The 20 Most Common Polish Verbs (And How To Use Them)

Are you motivated to learn Polish, but not sure where to start? With a language like Polish, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the grammar rules, the pronunciation and all the new words. To start building your Polish vocabulary, it’s a good idea to concentrate on the words that come up the most frequently. Then you’ll not only understand more, but you’ll reinforce what you’ve learned quickly because you’ll encounter these words again and again. So let’s get started with the 20 most common verbs in the Polish language. In this article, we’ll show you the meaning of each verb, its present tense conjugation chart, and give you a few useful examples of the verb in a sentence. We’ll sprinkle in some Polish grammar tips where extra context is needed. 

The 20 Most Common Polish Verbs

1. być — “to be”

ja jestem — I am	my jesteśmy — we are
ty jesteś — you (sg.) are	wy jesteście — you (pl.) are
on, ona, ono jest — he, she, it is	oni, one są — they are

Example: Jestem artystą/artystką. (“I’m an artist.”)

Two quick points about personal pronouns: They’re usually left out in Polish because the verb ending is typically enough. You’ll also notice that there are two forms of “they,” depending on the genders of the people in the group. Oni is used when there’s at least one man in the group, while one is used when there are only women, or when there aren’t any people (just things or animals).

2. mieć — “to have”

ja mam	my mamy
ty masz	wy macie
on, ona, ono ma	oni, one mają

Example: Mam dwie starsze siostry. (“I have two older sisters.”)

You also use mieć to say how old you are, as in the case: Mam 35 lat (“I am 35 years old”). You’re literally saying “I have 35 years.”

3. robić — “to do, to make”

ja robię	my robimy
ty robisz	wy robicie
on, ona, ono robi	oni, one robią

Example: Co robisz dzisiaj wieczorem? (“What are you doing tonight?”)

4. znać — “to know”

ja znam	my znamy
ty znasz	wy znacie
on, ona, ono zna	oni, one znają

Example: My się jeszcze nie znamy. (“We don’t know each other yet.”)

An important vocabulary note for English speakers: There are actually two different ways to say “to know” in Polish. Znać is more to know someone, or to be acquainted with something. Wiedzieć (found below) is more about something that you know in terms of fact, or something that you learned in school. The major exception is that you use znać to talk about knowing languages, like with Znasz polski? (“Do you know Polish?”)

5. móc — “can, may”

ja mogę	my możemy
ty możesz	wy możecie
on, ona, ono może	oni, one mogą

Example: Możesz mi pomóc? (“Can you help me?”)

Móc is used to ask about possibility or permission, making it more equitable with the antiquated “may” in English. If you’re talking about a skill that you’ve learned, you use umieć.

• Example: Mogę iść pływać? (“Can I go swimming?”)
• Example: Nie umiem pływać. (“I can’t swim.”)

6. mówić — “to say, to speak”

ja mówię	my mówimy
ty mówisz	wy mówicie
on, ona, ono mówi	oni, one mówią

Example: Jak to się mówi po polsku? (“How do you say that in Polish?”)

7. mieszkać — “to live”

ja mieszkam	my mieszkamy
ty mieszkasz	wy mieszkacie
on, ona, ono mieszka	oni, one mieszkają

Example: Jestem z Niemiec, ale teraz mieszkam w Polsce. (“I’m from Germany, but now I live in Poland.”)

And just a note to native English speakers, mieszkać only means “to live” in terms of location, rather than the state of being alive.

8. chcieć — “to want”

ja chcę	my chcemy
ty chcesz	wy chcecie
on, ona, ono chce	oni, one chcą

Example: Chcecie iść do kina? (“Do you want to go to the cinema?”)

9. dać — “to give”

ja dam	my damy
ty dasz	wy dacie
on, ona, ono da	oni, one dają

Example: Dasz mi twój numer telefonu? (“Will you give me your phone number?”)

10. lubić — “to like”

ja lubię	my lubimy
ty lubisz	wy lubicie
on, ona, ono lubi	oni, one lubią

Example: Lubicie pierogi? (“Do you like pierogi?”)

11. iść — “to go”

ja idę	my idziemy
ty idziesz	wy idziecie
on, ona, ono idzie	oni, one idą

Example: Dokąd idziemy? (“Where are we going?”)

12. przyjść — “to come”

ja przyjdę	my przyjdziemy
ty przyjdziesz	wy przyjdziecie
on, ona, ono przyjdzie	oni, one przyjdą

Example: Przyjdziesz do mnie na imprezę? (“Are you coming to mine for the party?”)

13. woleć — “to prefer”

ja wolę	my wolimy
ty wolisz	wy wolicie
on, ona, ono woli	oni, one wolą

Example: Wolę wino niż piwo. (“I prefer wine to beer.”)

