KnowledgeHive

Are you motivated to pick up some Polish, but not sure where to start? With a language like Polish, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the grammar rules, the pronunciation and all the new words. To start, it’s a good idea to concentrate on the words that come up the most frequently. Then you’ll not only understand more, but you’ll reinforce what you’ve learned quickly because you’ll encounter these words again and again. So let’s get started with the 20 most common Polish verbs.

In this article, we’ll show you the meaning of each verb, how it’s conjugated in the present tense and give you a few practical examples of the verb in action. Before we start, you should know that Polish verbs generally have two forms, or “aspects.” These aspects have a different meaning in terms of time. The imperfective aspect emphasizes that an action continues and isn’t completed yet, while the perfective aspect emphasizes that an action was or will be completed.

Let’s take the verb pair robić (“to do, to make” — imperfective) and zrobić (“to do, to make” — perfective), for instance. Lubię robić śniadanie (“I like to make breakfast”) — in this case, the duration of the action is emphasized. You enjoy the time it takes to make breakfast. With Możesz zrobić śniadanie? (“Can you make breakfast?”), the completion of the action is emphasized. You want the finished breakfast on the table, and the duration doesn’t matter. Some verbs only have one aspect — for example, być (“to be”) is only imperfective because “being” implies duration. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll only show the aspect that’s more important for everyday use.

The 20 Most Common Polish Verbs

1. być — “to be”

Example: Jestem artystą/artystką. (“I’m an artist.”)

Two quick points about personal pronouns: They’re usually left out in Polish, because the verb ending is typically enough. You’ll also notice that there are two forms of “they.” Oni is used when there’s at least one man in the group, while one is used when there are only women, or when there aren’t any people (just things or animals).

2. mieć — “to have”

Example: Mam dwie starsze siostry. (“I have two older sisters.”)

You also use mieć to say how old you are, as in the case: Mam 35 lat (“I am 35 years old”). You’re literally saying “I have 35 years.”

3. robić — “to do, to make”

Example: Co robisz dzisiaj wieczorem? (“What are you doing tonight?”)

4. znać — “to know”

Example: My się jeszcze nie znamy. (“We don’t know each other yet.”)

An important note for English speakers: There are actually two different ways to say “to know” in Polish. Znać is more to know someone, or to be acquainted with something. Wiedzieć (found below) is more about something that you know in terms of fact, or something that you learned in school. The major exception is that you use znać to talk about knowing languages, like with Znasz polski? (“Do you know Polish?”)

5. móc — “can, may”

Example: Możesz mi pomóc? (“Can you help me?”)

Móc is used to ask about possibility or permission, making it more equitable with the antiquated “may” in English. If you’re talking about a skill that you’ve learned, you use umieć.

• Example: Mogę iść pływać? (“Can I go swimming?”)
• Example: Nie umiem pływać. (“I can’t swim.”)

6. mówić — “to say, to speak”

Example: Jak to się mówi po polsku? (“How do you say that in Polish?”)

7. mieszkać — “to live”

Example: Jestem z Niemiec, ale teraz mieszkam w Polsce. (“I’m from Germany, but now I live in Poland.”) 

And just a note to native English speakers, mieszkać only means “to live” in terms of location, rather than the state of being alive.

8. chcieć — “to want”

Example: Chcecie iść do kina? (“Do you want to go to the cinema?”)

9. dać — “to give”

Example: Dasz mi twój numer telefonu? (“Will you give me your phone number?”)

10. lubić — “to like”

Example: Lubicie pierogi? (“Do you like pierogi?”)

11. iść — “to go”

Example: Dokąd idziemy? (“Where are we going?”)

12. przyjść — “to come”

Example: Przyjdziesz do mnie na imprezę? (“Are you coming to mine for the party?”)

13. woleć — “to prefer”

Example: Wolę wino niż piwo. (“I prefer wine to beer.”)

14. wiedzieć — “to know”

Example: Wiesz, gdzie jest dworzec? (“Do you know where the train station is?”)

15. jeść — “to eat”

Example: Co jemy na obiad? (“What are we eating for lunch?”)

16. napić się — “to drink”

Example: Czego się napijesz? (“What do you want to drink?”)

When it comes to drinking, Polish has quite a few verb forms: The imperfective aspect is pić, but it doesn’t come up very often. There’s also wypić, which basically means “to drink up.” Napić się is the perfective aspect and is used when you’re offering something to drink or ordering a drink.

17. widzieć — “to see”

Example: Widzisz tego przystojnego faceta? (“Do you see that good-looking guy?”)

18. musieć — “to have to, must”

Example: Musimy się pośpieszyć! (“We have to hurry!”)

19. jechać — “to go” (by a vehicle)

Example: Dokąd jedziemy na weekend? (“Where are we going this weekend?”)

20. szukać — “to look for”

Example: Przepraszam, szukam apteki. (“Excuse me, I’m looking for a pharmacy.”)