Comprehensive guides, grammar explanations and other useful learning resources to help you navigate the many complexities of the Polish language.
Poles are known for their hospitality and kindness. If you spend some time near them, chances are you’ll find yourself in a situation where you’ll need to thank someone who has done something nice for you. And what better way to say “thank you” to a Pole than to do it in their own language? This …
Native speakers of English tend to see “how are you?” as an indispensable phrase that every language learner should learn. Preferably in their very first lesson. While this approach works great for many popular languages, it might not be so helpful when learning Polish. Let me explain. Polish does have a handful of phrases that can be …
“How Are You?” in Polish: 6 Friendly Polish Phrases and When to Use ThemRead More »
Though most Poles don’t give them much thought, Polish farewells—the short phrases we use to say “goodbye” when parting—are a surprisingly rich part of the language. Each exchange of these conventional pleasantries lets you express your mood, your emotional attitude towards the other person, as well as whether you’re expecting to see them again in …
Saying “Goodbye” in Polish: 7 Essential Polish FarewellsRead More »
Depending on how you look at it, Polish greetings might seem very simple or terribly complicated. The good news is that learning just a handful of greetings will let you get by in 99% of situations. The tricky part is picking the right greeting for the given situation, as you will often need to take into …
“Hello” in Polish: 7 Polish Greetings to Sound like a Native SpeakerRead More »
Polish imperative verbs are special verb forms whose purpose is issuing commands, giving advice, making requests and many others. In English, you would usually use the infinitive verb form, as in “Clean your room.” Alternatively, the verb “to let” is used to make imperative-like suggestions, usually as “let’s”: “Let’s go for a walk.” In Polish, you have to …
Many learners find Polish verbs of motion to be one of the most confusing aspects of the language. And no wonder: to use them correctly, you need to pay attention to a bunch of distinctions that do not even exist in English. Let’s try to make them less scary by analyzing some of their defining …
Polish Verbs of Motion “iść”, “jechać”, and Other Related VerbsRead More »
Który and jaki as interrogative pronouns The Polish pronouns który and jaki – mostly translated as which or what – have several uses. Probably the most straightforward one is asking questions. Below are two example sentences with który and jaki as interrogative pronouns: Który samochód podoba ci się bardziej, mój czy Toma? (“Which car do you like more, mine or Tom’s?”) …
Polish Relative Pronouns “który“ and “jaki” Made (Relatively) EasyRead More »
The Polish negative indefinite pronouns nikt and nic are roughly equivalent to the English negative pronouns nobody (or no one) and nothing. As the name would suggest, the pronouns are used to negate things or declare their non-existence. Here are some sentences with nikt and nic in context: Nikt nie jest doskonały. (“Nobody is perfect.”) …
The Polish Negative Pronouns “nikt” and “nic”: A Short GuideRead More »
The Polish interrogative pronouns kto and co correspond to the English question words who and what, so their main purpose is asking questions about personal (human) and impersonal agents. Kto wygrał konkurs? (“Who won the contest?”) Co jeszcze widziałeś? (“What else did you see?”) On a basic level, Polish interrogative pronouns are very much like …
The Polish Interrogative Pronouns “kto” and “co” and Related PronounsRead More »
The way reflexive pronouns work in Polish might not seem too intuitive to an English speaker. After all, English reflexive pronouns – words like oneself, himself, yourselves etc. – are only used in very specific contexts. On a basic level, reflexive pronouns are used to signal that the object of a clause is the same …
The Beginner’s Guide to Polish Reflexive Pronouns and VerbsRead More »
