Present Tense Verbs
Present Tense Verbs
Regular Polish verbs fall into a handful of conjugation patterns by their infinitive ending, and — unlike English — the ending alone tells you who's doing the action.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Endings Mark the Person, Not a Separate Pronoun
mówię, mówisz, mówi, mówimy, mówicie, mówią
I speak, you speak, he/she speaks, we speak, you all speak, they speak
Each of the six persons has its own distinct ending on the verb stem — mów- here — so ja mówię (I speak) already carries 'I' in the -ę ending, which is exactly why the earlier pronouns lesson noted that ja/ty/on are usually dropped. Different verbs follow slightly different conjugation patterns depending on their infinitive ending, grouped into families the way you'll see below.
Not Every Verb Follows the Same Pattern
czytam, czyta / robię, robi
I read, he/she reads / I do, he/she does
czytać (to read) conjugates with a different set of endings than mówić (to speak) — czytam, czytasz, czyta rather than mówię, mówisz, mówi. There's no way to avoid this: you'll learn each new verb's pattern by encountering it, then start recognizing the shared families over time.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- I speak
- English
- you speak
- English
- he/she speaks
- English
- we speak
- English
- you all speak
- English
- they speak
- English
- I read
- English
- he/she reads
- English
- I do / I make
- English
- he/she does
- English
- I write
- English
- he/she writes