14. wiedzieć — “to know”

ja wiem	my wiemy
ty wiesz	wy wiecie
on, ona, ono wie	oni, one wiedzą

Example: Wiesz, gdzie jest dworzec? (“Do you know where the train station is?”)

15. jeść — “to eat”

ja jem	my jemy
ty jesz	wy jecie
on, ona, ono je	oni, one jedzą

Example: Co jemy na obiad? (“What are we eating for lunch?”)

16. napić się — “to drink”

ja się napiję	my się napijemy
ty się napijesz	wy się napijecie
on, ona, ono się napije	oni, one się napiją

Example: Czego się napijesz? (“What do you want to drink?”)

When it comes to drinking, Polish has quite a few verb forms: The imperfective aspect is pić, but it doesn’t come up very often. There’s also wypić, which basically means “to drink up.” Napić się is the perfective aspect and is used when you’re offering something to drink or ordering a drink.

17. widzieć — “to see”

ja widzę	my widzimy
ty widzisz	wy widzicie
on, ona, ono widzi	oni, one widzą

Example: Widzisz tego przystojnego faceta? (“Do you see that good-looking guy?”)

18. musieć — “to have to, must”

ja muszę	my musimy
ty musisz	wy musicie
on, ona, ono musi	oni, one muszą

Example: Musimy się pośpieszyć! (“We have to hurry!”)

19. jechać — “to go” (by a vehicle)

ja jadę	my jedziemy
ty jedziesz	wy jedziecie
on, ona, ono jedzie	oni, one jadą

Example: Dokąd jedziemy na weekend? (“Where are we going this weekend?”)

20. szukać — “to look for”

ja szukam	my szukamy
ty szukasz	wy szukacie
on, ona, ono szuka	oni, one szukają

Example: Przepraszam, szukam apteki. (“Excuse me, I’m looking for a pharmacy.”)

Verb Aspects: Imperfective vs. Perfective Verbs

 Before we get into conjugations of different tenses, you should know that Polish verbs generally have two forms, or “aspects.” These aspects have a different meaning in terms of time. The imperfective aspect emphasizes that an action continues and isn’t completed yet, while the perfective aspect emphasizes that an action was or will be completed.

Let’s take the verb pair robić (“to do, to make” — imperfective) and zrobić (“to do, to make” — perfective), for instance. Lubię robić śniadanie (“I like to make breakfast”) — in this case, the duration of the action is emphasized. You enjoy the time it takes to make breakfast. With Możesz zrobić śniadanie? (“Can you make breakfast?”), the completion of the action is emphasized. You want the finished breakfast on the table, and the duration doesn’t matter. Some verbs only have one aspect — for example, być (“to be”) is only imperfective because “being” implies duration. 

Conjugating Polish Verbs in the Past Tense

The next step after practicing the most commonly used verbs in the present tense is to learn how to conjugate them in the past tense. The first step for past tense conjugations in Polish is to find the past stem. For most verbs, you can do that by removing the ć from the infinitive. For example, robić (to make/to do), becomes robi. Then, add an ending. Polish past tense verb endings always correspond to the person doing the action and their gender.

Singular Past Tense Endings

• ja (masculine) :-łem
• ja (feminine): -łam
• ty (masculine): -łeś
• ty (feminine): -łaś
• on (masculine): -ł
• ona (feminine): -ła
• ono (neuter): -ło

Plural Past Tense Endings

• my (at least one masculine presence): -liśmy 
• my (no masculine presence): -łyśmy
• wy (at least one masculine presence): -liście
• wy (no masculine presence): -łyście
• oni (at least one masculine presence): -li 
• one (no masculine presence): -ły

Conjugating Polish Verbs in the Future Tense

The next stop on your Polish language learning journey is talking about the future. There are two different forms of the Polish future tense, used depending on the context: simple future and compound future. We’ll explain how each one works on a basic level.

Polish Simple Future

Simple future uses perfective verbs to express complete actions. This conjugation results in a one-word future. The English equivalent would be “I will walk.” Future simple uses the same endings as the present tense, so you don’t have to learn any new ones.

Polish Compound Future

Compound future uses imperfective verbs to express actions in progress. This conjugation results in a two-word compound future. The English equivalent would be “I will be walking.” The first thing you need to conjugate in the compound future tense is the future form of być (to be). Then, you can add the main verb in one of two ways.

The simplest pattern is adding the infinitive of the main verb. This stays the same regardless of the gender of the subject. The slightly more complicated version is adding the l-participle to the verb stem of the main verb. That’s -ł for masculine subjects and -ła for feminine subjects.