Verbs in Polish

110 words on the topic

• chcę

  I want

  the opening chc is no typo — it is pronounced: "khtsen"
• lubię

  I like

  For fondness and tastes: Lubię kawę. Strong feeling is kochać — Kocham cię is not said about coffee.
• iść

  to go (on foot)

  said "eeshtch"
• jeść

  to eat

  said "yeshch"
• pić

  to drink

  The present shifts its stem: piję, pijesz, pije. The drink itself is napój — a different root.
• czytać

  to read

  The spelling misleads: czy starts with a "ch" sound, not the vowel it suggests. Czytam książki — "I read books" — is the best evening habit a language can ask of you.
• mówić

  to speak

  Said "MOO-veech": the w is a v. A language is spoken adverbially, not by name: Mówię po polsku, never "mówię polski".
• pracować

  to work

  From praca. The same word answers "what do you do?": Pracuję w banku covers both the position and the business.
• mieszkać

  to live (reside)

  To live somewhere: Mieszkam w Krakowie — "I live in Kraków". The flat shares the root: mieszkanie is literally "the residing place".
• mieć

  to have

  said "myench"
• mam

  I have

  Literally "I hold". The negation is nie mam, and the thing you lack moves into its of-form: Nie mam czasu — "I have no time".
• uczyć się

  to learn, to study

  The particle się is obligatory: Uczę się — "I am learning". Teaching someone else is uczyć without się — the same split as "learn" and "teach".
• muszę

  I must

  An infinitive follows: Muszę pracować — "I have to work". The negation nie muszę means "I don't have to" — not the same as nie mogę, "I can't".
• wybierać

  to choose

  The prefix wy- is "out of", so the verb says exactly what "pick out" says. Present tense: wybieram, wybierasz, wybiera.
• studiować

  to study (at university)

  Studying at a university. Learning something concrete is the familiar uczyć się: Uczę się polskiego. Studiować is about university and serious pursuits in general: studiować mapę — "to study a map".
• zapamiętać

  to memorize, to remember

  The chief trap of the course lives here: zapamiętać is to REMEMBER, while zapomnieć is to forget. One letter apart — and it is the foreigner, not the Pole, who mixes them.
• widzieć

  to see

  Present tense: widzę, widzisz, widzi. And widzisz? at the end of a phrase means "see?" — that is, "you follow, don't you?" — a very Polish question.
• słyszeć

  to hear

  Hearing is słyszeć; listening on purpose is słuchać. The telephone is answered with the second: Słucham — "I am listening", that is, "hello". The ś and the sz are different sounds, and the spelling keeps them apart.
• spać

  to sleep

  The present is śpię, śpisz, śpi, with a soft ś. The wish Dobranoc, śpij dobrze from the first lessons grows from here: śpij is "sleep!".
• nieść

  to carry (by hand)

  The present is niosę, niesiesz; the past is irregular: niósł, niosła. Carrying by vehicle is wieźć — and Polish keeps the two apart the way English keeps "carry" and "transport": hands versus wheels.
• stawiać

  to stand (something up)

  Setting up again and again is stawiać, setting up once is postawić. Laying flat is kłaść, and a Pole does not mix them: stawia is upright, kładzie is flat.
• łamać

  to break (in two)

  About limbs it goes with a prefix and a self: złamałem sobie nogę — "I broke my leg", literally "to myself". Machinery does not break with this verb — there the familiar zepsuty and nie działa hold sway.
• budować

  to build

  From budowa, "construction" — a Slavic root even if it hides. The neighbors with the drill are budują — and that explanation beats a complaint.
• grzać

  to heat, to warm

  The present is grzeję, grzejesz, grzeje, with rz heard as zh. The familiar gorąco, "hot", comes from the same warm nest. The radiator is grzejnik — and it hangs in every Polish bathroom.
• kąpać się

  to bathe, to swim (for pleasure)

  A nasal ą in the middle: said almost "koom-pach". Kąpać się is being in the water for pleasure — and in the bathtub it is the same verb.
• pływać

  to swim

  The ł in the middle is a w: "pwih-vach". Not to be confused with kąpać się: kąpać się is getting wet with pleasure, pływać is moving through the water.
• opalać się

  to sunbathe

  The root is palić, "to burn" — the same verb as smoking: opalać się is warming oneself in the sun. The tan is opalenizna, and autumn regrets it.
• łowić ryby

  to fish, to catch fish

  The ł here is a w: "wveech". Łowić is to catch in general — fish, a glance, a moment; the fish is simply its commonest object.
• podlewać

  to water (plants)

