Polish Past Tense

In order to tell somebody about what happened at the particular moment in the past we must know how to formulate such sentences and what form of the verbs to use. There are a few differences between Polish and English in this respect.

First of all, in English we differentiate Simple Past, Simple Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuos that we can choose from to talk about past events.

In Polish, in turn, we have one czas przeszły (Past Tense) which is the equivalent of English past tenses depending on what określenia czasu (Expressions of Time) it expresses: both czynność dokonana (Perfective Action) and czynność niedokonana (Imperfective Action).

Let me now present how it looks in practice.

To make the past form of the Polish verb we do not add any endings like "–ed" in English, but we add inflectional endings to past forms of the verbs. It is the rule for all verbs including być (be) and móc, potrafić (can) which are treated differently in English.

Liczba pojedyncza (Singular):

ja napisałam, robiłam, przeczytałam (I wrote, did, read)
ty napisałeś, robiłeś, przeczytałeś (you wrote, did, read)
on napisał, robił, przeczytał (he wrote, did, read)
ona napisała, robiła, przeczytała (she wrote, did, read)
ono napisało, robiło, przeczytało (it wrote, did, read)

Liczba mnoga (Plural):

my napisaliśmy, robiliśmy, przeczytaliśmy – for men/boys/mixed (we wrote, did, read)
my napisałyśmy, robiłyśmy, przeczytałyśmy – for women/girls (we wrote, did, read)
wy napisaliście, robiliście, przeczytaliście – for men/boys/mixed (you wrote, did, read)
wy napisałyście, robiłyście, przeczytałyście – for women/girls (you wrote, did, read)
oni napisali, robili, przeczytali – for men/boys/mixed (they wrote, did, read)
one napisały, robiły, przeczytały – for women/girls (they wrote, did, read)

Zdanie twierdzące or twierdzenie (Affirmative Sentence):

In English:
You sang his song yesterday.
She wrote a letter yesterday.

In Polish:
(Ty) zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś tą piosenkę wczoraj.
(Ona) napisała/pisała list wczoraj.

Zdanie pytające or pytanie (Question Sentence):

For pytania ogólne (general questions) we use czy (did) in front of the question.

In English:
Did you sing this song yesterday?
Did she write a letter yesterday?

In Polish:
Czy (ty) zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś tą piosenkę wczoraj?
Czy (ona) napisała/pisała list wczoraj?

As you can see, the verb in Polish questions is still in the past form.

To answer "Yes" shortly we say "Tak." (Yes, you did) or Nie. (No, you didn’t). We can also also answer using the words Tak, zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś. (Yes, you sang) or Nie, nie zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś. (No, you didn’t).

For pytania szczegółowe (Specific Questions) we use słowo pytające (Question Word).

In English:
Where did you sing this song yesterday?
Where did she write a letter yesterday?

In Polish:
Gdzie (ty) zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś tą piosenkę wczoraj?
Gdzie (ona) napisała/pisała list wczoraj?

Zdanie przeczące or przeczenie (Negative Sentence):

In order to negate a sentence we add the word nie (not) before the verb.

In English:
You didn’t sing this song yesterday.
She didn’t write a letter yesterday.

In Polish:
(Ty) nie zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś tą piosenkę wczoraj.
(Ona) nie napisała/pisała listu wczoraj.

Again, in the Polish language the question in the past form of the verb is preserved.

Określenia czasu (Expressions of Time):

- wczoraj (yesterday)
- w zeszłym tygodniu/miesiącu/roku (last week/month/year)
- 2 dni/tygodnie/miesiące/lata temu (2 days/weeks/months/years ago)
- w 1989 (in 1989)
- nigdy (never)
- kiedykolwiek (ever)
- ostatnio (recently/lately)
- jeszcze (yet – in questions)
- już (yet – in affirmative sentences/already – in affirmative sentences and questions)
- właśnie, przed chwilą (just)
- do tej pory, dotychczas (so far)
- nareszcie (at last)
- podczas, gdy (while).

If you asked Polish learner of English what is tricky and tough in this particular language, he/she would undoubtedly answer – the tenses. No wonder – in the Polish language we only have three of them so it is sometimes a shock for somebody who is getting to know English. In my opinion, we often forget that even though it is easier to remember Polish tenses, it is not so easy to form them because of its numerous inflectional endings that are different for each person. The language is easy as long as it is one’s mother tongue. Otherwise, it can cause lots of problems and difficulties. :)

Ivonka

Once again, saved to my hard drive.

Thanks Ivonka...keep it coming!! Very helpful.

Thank you. The next one should be about the Polish future tense.

Ivonka

I will look forward to it!

Very informative, iwonka. Thank you.

No. 2 difficulty - the endings of the words! (A lesson for some time in the future, perhaps?)

I know, I know, I'm a dull Polish git, who has to have his fingers in every pie, but please again, don't teach your English pupils ortographic mistakes

Gdzie (ty) zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś tę piosenkę wczoraj?


