Verbs

Verbs express action, state, existence or occurrence. A sentence is not complete without at least an implied verb. In general, Polish verbs act as verbs do in English. There is, however, one important concept that must be understood to use Polish verbs properly, namely, verbal aspect.

Verbal Aspect - Perfective and Imperfective

Almost every verb in Polish has 2 forms: the imperfective and the perfective aspect. Most verbs, therefore, come in pairs (imperfective and perfective).

The imperfective form of the verb denotes the process of an action or a state without any reference to its completion. It also may refer to a repeated action. For example, in English, the following sentences have an imperfective meaning: "Yesterday I was writing." or "I always write letters." or "I will always be writing letters."

A perfective verb denotes an action which has been completed in the past, or will be completed in the future, and results in a change in the state of affairs. There can be no present tense, since it implies a process that is already completed, therefore, the perfective version of the verb has only two tenses: past and future.

Past: Wczoraj napisałam do niego list.

(Yesterday I (feminine) wrote him a letter)

Future: Jutro napiszędo niego list.

(Tomorrow I will write him a letter.)

Both of these sentences in English and in Polish have a perfective meaning, stressing completion of the action.

Usually the imperfective form is unprefixed, and the perfective form is formed from it with a prefix. This is the basic concept of verbal aspect. You will see that every verb is described in the Comments Window as imperfective or perfective. Pay attention to the many shades of meaning that can be expressed through the imperfective and perfective aspects of different verbs.

Infinitive

The infinitive is considered the dictionary form, or the root word of the verb. In English, the infinitive is expressed as "to read, to eat" etc., as in the sentence "I love to read." Infinitives are recognized in Polish by the ending -ć (and, rarely, -c). For example: "czytać" (to read), "pisać" (to write), "być" (to be), "móc" (to be able to).

Reflexive Verbs

Many verbs in Polish have a reflexive form, which is formed by adding the particle się to any form of the verb. The particle sie is an enclitic form of the reflexive personal pronoun sobie and therefore some grammars call it as reflexive personal pronoun. The closest English translation of this particle would be "myself/yourself/himself/" etc and in some usage "each other", see reciprocal-reflexive pronoun. The particle się does not change, can be added to all forms of the reflexive verbs, and can be placed before or after the verb form in the sentence. It can even be separated from the verb form by another word.

On sięmyje. On myje się. (He washes himself.)

Oni sięspotkali. Oni spotkali się. (They met each other.)

Cos sięstało. Cos stało się. (Something happened.)

Jak sięon czuje? Jak on sięczuje? Jak on czuje się? (How does he feel?)

Reflexive verbs are intransitive verbs, meaning that there can be no direct object of a reflexive verb. Often, the subject and object of the verb are the same, as in "I wash myself." Besides this primary meaning, reflexive verbs can describe actions directed "to each other," as in "znaćsię" (to know each other.) This group of verbs is called reciprocal-reflexive since the action or state described by the verb involves both the subject and the indirect object. The particle "sie" is obligatory in such structures.

Present Tense

The present tense exists only for imperfective verbs. Since perfective verbs refer to the decisive completion of an action, they can only have a past and a future meaning. Imperfective verbs, on the other hand, express the process of carrying out an action. One important difference between the use of the present tense of a verb in Polish and in English is how the action in a sentence like "I have been exercising" is expressed. This action started in the past and is continuing in the present. Grammar books refer to this type of action as the present progressive tense. In Polish, this idea is expressed by the imperfective present form of the verb.

Conjugation

A verb conjugation consists of the six forms of a verb in the present tense that correspond to 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, singular and plural (in English: I, you, he/she/it, we, you, they). Polish verbs fall into one of three conjugation patterns. These are described as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugations. There are many spelling rules which affect verb conjugation, and there are a very small number of irregular verbs which have unique conjugations.

The distinctive differences between the three conjugations are the endings of the 1st and 2nd person singular.

First Conjugation:

1st person singular ending in -ę

2nd person singular ending in-esz

Example:

Second conjugation:

1st person singular ending in -ę

2nd person singular ending in-isz or -ysz

Example:

Third conjugation

1st person singular ending in -am or -em

2nd person singular ending in -asz or -eś

Example:

Except for the distinction of 3 types of conjugation patterns Polish verbs are divided into 7 conjugation groups depending on the alteration of consonants and vocals in the root of the verb.

Past Tense

The past tense is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding the correct marker which shows if the subject of the verb is masculine, feminine or neuter. An easy marker for recognizing the past tense is the "ł" or "l" which appears in all the forms of the past tense. Most past tense forms are formed according to the same pattern, so there is no need to distinguish between conjugational types:

Future Tense

Future Tense: Perfective

The future tense perfective is formed by following the present tense conjugation rules, but using the perfective (not the imperfective) infinitive as the form from which to build.

Compare the present imperfective and the future perfective forms:

Imperfective: (Ja) czytam. (I am reading.)

Perfective: (Ja) przeczytam. (I will read.) with emphasis on the completion of the action

Future Tense: Imperfective

The future tense of an imperfective verb is formed with the conjugated future tense of the verb "to be" (byc) plus the imperfective infinitive. This form is mainly used in the spoken language:

Ja będępisać.

(I will write/be writing).

Another way to form the future tense of an imperfective verb is with the conjugated future of the verb "to be" (być) plus the gender and number marked part of the past tense verb: -l for masculine singular, -la for feminine singular, -lo for the neuter singular. -li for the masculine persons plural, -ly for the feminine, neuter, and masculine inanimate plural.