  Literally "to pour under", and that is exactly it: podlewanie is the watering. Kwiaty podlewa się wieczorem — flowers are watered in the evening, not in the sun.
• założyć

  to put on

  Perfective: założyć is putting on once, with a result; the process is zakładać. At the bank założyć konto is "to open an account" — the same putting-on, of an account.
• przymierzyć

  to try on

  From miara, "measure": to measure onto oneself — and English says exactly the same with the same prefix. In the shop they ask: Przymierzyć? — nod.
• śmiać się

  to laugh

  A soft ś at the start, and the root is śmiech, laughter: "shmeech". Poles believe śmiech to zdrowie — laughter extends life.
• płakać

  to cry

  The ł is a w: "PWAH-chach". The crying is płacz — heard from children more often than the sadness-word you just learned.
• bać się

  to be afraid

  The present is irregular: boję się, boisz się — the root shifts from bać. What you fear goes into the of-form: Boję się psów — "I am afraid of dogs".
• dziwić się

  to be surprised

  From cud, "a miracle": to be surprised is to be "miracled at" — the root announces itself. Surprise takes the dative: dziwię się tobie — "at you".
• mieć nadzieję

  to hope

  Literally "to have hope": nadzieja is "hope", feminine. Mam nadzieję, że... — "I hope that..." — politer than a confident "I know".
• kłócić się

  to argue, to quarrel

  One argues "about what" — o czym: kłócą się o pieniądze — about money, the commonest cause. Without się the verb does not live.
• obiecywać

  to promise

  Imperfective obiecywać — promising in general; perfective obiecać — promising once and keeping it. The promise is obietnica, and breaking it is expensive.
• pokłócić się

  to fall out, to have a fight

  The perfective of the familiar kłócić się: to fall out once, with a result. People are friends for years and kłócą się over trifles.
• przytulić

  to hug

  A diminutive of tulić, "to press close": to snug-hold, the way you hold a child to your shoulder. The bookish embrace-word exists, but tulić is alive.
• gotować

  to cook

  From German, and it covers both "to cook" and "to boil" — no separate verb exists. Kto gotuje? — the question heard in every house.
• myć

  to wash

  Short as a gesture: myć. Hands are myć ręce, dishes are zmywać, laundry is prać — three verbs where English spends one.
• ugotować

  to cook (until done)

  The perfective of gotować: cooked to the end, once and settled. The boiling is done with the same root — only the aspect differs.
• smażyć

  to fry

  Frying in oil, and the house smells of it. Fried cheese — smażony ser — is street food, and the queue for it is honest.
• piec

  to bake

  One word for the verb and the stove: piec bakes and is the oven. On Sundays, cake is baked at home — the smell of childhood.
• kroić

  to cut, to slice

  A short word for a short motion. The slice of bread is kromka chleba — and it is cut in the kitchen, not in the shop.
• próbować

  to try, to taste

  Both tasting and attempting: spróbuj jeszcze raz — try again. The perfective spróbować doubles as the polite request.
• zamówić

  to order

  The present is zamawiam, while zamówić is once and for good. One orders a table, food and a taxi — all the same verb.
• dzwonić

  to call (phone or door)

  One verb rings both the doorbell and the phone: dzwoni telefon, dzwonią do drzwi. Calling someone takes do plus the of-form: dzwonię do mamy — I call mum.
• pobrać

  to download

  Literally "to take onto oneself": po plus brać, the familiar brać. The water-word "download" lies here — the file does not flow down.
• wysłać

  to send

  From the old sending-root — the same one several languages keep. The present shifts the stem: wyślę, wyślesz.
• dostać

  to receive, to get

  The living verb instead of the bookish receive-word: letters, presents and salaries are all "gotten". The fetch-word of English is a trap here.
• odpowiedzieć

  to reply

  What you answer takes na plus the object form: odpowiedzieć na wiadomość, na pytanie — literally "answer onto". The person you answer needs no preposition at all.
• włączyć

  to turn on

  The logic matches the English "switch in": the w is a prefix. Light, TV and phone are turned on with one verb.
• wyłączyć

  to turn off

  The partner of włączyć, the prefix now facing the other way. It matches the English off-word in both sense and shape.
• naprawić

  to fix, to repair

  From naprawa, the repair you know: to fix is to make a repair. The mend-word of English fits the sense but not the aspect.
• wymienić

  to replace, to swap

  The same root as the currency exchange: to replace is to swap. A battery, a wheel and an opinion are swapped with one verb.
• wygrać

  to win

  The prefix wy- is the "out" of coming out ahead. One wins the match, the contest and the lottery — one verb.
• przegrać

  to lose (a game)

  The partner of wygrać: the prefix here means "past" — the score went past you. The same adjective describes a person with no strength left.
• biegać

  to run (habitually)

