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Present Tense

1stconjugation or the -am/-aszconjugation

Verbs whose infinitives end in -abelong here, e.g.pyta,zna,mieszka,przeprasza, nazywa si,kocha, zamyka, czeka

How the present tense is formed: Infinitive - + ending

Endings:ja -m my -my

ty -sz wy -cie

on,ona,ono -0 oni, one -jPan, Pani

pyta-ja pytam my pytamyty pytasz wy pytacieon/ona/Pan/Pani pyta oni, one pytaj

mieto have belongs here, though its infinitive does not end in -a, ma- is the present tense stem

ja mam my mamyty masz wy macieon ma oni maj

4thconjugation or the -em/-eszconjugation

A few verbs only, but very common ones:rozumie to understand, umie to know how,je to eat,wiedzie to know

How the present tense is formed: Infinitive - + same endings as for 1stconjugation

rozumie-ja rozumiem my rozumiemyty rozumiesz wy rozumiecieon/ona/Pan/Pani rozumie oni, one rozumiej

je andwiedzieare slightly exceptional in that their present stems areje- and wie- respectively, and inthat their 3rdplural (oni/one) form ends in -dz, not -j.

ja jem my jemyty jesz wy jecie

on je oni jedz

2ndconjugation or the -/-iszconjugation

Verbs whose infinitives end in i, e.g. nudzi si, dziwi si, dobrze si bawi, martwi si, wtpi,robi, mwi, tskni, lubi, etc.Verbs whose infinitives end in -y, e.g. uczy si, spieszysi, cieszysi, liczyA few verbs whose infinitives end in -e, e.g. myle, musie

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How the present tense is formed: Infinitive - V + ending

Endings:ja - my -imy

ty -isz wy -icie

on,ona,ono -i oni, one -Pan, Pani

myl-eja myl my mylimyty mylisz wy mylicieon/ona/Pan/Pani myli oni, one myl

A spelling/pronunciation rule: after cz, sz, , rz, or dwe do not write/sayibut rather y

ucz-y sija ucz si my uczymy sity uczysz si wy uczycie si

on/ona/Pan/Pani uczy si oni, one ucz si

spiesz-y si, ciesz-y si, licz-y

Quirks:

1. If the infinitive ends in: then the 1stsg/3rdpl stem final consonant is:si, sie szzi, zie dzi, dzie dzci, cie c

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musie prosimusz musimy prosz prosimymusisz musicie prosisz prosiciemusi musz prosi prosz

nudzi si, wstydzi si

2. If the stem ends in: then the 1stsg ending is -i, and the 3rdpl ending is -ibi, biepi, piewi, wiefi, fieni, nie

robi mwirobi robimy mwi mwimyrobisz robicie mwisz mwicierobi robi mwi mwi

tskni, lubi, dobrze si bawi, martwi si, wtpi

3. For a few irregular verbs belonging to this conjugation the present tense stem is different form theinfinitive:

sta stand ba si spastoj stoimy boj si boimy si pi pimystoisz stoicie boisz si boicie si pisz piciestoi stoj boi si boj si pi pi

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3rdconjugation or the -/-eszconjugation

One group of verbs which belongs here are verbs (of 3 or more syllables) which end in -owa:pracowa, studiowa, dzikowa, interesowa si

For these verbs -owais replaced by -ujplus endings

Endings:ja - my -emy

ty -esz wy -ecie

on, ona, ono -e oni, one -Pan, Pani

prac-owa /prac+ ujja pracuj my pracujemyty pracujesz wy pracujecieon/ona/Pan/Pani pracuje oni, one pracuj

Practice verbs: denerwowasibe upset, budowa to build, chorowabe sick,fotografowa totake pictures, caowa to kiss, podrowa to travel,artowa to joke,projektowa to design,nocowa to stay overnight, demonstrowa to demonstrate,protestowa to protest

Another group of 5 verbs (pito drink, bito hit, beat, my (si)to wash, czu (si)to feel,yto live, exist) has a different pattern:

Infinitive - + j + endingspi-+j = pij

ja pij my pijemyty pijesz wy pijecieon/ona/Pan/Pani pije oni, one pij

In verbs which end in -awa (dawa to give,oddawato return,podawa to hand,sprzedawa tosell, dostawato receive),wa is dropped andjplus endings added:

Infinitive - wa + j + endingsdawa-wa+j = daj

ja daj my dajemyty dajesz wy dajecieon/ona/Pan/Pani daje oni, one daj

For other verbs belonging to this conjugation the present tense stems are often different from the

infinitive and may involve other alternations (1sg/3pl vs. other forms). Three useful verbs are givenbelow:

i go by (future) pisa writeid idziemy bd bdziemy pisz piszemyidziesz idziecie bdziesz bdziecie piszesz piszecieidzie id bdzie bd pisze pisz