Conjugation of the Verb "to be"

Infinite: być

Present Tense

Future Tense

Past Tense

Conditional (Subjunctive) Mood

Imperative

The imperative is formed by dropping the ending from the 3nd person plural form of the present tense and adding the following imperative endings for the 1st and 2nd persons:

2nd person singular, add nothing

1st person plural, add the ending -my

2nd person plural, add the ending -cie

The 3rd person imperatives (let him, let her, let it) are formed by adding the particle niech in front of the regular conjugated 3rd person form for the informal singular and for the plural.

Niech on czyta. (Let him read.)

Niech ona czyta. (Let her read.)

Niech oni czytają, niech one czytają. (Let them read.)

In situations where the person addressed is either much older than the speaker or a person with whom the speaker is not well acquainted, a polite usage of the "pan" or "pani" form is required.

Niech pan siada.. (Sit down, sir.)

Niech pani siada. (Sit down, madam.)

Niech państwo siądą. (Sit down, ladies and gentlemen.)

Another polite form of imperative is the form with the word "prosze" (please): "prosze jesc!" (please eat!)

Conditional

The conditional (sometimes called the subjunctive) mood is used to express the idea of "one would if one could". It is most often used in the so called "if clauses". In colloquial English this mood is often forgotten and the grammatically correct "if I were (but I am not)" is often replaced by "if I was". In Polish the conditional form must be used.

The conditional (subjunctive) is formed by adding an infix -by- to the past tense form of the verb.

Note: Sometimes the infix -by- and the following conjugational past tense ending can be separated from the rest of the verb form and can stand in front of it. It can even be separated from the verb form by other words.

Voice

Active and passive voice

The relationship between the subject and the object of a predicate are expressed by the grammatical category called voice. In most languages, as well as in Polish, two voices are distinguished: active and passive. In a sentence: Brutus zabil Cezara. (Brutus killed Caesar.) the actor of the action expressed by the verb is at the same time the subject of the sentence. Such sentences are called active. On the other hand we can transform the above sentence and say: Cezar zostal zabity przez Brutusa. (Caesar was killed by Brutus) - this type of the sentence is called passive because the object of the verb became the subject of the sentence. Note that only transitive verbs can occur in passive voice.

Passive voice of perfective verbs is formed in Polish by conjugated and inflected forms of the verb zostac plus the passive participle form of a perfective verb, for instance: zostala wybrana (she was chosen). Passive voice of imperfective verbs is formed by conjugated forms of the copula byc (be) plus a passive participle form of an imperfective verb, as in:

jest czytana (she will be read)

Passive voice is less common in Polish than it is in English.

Gerunds

Gerunds are also called verbal adverbs or adverbial participles in Polish, although they really act like a subjectless verb form.

Imperfective gerunds are used when one subject is performing two actions at the same time: " While reading a book, I was listening to music." In Polish they are formed by adding -jąc or -iąc to the present tense stem of the verb. The gerunds themselves do not change form.

Ja czytam > czytając

Czytając książkę, słuchałam muzyki. (While reading a book, I was listening to music.)

Ja mówię> mówiąc

Mówiąc po polsku, robiędużo błędów. (While speaking Polish, I make many mistakes.)

Perfective gerunds are used when one subject performs two actions one after the other. In English this is often denoted by the grammatical structure "having done something". The perfective gerund is formed by adding the suffix -wszy to the past tense stem of the verb.

Note: This form is becoming less and less frequently used.

on powiedział> powiedziawszy

Powiedziawszy kilka słów, on wyszedłz pokoju.

(Having said a few words, he left the room.)

Participles

Participles are formed from verbs and decline like adjectives. In a sentence they have an adjectival use and are, usually, translated into English as a relative adjective. Therefore the participle has the following characteristics: aspect, tense, gender, number and case. There are both active and passive participles. Active participles describe the doer of an action, while the passive participles describe the object of an action. In Polish participles are mostly used in the formal, written language as in articles in newspapers and magazines, but some are also common in the spoken language. These more common participles are discussed below.

Active Participles

The Active Participle is formed by replacing the final letter of the 3rd person plural present form with the correct ending for the masculine, feminine, neuter or plural for the required case.

3rd person plural, present tense: oni czytaja (they read)

czytający (he, who is reading)

czytająca (she, who is reading)

czytające (it, which is reading)

czytający (they [masc. persons], who are reading)

czytające (they [fem., neut. or masc inan.] who are reading

Kobieta czytająca książkę, podniosła głowę.

(The lady who was reading a book lifted her head.)

Passive Participle

These participles are formed only from transitive (those which require an object) verbs. They describe an object of a given action in terms of the action performed on this object. In English they are often denoted by the "-ed" or "-en" ending, as in "the opened door," "lesson learned" or "the broken window."

In most cases, the Passive Participle is formed by adding either the infix -n- or the infix -t- to the past tense stem form with the correct adjectival ending for the masculine, feminine, neuter or plural for the required case.

narysowany obraz - the painted picture

napisana książka - the written book

zamknięty sklep - the closed shop

otwarte okno - the opened window

uczesane włosy - combed hair

Past Impersonal Particle

A frequently encountered verb form in Polish is the Past Impersonal Participle, a subjectless verb form that is formed by adding an -o to the stem of the passive participle.

For example:

zrobiono - done by somebody