(Ty) nie zaśpiewałeś/zaśpiewałaś/śpiewałeś/śpiewałaś TEJ piosenki wczoraj. - remember the declination

http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Język_polski#Wymiany_g.C5.82oskowe (in Polish, sorry)

Nice one Bart...it's becoming a regular thing! Corrections added! Perhaps you could become her proof reader or something

It doesn't take a lot of brains to correct something that has already been written, but I guess it's a Polish thing to grumble and I got used to it. Also, don't think it's an "ortographic mistake."

Ivonka

Nice one Bart...it's becoming a regular thing! Corrections added! Perhaps you could become her proof reader or something - Beta tester of Polish grammar I'll need some strong armour

Okay, then name these mistakes correctly. You're a Polish teacher, and I'm just a grumbling engineer after all :P

1. I never said I was a teacher.

2. I learned to ignore (Polish) people who grumble just to grumble.

3. You can start educating others about the pure usage of the Polish language by contacting over 180,000+ Polish people who use "tą piosenkę" instead of "tę piosenkę."

Ivonka

It's the easiest way to deal with things by having a chip on your shoulder. You seem to me as a person who would never admit she commited a mistake. You call everybody 'grumbling just for grumbling' instead. I admit - I was wrong thinking you were a Polish teacher. Sorry for the offence.
PS. Regardless of your remarks I still think you're doing a good job by teaching Polish to non-Polish.

Bartolome out.

hi Ivonka
you are doing great job .i have learnt much from your work
i have polish girl friend and i really have a problem to understand her sometime
thanks
inam

Hm, if I could just cut in here... I think one shouldn't teach Polish-learners saying "tą x" in Acusative, even if some Poles (isn't it actually the majority...?) commit mistake here. I can agree that there is a trend towards using "tą" instead of "tę", and - perhaps - in twenty/thirty years' time it won't even be regarded as weird or incorrect, but this doesn't mean we should introduce this new habit so eagerly... The same case is with "poszłem" (horrible form used by primitive people instead of "poszedłem"), or with very common "10/20/50/200 [etc.] ZŁOTY", instead of "złotYCH"...1 złoty, 2, 3 & 4 złote, 5, 10, 1000 ZŁOTYCH, that's the way it should look... it really makes me cry.

Pozdrawiam,
Gustaw

danke Ivonka

Dlaczego znowu 'ta piosenke'? You write like lech Walesa!!!

I would imagine that the examplesi given by Ivonka have been coppied from a book as the English is very good with small mistakes. Nie jestem pewien ale wydaje mi sie, ze...

Bart,

Po angielsku jest poprawny "It is I." NIE: "It's me." Jednak mowi sie "It's me.", bo jest akzeptowany.

Pozdrawiam!
Marek

Is 'it's me' bad English? I ask as I say it all the time all my life. I have never really thought about it but when I hear ir said or say it myself I am not aware of making an error. Iy is always good to learn something new.

Nonsense. "It is I" is not correct. "It's me" is correct.

I would never notice that somebody made a mistake if I hear "ta piosenke"..., and most Polish wouldn't... So, what's a big deal? Write something as good and useful as Ivonka does and then start to criticize.

Hello, Detroit!
I presume English is your native language. (Joke: Are you an American? - No, I just play one on TV. (groan!) )
As a matter of fact, noone, least of all myself, was "criticizing"anyone, certainly not Ivonka, whose comprehensive posts are a pleasure undiguised.
"It is I." however, I must disappoint you, IS actually grammatically correct. I was merely using it as an example of how overcorrect usage can oddly enough be "wrong".
Marek

I think in fact that most of what Ivonka writes is coppied out of a Polish grammar book. Some of her examples of English sentences are also incorrect. I am not sure though of everything-I too make mistakes-its just me!!

Got any proof?

Michal,
Of course, Ivonka, Grzegorsz and other native Poles who though know English "fluently", make plenty of mistakes in it as well. This doesn't however in any way diminish the helpfulness of some of their posts, particularly if one has no immediate access to a grammar.
The age old struggle: fluency vs. accuracy

Marek

Yes, I have proof, I make mistakes all the time. If you are talking about the examples that Ivonka gave, I would imagine that they have come from a standard Polish text book as I think that I recognize some of the examples, but it is of no importance where they come from as long as they are right but sometimes they are not. Yes, I have proof that they are not right. Does that answer your question?

I should have remembered most Poles are experts in criticizing anything that's possible to criticize, but not to create anything useful in return...

I do not think that it is a question of complaining and yes, I agree it is very easy to read something and look for mistakes but one or two of your examples are not written in good English. Are they your own examples or do they come from a text book of the English Language? Some of the examples look very familiar to me.

Prawde, mowiac, ja jestem anglikiem i mieszkam w Anglii pod Londynem. Nie mam zadnej kropli polskiej krwi.

If you prefer for me to write lessons on grammar, I will gladly make a contribution but as I have already said, there are lots of good text books and you can go to any library and learn Polish 'inside out' for yourself. It is not a very difficult subject, after all.

You can read books about Poland and Polish people in a library too and meet Polish people in a cafe . No need to get online.

You are right! I can also talk to my Polish wife in Polish too when she comes home from work in about an hour's time!