  Habit or ability: "I run in the mornings". One path, right now, takes another shape — the same pair as walking, which you know.
• skakać

  to jump

  Kin to the hop-words of the region, and the sense is the same. One jump is a different shape — and the command comes out as a familiar "jump!".
• siedzieć

  to sit

  The present shifts the root — compare with the sitting-down verb. The ear-trap: this word is about the one who is already seated.
• stać

  to stand

  The same verb in conversation means "to cost": the question is literally "how long does this stand?". You stand, the price stands — the sentence decides.
• leżeć

  to lie (be lying)

  Kin to the lie-down words of the region to the last letter. The non-living lies too: money lies on the account.
• podnosić

  to lift, to pick up

  From pod plus the carrying-root: literally "under-carry". The gift-presenting sense that the English cousin suggests is false — boxes are lifted with this one word.
• rzucać

  to throw, to toss

  Quitting smoking and quitting a job take the same verb. The abandon-a-person sense is elsewhere — but the ball is thrown exactly here.
• łapać

  to catch

  One catches the ball, fish and bus — catching the bus is making it in time. The perfective also catches a cold.
• spadać

  to fall (from above)

  Falling from above — leaves, snow, a phone. A person falls with a different verb — and mixing them up is funny.
• śpiewać

  to sing

  It starts with a soft sh — and the word half-guesses itself. The singer is the "song-man", literally.
• tańczyć

  to dance

  A soft cluster at the end, a nasal in the middle of the family: the dance is taniec. No Polish wedding happens without it.
• grać

  to play

  Playing a sport takes no preposition. Playing an instrument switches to "play on" — and the prepositions are easy to swap by mistake.
• rysować

  to draw

  From the drawing-word — the same one as in a technical drawing. Painting with colors is another verb — that is already painting, not line-work.
• fotografować

  to take photos

  From the photography-Latinism, which recognizes itself. In speech, shorter: sending "fotki" — already colloquial.
• spacerować

  to go for a walk

  From the stroll-word, and the sense is peaceful: walking with no aim. There is no rowdy partying in this word — a quiet evening and a park.
• odpoczywać

  to rest

  A relative of the old "to recline", without the bookishness: lying down after work is exactly this. Active rest is its sister verb.
• ożenić się

  to get married (of a man)

  A man "wifes himself", a woman "goes out for a husband" — Polish here is more conservative than English. The word grew out of the wife-word.
• zaprosić

  to invite

  Inside sits the same ask as in proszę: to invite is to "ask over". One invites to the wedding, to dinner, to coffee.
• modlić się

  to pray

  Always with się, like its cousins. One prays "for someone" — and that preposition is kin to the English for.
• pościć się

  to fast

  From post, the fast: to keep the fast. The Lent has a capital letter here — and its collision with the internet post amuses Poles.
• życzyć

  to wish

  To wish and to congratulate in one word: the all-the-best phrase is exactly this verb. To the birthday person a Pole wishes — he does not congratulate.
• zamiatać

  to sweep

  The same root as the broom-word: the connection is audible with no dictionary. A trap nearby: the publish-word looks alike and means something else.
• prać

  to wash (laundry)

  Only about laundry. The washing machine is named after it — and the familiar laundry-noun is of the same root.
• prasować

  to iron

  A trap: stroking a cat is one verb, and ironing is another. Where one language lets "stroke" do both jobs, Polish divides the work honestly.
• pomagać

  to help

  One helps someone in the dative with no preposition. There is no "help to me" turn — the short "to you" says it by itself.
• prosić

  to ask (for), to request

  The source of proszę, the word you use from day one. To ask for something is o plus the object form: prosić o pomoc.
• pozwolić

  to allow, to permit

  From the free-word: to permit is to "give free rein". Permission as a piece of paper is the permit-noun from the documents — and without it, parking downtown is dear.
• zabraniać

  to forbid, to ban

  The partner of allowing: one forbids to whom and what. On the signs stands the ban-noun — it lives on every second door.
• ściągać

  to cheat, to copy (in a test)

