🎓 Lesson 5

Everyday Verbs

These are infinitives — the "to ___" form. You've already seen how to conjugate verbs like this; here's a longer list of common ones to build your vocabulary.

🖼️ Picture Cards — Tap to Hear, Look to Remember

A picture tied to the sound and word helps it stick. Tap any card to hear the verb spoken aloud.

❤️ kochać

KOH-khach

to love

📖 czytać

CHI-tach

to read

🏠 mieszkać

MYESH-kach

to live (reside)

📺 oglądać

oh-GLOHN-dach

to watch

🍽️ jeść

yeshch

to eat

🥤 pić

peech

to drink

😴 spać

spahch

to sleep

💼 pracować

prah-TSOH-vach

to work

🗣️ mówić

MOO-veech

to speak

💡 rozumieć

roh-ZOO-myech

to understand

👀 widzieć

VEE-dzhech

to see

👂 słyszeć

SWI-shech

to hear

🔨 robić

ROH-beech

to do

🚶 iść

eeshch

to go (on foot)

🚗 jechać

YEH-khach

to go / drive (vehicle)

🌈 Word Clouds — Every Verb

Each verb with a couple of natural example phrases showing how it's actually used. Tap any word to hear it.

Featured Verb: Kochać (To Love)

Kochać follows the regular -am/-asz present-tense pattern — once you know this, most -ać verbs conjugate the same way.

🌈 Word Cloud — Tap Any Word to Hear It

The infinitive, every conjugated form, and a few real questions/phrases that use it — all in one glance.

Second Regular Verb: Mieszkać (To Live)

Same -am/-asz pattern as kochać — once you can conjugate one, you can conjugate them both. This is also the verb you need for the "Where I Live" section below. Note the "Ono" (it) row: for present-tense verbs, ono conjugates exactly like on/ona — no new ending to learn.

🌈 Word Cloud — Tap Any Word to Hear It

The infinitive, every conjugated form, and a few real questions/phrases that use it — all in one glance.

Third Featured Verb: Dać (To Give) — Irregular

Dać doesn't follow the -am/-asz pattern — it's a perfective verb (a one-time completed action), which is why its present-tense-looking forms actually carry future meaning ("I will give," not "I give"). Notice the distinctive "dadzą" ending for "they" — a small irregular group of verbs share this pattern.

🌈 Word Cloud — Tap Any Word to Hear It

Fourth Featured Verb: Być (To Be) — Reinforcement

You already fully learned być in Lesson 1 (jestem, jesteś, jest...) — here it is again with fresh example phrases, since it's the single most important verb in Polish and worth reinforcing every chance you get.

🌈 Word Cloud — Tap Any Word to Hear It

Possession: My Family

"Mój" (masculine), "moja" (feminine), and "moje" (neuter) all mean "my" — which one you use depends on the gender of the noun you're describing, not the gender of the speaker. Mąż (husband), syn (son), and tata (dad) are masculine, so they take "mój." Żona (wife), córka (daughter), and mama (mom) are feminine, so they take "moja." Dziecko (child) is neuter, so it takes "moje" — and neuter nouns are exactly where the third pronoun, "ono" (it), comes in.

The Third Pronoun: Ono

Polish has three third-person singular pronouns, not two: on (he), ona (she), and ono (it) — used for neuter-gender nouns like dziecko.

More Neuter Nouns (all take "ono" / "moje")

Neuter nouns typically end in -o, -e, or -ę.

Numbers 1–20

You'll need these for the age section next, and for everyday counting.

Age & Numbers

Polish says age as "I have ___ years" (Mam ___ lat/lata) rather than "I am ___ years old." The ending on "year" changes with the number — "lata" after numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4 (like trzydzieści trzy → lata, dwa → lata), and "lat" after most other numbers.

Where I Live

"W" (in) triggers the locative case, which changes the ending of the place name — Polska (Poland) becomes Polsce, and Rzeszów becomes Rzeszowie. "Gdzie" (where) is the question word that asks for this.

Nationality & Origin

Nationality nouns have separate masculine and feminine forms — Amerykanin/Amerykanka, Polak/Polka. "Jestem" (I am) + nationality noun uses the instrumental case (-em/-ą ending); "jestem z" (I am from) + country uses the genitive case. "Skąd" (from where) is the question word that asks for this.

🎴 Flashcard Practice

🧩 Interactive: Fill-in-the-Blank Quiz

Fill in the missing word, then check yourself.

Learning Strategy

The "mój/moja" gender-agreement pattern shows up everywhere in Polish — adjectives, possessives, numbers all change their ending to match the noun they describe, not the speaker. When you learn a new possessive or descriptive word, always learn it paired with a masculine AND a feminine noun (like "mój syn" / "moja żona") so the pattern sticks.