”

4- Wołać (“to call [someone to come])

Wołam i wołam! 

“I’m calling and calling!”

D. Conjugation IV

This is the fourth and final regular Polish verb conjugation you may encounter. The form of the first-person singular is -(e)m and the form of the second-person singular is -(e)sz. Have a look at its forms for the verb jeść (“to eat”):

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja jem (“I eat”)	my jemy (“we eat”)
ty jesz (“you eat”)	wy jecie (“you eat”)
on / ona / ono je (“he / she / it eats”)	oni, one jedzą (“they eat”)

• Jem gruszkę. 

“I’m eating a pear.”

Here are some other Polish verbs that fall under this pattern:

1- Umieć (“to know how to”)

Umiem liczyć. 

“I can count.” 

2- Wiedzieć (“to know”)

Wiem o Tobie sporo. 

“I know a lot about you.”

E. The Irregular Polish Verb “To Be”

The most important verb in any language, “to be,” is an example of an irregular Polish verb conjugation. To be (być) or not to be (czy nie być)? 

Find out in the table below:

SINGULAR	PLURAL
ja jestem (“I am”)	my jesteśmy (“we are”)
ty jesteś (“you are”)	wy jesteście (“you are”)
on / ona / ono jest (“he / she / it is”)	oni, one są (“they are”)

• Ona jest zła. 

“She’s angry.” 

The extremely important verb być is linked to a number of expressions. Click on the link to learn more about them. 

Are there any other Polish irregular verbs apart from the Polish verb “to be?” Yes and no. Most verbs that don’t follow a pattern from any Polish verb conjugation table we’ve included are only partial exceptions. A form, or forms, may be different, but the verb still mostly follows one of the conjugation patterns.

Polish verb conjugation rules require a lot of practice, but you can do it! If in doubt, you can always use one of the online conjugation resources, such as Cooljugator or Ba.bla, that give you a nice breakdown of forms according to Polish verb tenses and other variables.

3. Polish Verbs of Motion and Action

To kick off our Polish verbs list, this is a category of Polish verbs that’s very important. Verbs of motion and action (as well as those indicating the lack thereof) are the most common verbs in any language. Here’s a list of the most important ones with examples:

VERB	EXAMPLE
Iść (“to go”)	Idę do pracy.  “I’m going to work.”
Chodzić (“to walk”) This verb has many derivatives due to changes to the prefix. Click on the link to learn more about them.	Chodzę po domu.  “I’m walking around the house.”
Skakać (“to jump”)	Skaczesz wysoko.  “You jump high.”
Biegać (“to run”)	Biegam wolno.  “I run slowly.”
Łapać (“to catch”)	Łapię piłkę.  “I’m catching the ball.”
Uderzać (“to hit”)	Uderzasz w stół.  “You’re hitting the table.”
Rzucać (“to throw”)	Rzucę Ci piłkę.  “I’ll throw the ball to you.”
Czekać (“to wait”)	Czekasz na kogoś?  “Are you waiting for someone?”
Rysować (“to draw”)	Co rysujesz?  “What are you drawing?”
Nalewać (“to pour”)	Nalewasz nam soku.  “You’re pouring us some juice.”
Ciągnąć (“to drag”) / (“to pull”)	Ciągniesz za mocno.  “You’re pulling too hard.”
Pchać (“to push”)	Pcham wózek.  “I’m pushing a trolley.”
Podnosić (“to lift”) / (“to raise”)	Podnosisz głos niepotrzebnie.  “You’re unnecessarily raising your voice.”
Odłożyć (“to put down”)	Odłożę to na miejsce.  “I’ll put it in its place.”
Zamknąć (“to close”)	Czy zamkniesz drzwi?  “Will you close the door?”
Otworzyć (“to open”)	Otworzyłam słoik.  “I’ve opened a jar.”
Trzymać (“to hold”)	Trzymasz psa?  “Are you holding the dog?”
Stać (“to stand”)	Stoję w kolejce.  “I’m standing in a queue.”
Siedzieć (“to sit”)	Siedzisz przy stole.  “You sit at the table.”
Klaskać (“to clap”)	Klaszczę do rytmu.  “I’m clapping to the beat.”
Tańczyć (“to dance”)	Czy tańczysz tango?  “Do you dance tango?”
Machać (“move [in slang]”) / (“wave [with a hand]”)Leżeć (“to lie down”)	Leżę na podłodze.  “I’m lying down on the floor.”
Pić (“to drink”)	Piję colę.  “I’m drinking a Coke.”
Gotować (“to cook”)	Gotujesz kolację.  “You’re cooking dinner.”
Przygotowywać (“to prepare”)	Przygotowujesz konia?  “Are you preparing the horse?”
Budzić się (“to wake up”)	Budzę się rano.  “I wake up in the morning.”
Malować (“to paint”)	Maluję obraz.  “I’m painting (a painting).”
Narzekać (“to complain”)	Ciągle narzekasz.  “You’re complaining all the time.”
Latać (“to fly”)	Dokąd lecisz?  “Where are you flying to?”
Wspinać się (“to climb”)	Wspinam się po górach.  “I climb mountains.”
Przyjść (“to come”)	Rozciągasz się po jodze.  “You’re stretching after yoga.”
Przyjść (“to come”)	Czy przyjdziesz jutro?  “Will you come tomorrow?”
Uciekać (“to run away”)	Nie uciekam.  “I’m not running away.”
Wyjść (“to go out”) / (“to leave”)	Zaraz wyjdę z domu.  “I’ll leave the house in a minute.”
Zostać (“to stay”)	Zostajesz w szkole.  “You’re staying at school.”
Oglądać (“to watch”)	Oglądam telewizję. “I watch TV.”
Wąchać (“to smell”)	Wącham kwiaty.  “I’m smelling the flowers.”
Czyścić (“to clean”)	Czyszczę podłogę.  “I’m cleaning the floor.”
Próbować (“to try”) / (“to taste”)	Spróbujesz zupy?  “Will you taste the soup?”
Bawić się (“to play”)	Bawię się z dziećmi.  “I’m playing with the kids.”
Pytać (“to ask”)	Pytam go o zdanie.  “I’m asking him about his opinion.”
Odpowiedzieć (“to answer”)	Odpowiesz na moje pytanie?  “Will you answer my question?”
Mówić (“to speak”)	Mówię powoli.  “I speak slowly.”
Opowiadać (“to tell”)	Opowiadam historię.  “I’m telling a story.”

https://wordlist.languagepod101.com/wordlist/media/17388&v=medium.jpg (a list of verbs)

All of these Polish motion verbs examples are either in the first- or second-person singular so that you know which conjugation they’re likely to follow. If you would like a Polish verbs PDF, you can click “Print” on your browser and “Save as PDF” to have access to the article whenever you need it.

4. Verbs for Talking About Feelings, Thoughts, and Preferences

More useful Polish verbs are those used for talking about feelings, thoughts, and preferences. This section will cover the top Polish verbs you should know to talk about these subjects! 

Tell Me About Your Feelings in Polish

Here’s a number of useful verbs for talking about your feelings, both positive and negative, in Polish: 