  Literally "to pull off": cheating is "pulling" the answer off a neighbor. The cheat sheet is the same word as a noun. With no context the verb also means "to tug".
• poprawić

  to correct, to fix

  The same word corrects a grade and fixes what is broken — alongside the familiar repairing verb; a Pole barely tells them apart, context decides. Correct the mistake is said with exactly this.
• oszczędzać

  to save (money), to economize

  Saving up and economizing in one verb: saving for a bike and saving electricity alike. What the saving is for takes na.
• wydawać

  to spend

  Literally "to give out": money is "given out" outward. The same verb publishes books and issues documents — a passport is issued too; context sorts it all.
• odkładać

  to put aside, to save up

  Literally "to lay aside": money is laid aside like a book on a shelf. For what — for a rainy day is said with a color word. The verb never asks where exactly.
• ubezpieczyć

  to insure

  From the familiar safety-word: to insure is to "make safe". The reflexive form insures oneself. The car is insured, the flat is insured — the verb takes both.
• kichać

  to sneeze

  Onomatopoeia, as everywhere — only the sound is a different one. To a sneezer a Pole says na zdrowie — "to health" — the same phrase as the toast.
• zachorować

  to fall ill

  The finished version of chorować: za- marks the onset of an illness. Poles do not "catch" the flu — they fall ill "onto" it: na plus the object form, zachorować na grypę.
• wyzdrowieć

  to recover, to get well

  From the familiar healthy, with the out-prefix: to "health out". The process of mending is its own verb, and health itself is the familiar word. The wish for it is the one from the New Year.
• umówić się

  to arrange, to make an appointment

  Reflexive, from the contract-word: to arrange is to "make oneself an understanding". Arranging about what takes na: "we agreed on Friday". The doctor waits to be arranged with.
• odejść z pracy

  to quit (one's job)

  Literally "to step away from work": leaving is the worker's own decision — and that matters. One steps away oneself; being dismissed is done to you. The difference between the two verbs is the whole story.
• zwolnić

  to dismiss, to fire

  The same verb as "to release" — one is released from a post. Dismissing someone and easing the pace share the word: context decides who goes.
• przeprowadzać się

  to move house

  Reflexive, like everything you do to yourself: "I am moving". Where to — to Kraków or abroad, and you have heard both phrases. The imperfection of the verb is honest: one moves and moves.
• zapakować

  to pack up (finish packing)

  From the familiar packing verb, the prefix za- adds the result: the box shut — done. The same verb wraps a present and seals a letter.
• rozpakować

  to unpack

  The prefix roz- takes apart what za- assembled: the same pair as elsewhere. Unpacking the suitcase is said with it — and the suitcase you know from the airport.
• zadomowić się

  to settle in

  From the house-word: to settle in is to "domesticate oneself", become at home in the new place. The action turns back on itself — and it sounds warmer than "to arrange".
• być

  to be

  You have seen this verb's forms in every phrase — jestem, jesteś, jest; now być itself has a card. With a predicate noun the instrumental is obligatory: Jestem studentem, not "jestem student".
• patrzeć

  to look (at)

  Widzieć is "to see" — it happens by itself; patrzeć is looking on purpose, and after it comes na with the object form: patrzeć na zdjęcie. One glance is popatrzeć.
• latać

  to fly (habitually)

  Lecieć is one flight, happening now; latać is flying as such, back and forth. You have met samolot — about its route the verb is lata, not leci.
• używać

  to use

  "To use", but what you use takes the of-form: używam telefonu, not telefon as English habit suggests. A single act is done with the perfective użyć.
• umieć

  to know how to, to be able (skill)

  Where one word muddles "can" and "know how", Polish keeps two: the familiar móc — circumstances allow — and umieć — the hands know how. An infinitive follows: umiem pływać.
• spotykać

  to meet

  Spotkać is to meet once, spotykać is to meet again and again; for a Pole the chance encounter and the arranged one share a word. To date someone is spotykać się z plus the instrumental.
• dotykać

  to touch

  The warning Nie dotykaj! hangs in every museum. What you touch takes the of-form: dotykać klucza, not klucz as English habit suggests. One touch is dotknąć.

How it sounds in a sentence

A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.

• Chcę jedną kawę

  I want one coffee
• Lubię kawę

  I like coffee
• Idę do domu

  I am walking home
• Rano jem chleb z serem

  In the morning I eat bread with cheese
• Wieczorem piję herbatę

  In the evening I drink tea
• Lubię czytać przed snem

  I like to read before sleep

What is worth knowing about these words

chcę — I want. Chcę is about wanting, muszę about obligation. After chcę comes an infinitive: Chcę zapłacić — "I want to pay".

lubię — I like. For fondness and tastes: Lubię kawę. Strong feeling is kochać — Kocham cię is not said about coffee.

iść — to go (on foot). Walking. Riding is jechać, a different verb: Idę do domu, but Jadę do Warszawy. The present tense grows from another root: idę, idziesz, idzie.

jeść — to eat. The present tense grows from another root: jem, jesz, je — irregular the way "eat" is. And yes: jest — "there is" — belongs to być, not to jeść.

Test yourself

Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

I want, I can, I am going, I know. The verb holds a sentence together: a few of the most frequent ones cover more everyday talk than a long list of nouns.

A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.

• Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many times
  Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
• Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many times
  Mawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.

Next

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