Pisać → napisać, podpisać, przepisać: the prefix makes aspect and meaning
One stem yields half a dozen verbs, and only the prefix tells them apart. pisać — to write; napisać — to write down, podpisać — to sign, przepisać — to rewrite, wypisać — to write out, wpisać — to enter. For example: “Podpisałem umowę i przepisałem notatkę” — I signed the contract and rewrote the note. A rule from the Polish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
One stem yields half a dozen verbs, and only the prefix tells them apart. pisać — to write; napisać — to write down, podpisać — to sign, przepisać — to rewrite, wypisać — to write out, wpisać — to enter.
The prefix almost always makes the verb perfective: pisać — process, napisać — result. Once you know the stem, the new verbs are recognised on the fly.
From this lesson: kleić — to glue; przykleić — to stick on, odkleić się — to come off, zakleić — to tape over, skleić — to glue together. And kręcić — to turn; wkręcić — to screw in, odkręcić — to unscrew. The prefix od- always reverses the action.
One trap: in the past tense the prefix does not run to the end of the phrase — it lives inside the word. napisałem, not pisałem na: wrote down and wrote on are different verbs, not one verb in two places.
Table
| Prefix | Meaning | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| na- | a result | napisać | to write down |
| pod- | under-, sub- | podpisać | to sign |
| prze- | re-, through | przepisać | to rewrite |
| wy- | out- | wypisać | to write out |
| przy- | approaching | przykleić | to stick on |
| od- | a reverse action | odkleić się | to come off |
| za- | a closing | zakleić | to tape over |
| w- | inward | wkręcić | to screw in |
By example
- Podpisałem umowę i przepisałem notatkęI signed the contract and rewrote the note
- Przykleiłem plakat, a on się odkleiłI stuck up the poster and it came off
- Wkręć wkręt, potem odkręć śrubęScrew in the screw, then unscrew the bolt
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
Pisać → napisać, podpisać, przepisać: how does it work in Polish?
One stem yields half a dozen verbs, and only the prefix tells them apart. pisać — to write; napisać — to write down, podpisać — to sign, przepisać — to rewrite, wypisać — to write out, wpisać — to enter.
What does it look like in a Polish example sentence?
“Podpisałem umowę i przepisałem notatkę” — I signed the contract and rewrote the note. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.