Must, can, not allowed: musisz, możesz, trzeba, wolno
Four words cover almost all modality, and mixing them up is expensive. Musieć is obligation: Muszę gotować — I must cook. Móc is ability and permission: Nie mogę jeść ostrego — I cannot eat spicy food. Trzeba is general necessity, with no person named: Trzeba próbować — one must try. Wolno is permission from the rules: Nie wolno palić — smoking is forbidden. For example: “Muszę gotować kolację” — I must cook dinner.…
How it works
Four words cover almost all modality, and mixing them up is expensive. Musieć is obligation: Muszę gotować — I must cook. Móc is ability and permission: Nie mogę jeść ostrego — I cannot eat spicy food. Trzeba is general necessity, with no person named: Trzeba próbować — one must try. Wolno is permission from the rules: Nie wolno palić — smoking is forbidden.
Negation splits them the hardest. Nie musisz — you need not do it, there is no obligation. Nie możesz — you cannot: it will not work or it is not allowed. Nie wolno — a prohibition for real, a sign on the door. Mixing them up means saying you don't have to where you mean you are not allowed.
After all four the verb stands in the infinitive, which makes life easier: nothing to conjugate. The person concerned is added as a separate word: Trzeba mi iść — I have to go.
Table
| Meaning | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| obligation | musisz gotować | nie musisz gotować (you need not) |
| can, allowed | możesz jeść | nie możesz jeść (not allowed) |
| permitted by rules | wolno palić | nie wolno palić |
| necessary in general | trzeba próbować | nie trzeba próbować (not necessary) |
By example
- Muszę gotować kolacjęI must cook dinner
- Nie wolno palićSmoking is forbidden
- Trzeba próbowaćOne must try
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Nie musisz vs nie możesz?
Negation splits them the hardest. Nie musisz — you need not do it, there is no obligation. Nie możesz — you cannot: it will not work or it is not allowed. Nie wolno — a prohibition for real, a sign on the door. Mixing them up means saying you don't have to where you mean you are not allowed.
How to say no smoking in Polish?
Four words cover almost all modality, and mixing them up is expensive. Musieć is obligation: Muszę gotować — I must cook. Móc is ability and permission: Nie mogę jeść ostrego — I cannot eat spicy food. Trzeba is general necessity, with no person named: Trzeba próbować — one must try. Wolno is…
When trzeba and when musisz?
Four words cover almost all modality, and mixing them up is expensive. Musieć is obligation: Muszę gotować — I must cook. Móc is ability and permission: Nie mogę jeść ostrego — I cannot eat spicy food. Trzeba is general necessity, with no person named: Trzeba próbować — one must try. Wolno is…
What does it look like in a Polish example sentence?
“Muszę gotować kolację” — I must cook dinner. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.