VERB	EXAMPLE
Positive feelings:
Lubić (“to like”)	Lubię psy.  “I like dogs.”
Kochać (“to love”)	Kochasz mnie?  “Do you love me?”
Uwielbiać (“to adore”)	Uwielbiam festiwale filmowe!  “I love film festivals!”
Przepadać (“to really like”)	Przepadam za teatrem.  “I really like theatre.”
Cieszyć się (“to be happy [for]”)	Cieszysz się?  “Are you happy?”
Uśmiechać się (“to smile”)	Uśmiecham się często.  “I smile often.”
Śmiać się (“to laugh”)	Lubię, gdy się śmiejesz.  “I like when you laugh.”
Zakochać się (“to fall in love”)	Zakocham się!  “I’ll fall in love.”
Podziwiać (“to admire”)	Podziwiam Cię!  “I admire you.”
Dogadywać się (“to get on well”)	(Dobrze) dogaduję się z nim.  “I get on well with him.”  “Well” (dobrze) is often added for emphasis.
Czuć (“to feel”)	Czujesz to?  “Do you feel it?”
Woleć (“to prefer”)	Wolę zostać w domu.  “I prefer to stay home.”
Interesować się (“to be interested in”)	Interesuję się dinozaurami.  “I’m interested in dinosaurs.”
Pasjonować się (“to have a passion for”)	On pasjonuje się historią.  “He’s passionate about history.”
Negative feelings:
Nienawidzić (“to hate”)	Nienawidzę jej!  “I hate her!”
Bać się (“to be scared of”)	Boisz się?  “Are you scared?”
Złościć się (“to get angry”)	Złoszczę się bez powodu.  “I get angry without a reason.”
Kłócić się (“to have arguments”)	Kłócisz się z ojcem?  “Do you have arguments with (your) father?”
Denerwować się (“to be nervous about”)	Denerwuję się trochę.  “I’m a bit nervous about it.”
Brzydzić się (“to detest”) / (“to be disgusted by”)	Brzydzisz się karaluchów?  “Are you disgusted by cockroaches?”
Wyśmiewać się (“to laugh at”)	Wyśmiewasz się ze mnie.  “You’re laughing at me.”
Wstydzić się (“to be ashamed”) / (“to be embarrassed”)	Wstydzę się.  “I’m ashamed of myself.”
Czerwienić się (“to blush”)	Czy często się czerwienisz?  “Do you blush often?”
Zazdrościć (“to be jealous”) / (“to envy”)	Naprawdę mi zazdrościsz?  “Do you really envy me?”
Żałować (“to regret”)	Nie żałuję tego.  “I don’t regret it.”
Martwić się (“to worry”)	Za dużo się martwisz.   “You worry too much.”

We’ve only included negative verbs that are verbs in their own right. To express a negative feeling, you can also simply use the negation nie (“no”):

• Nie lubię truskawek. 

“I don’t like strawberries.”

That’s a lot of useful Polish verbs, right? 

What Do You Think About It?

Expressing your thoughts and opinions in Polish is important for effective communication. Here’s a number of essential Polish verbs that will come in handy when doing that: 

VERB	EXAMPLE
Myśleć (“to think”)	Myślę, więc jestem.  “I think, therefore I am.”
Sądzić (“to reckon”)	Sądzisz, że on to zrobił?  “Do you reckon he was the one who did it?”
Wierzyć (“to believe”)	Wierzę, że to nieprawda.  “I believe that it’s not true.”
Wątpić (“to doubt”)	Wątpisz w moje słowa?  “Do you doubt my words?”
Zgadzać się (“to agree”)	Nie zgadzam się z Tobą.  “I disagree with you.”
Zgadywać (“to guess”)	Zgaduję, nie wiem na pewno.  “I’m guessing, I don’t know for sure.”

5. Polish Modal Verbs

The last category of Polish verbs we’ll discuss today are modal verbs. They’re most often used in conjunction with another verb in the infinitive form.

VERB	EXAMPLE
Móc (“can”) / (“to be able to”)	Mogę Ci pomóc.   “I can help you.”
Musieć (“have to”) / (“must”)	Musisz coś zrobić!  “You must/have to do something.”
Chcieć (“to want”)	Chcę iść do kina.  “I want to go to the cinema.”
Powinno się (“should”)	Powinnam pójść do lekarza.  “I should go to the doctor.”

As you can see in the table, you only conjugate the modal verb. 

6. Final Thoughts

When you’ve just started learning a language, memorizing the most important Polish verbs is a great idea. Even if you don’t always know the correct forms, people will often be able to understand what you mean from the context. There are two other lists on PolishPod101 that you can use to learn the main verbs in Polish: 25 Most Commonly Used Verbs for Any Language and 50 Most Common Verbs. 
With PolishPod101, you can learn much more than just the verbs. Get your free lifetime account today and start exploring countless audio and video lessons with real teachers. We offer you more than 160 hours of learning, and the best part is that you can use this language-learning tool wherever you go.

One more thing before you close your browser: What’s your favorite Polish verb? Did we miss any important ones? Let us know in the comments section!