Mastering the Polish language starts with getting the verbs right! According to linguists, there’s a limited set of words we use constantly in every language, and mastering these key verbs is the fastest way to boost your Polish. 

In this post, we’ll cover 25 must-know Polish verbs and show you how to conjugate them in the present tense. Whether you’re just starting your Polish course or refreshing what you already know, these verbs will have you speaking confidently in no time. 

Here’s a list where you’ll find the English and Polish infinitives (or basic forms) and their conjugated forms for the 1st person (ja) and the 2nd person (ty). Based on these forms, you can work out all possible forms of these verbs. 

 

to be: być – jestem, jesteś    (note the untypical ś ending)

to have: mieć – mam, masz

to do/make: robić – robię, robisz

to be walking/going near: iść – idę, idziesz (1 time, in progress)

to walk/go near: chodzić – chodzę, chodzisz (many times)

to help: pomagać – pomagam, pomagasz

to read: czytać – czytam, czytasz

to write: pisać – piszę, piszesz

to cook: gotować – gotuję, gotujesz

to eat: jeść – jem, jesz    (note the irregular form: oni jedzą)

to know: wiedzieć – wiem, wiesz    (note the irregular form: oni wiedzą)

to understand: rozumieć – rozumiem, rozumiesz

to think: myśleć – myślę, myślisz

to be able to: móc – mogę, możesz

to have to: musieć – muszę, musisz

to need: potrzebować – potrzebuję, potrzebujesz

to want: chcieć – chcę, chcesz

to take: brać – biorę, bierzesz

to work: pracować – pracuję, pracujesz

to buy: kupować – kupuję, kupujesz

to pay: płacić – płacę, płacisz

to like: lubić – lubię, lubisz

to love: kochać – kocham, kochasz

to open: otwierać – otwieram, otwierasz

to close: zamykać – zamykam, zamykasz

 

In the present tense, there are two types of verbs: -m, -ę, plus the latter with a sub-type -ować.* Check out the full conjugation examples for the verbs kochać, iść, and kupować.

 

*Polish linguists classify verbs in many different ways. Once, I’ve seen even 11 verb types – but this is unnecessary for students learning Polish as a foreign language. Don’t let study books overcomplicate it for you.

Based on the examples above, we can see that the root of the verb (the part that stays the same) is stable**, and the personal endings are quite similar in all the examples. The main difference between verb groups appears in the 1st person (ja) – ending with either –m or –ę – and in the 3rd person plural (oni/one) – either –ją or just –ą. If the ja form takes –m, the oni form ends in –ją” If the ja form takes –ę, the oni form ends in –ą”

Verbs ending in -ować form a special – and very simple – group. All verbs with this ending change to -uję, -ujesz, -uje and so on.

 

Student tips When learning a new verb, it’s worth learning all the three forms at once (e.g. to think – myśleć: myślę, myślisz). Knowing these three gives you the power to form all personal forms of the verb in the past, present and future tenses. Note that since Polish has different verb forms for all persons, we usually skip words like ja, ty or my in the sentence: Robię ciasto. – I’m making a cake. Idziemy do sklepu. – We’re going to the store.

** Some verbs have two present tense roots (e.g. iść: idę, idziesz). These always follow the same pattern: ja and oni share one root, all the other forms share the other.

If you want to practice the 25 most important Polish verbs, click the link below to find the best self-study worksheet with many practical exercises for free!