Chapter 06 · commands, requests, and how Polish prefers to ask
The imperative
three forms, and a lot of politeness
The imperative is the smallest mood in Polish: three forms, no first or third person singular, and a stressing regularity that makes it easy to build. What is not small is its social side — Polish softens commands far more than English does, and a bare imperative can sound blunt where an English one sounds normal.
Three forms, three persons
The imperative exists only for ty, my and wy. There is no “I command” and no “he commands”; for those, Polish uses niech (section 5).
| Person | pisać | robić | iść | Who it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ty | pisz! | rób! | idź! | one person you know |
| my | piszmy! | róbmy! | idźmy! | let's… |
| wy | piszcie! | róbcie! | idźcie! | more than one person |
Once you have the ty form, the other two are mechanical: add -my for let's and -cie for a group. pisz → piszmy → piszcie, rób → róbmy → róbcie, idź → idźmy → idźcie. The same two endings you met in the present tense.
How the ty form is made
Take the third person plural of the present — the oni form — and strip its ending. What is left is the imperative stem.
| oni — present | Strip the ending | Imperative ty |
|---|---|---|
| piszą | pisz- | pisz! |
| czytają | czytaj- | czytaj! |
| robią | robi- → rób- | rób! |
| mówią | mów- | mów! |
| idą | idź- | idź! |
| kupują | kupuj- | kupuj! |
Two things happen to the stem. If it ends in a hard consonant, the imperative stays as it is: pisz, mów, czytaj. If it ends in a soft consonant, no further ending is needed either — idź, siedź, chodź. And a cluster of consonants at the end can force a vowel in: robią → rób, biorą → bierz.
Verbs in -ać that belong to conjugation III simply keep their -aj: czytać → czytaj, pytać → pytaj, mieszkać → mieszkaj, otwierać → otwieraj. If you are unsure of a form, and the verb is an -am / -asz verb, the safe guess is -aj.
The imperative of both aspects
Both halves of a pair have an imperative, and they mean different things. The imperfective command is about doing something, repeatedly or at all; the perfective command is about getting it done once.
| Imperfective — do it, carry on | Perfective — get it done | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| piszę → pisz! | napiszę → napisz! | write (in general) / write it (to the end) |
| czytam → czytaj! | przeczytam → przeczytaj! | read / read it through |
| robię → rób! | zrobię → zrób! | be doing it / get it done |
| kupuję → kupuj! | kupię → kup! | be buying / buy it |
| otwieram → otwieraj! | otworzę → otwórz! | open it (repeatedly) / open it now |
| dzwonię → dzwoń! | zadzwonię → zadzwoń! | keep calling / call now |
| zrobić — to do, to make pf | |
|---|---|
| Future | |
| ja | zrobię |
| ty | zrobisz |
| on / ona / ono | zrobi |
| my | zrobimy |
| wy | zrobicie |
| oni / one | zrobią |
| Past | |
| ja (masc.) | zrobiłem |
| ja (fem.) | zrobiłam |
| ty (masc.) | zrobiłeś |
| ty (fem.) | zrobiłaś |
| on | zrobił |
| ona | zrobiła |
| ono | zrobiło |
| my (masc. persons) | zrobiliśmy |
| my (other) | zrobiłyśmy |
| wy (masc. persons) | zrobiliście |
| wy (other) | zrobiłyście |
| oni | zrobili |
| one | zrobiły |
| Imperative | |
| ty | zrób |
| my | zróbmy |
| wy | zróbcie |
| Conditional | |
| ja (masc.) | zrobiłbym |
| ja (fem.) | zrobiłabym |
| ty (masc.) | zrobiłbyś |
| ty (fem.) | zrobiłabyś |
| on | zrobiłby |
| ona | zrobiłaby |
| ono | zrobiłoby |
| my (masc. persons) | zrobilibyśmy |
| my (other) | zrobiłybyśmy |
| wy (masc. persons) | zrobilibyście |
| wy (other) | zrobiłybyście |
| oni | zrobiliby |
| one | zrobiłyby |
Every form from Wiktionary. A perfective verb has no present tense — these are its future forms.
The imperative with się
With a reflexive verb, się follows the imperative. It never comes between the verb and its ending.
| Infinitive | ty | my | wy |
|---|---|---|---|
| uczyć się | ucz się! | uczmy się! | uczcie się! |
| bać się | bój się! | bójmy się! | bójcie się! |
niech — he, she, they
For the third person, and for polite address, Polish uses niech plus the present (or, for a perfective, the future) of the verb. This is also how you say “let him…”, “may she…” and how you give a respectful instruction to a stranger.
| Form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| on / ona / ono | Niech pisze. | Let him write. / He should write. |
| oni / one | Niech piszą. | Let them write. |
| pan / pani | Niech pan siada. / Niech pani siada. | Please, do sit down. |
| państwo | Niech państwo siadają. | Please, do sit down (to a group). |
Niech pan siada is what a doctor says. Siadaj! is what you say to a dog, or to a friend in a hurry. The niech form is not old-fashioned or formal — it is the ordinary way to tell a stranger to do something without sounding rude.
Negative commands take the imperfective
This is the single most important rule on the page. A prohibition uses the imperfective, even when the positive command would use the perfective.
| Do it — perfective | Don't — imperfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Zrób to! | Nie rób tego! | Do it! / Don't do it! |
| Napisz to! | Nie pisz tego! | Write it! / Don't write it! |
| Otwórz okno! | Nie otwieraj okna! | Open the window! / Don't open it! |
| Zadzwoń do niej! | Nie dzwoń do niej! | Call her! / Don't call her! |
A prohibition is about a whole action, not about a result — so the aspect is imperfective. The exception is a warning about an accident, where the perfective is used to say “don't (accidentally) do it”: Nie zapomnij! (don't forget), Nie zgub kluczy! (don't lose the keys). Also note that the object switches to the genitive in a negative command: nie rób tego, nie otwieraj okna.
How Polish asks instead of ordering
A bare imperative in Polish is stronger than in English. In a shop, an office or a stranger's house you will almost always hear one of the softer shapes below.
| How it is said | Literally | When |
|---|---|---|
| Proszę poczekać. | I ask (you) to wait. | the standard polite instruction |
| Czy mógłby pan poczekać? | Could you wait? | very polite, conditional — chapter 7 |
| Niech pan poczeka. | Let sir wait. | polite, a little formal |
| Proszę bardzo. | Please, very much. | “here you are”, “go ahead” |
| Przepraszam, czy można…? | Excuse me, is it possible to…? | asking permission |
Proszę does an enormous amount of work in Polish: it means “please”, “here you are”, “go ahead”, and — followed by an infinitive — “please do this”. When you are not sure how to phrase a request politely, proszę plus the infinitive will almost always be right: Proszę zamknąć drzwi — please close the door.
The imperatives to learn whole
These are common enough that they should be known as words, not derived each time.
| Verb | ty | my | wy | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| być | bądź | bądźmy | bądźcie | be! |
| mieć | miej | miejmy | miejcie | have! |
| iść | idź | idźmy | idźcie | go! |
| jeść | jedz | jedzmy | jedzcie | eat! |
| pić | pij | pijmy | pijcie | drink! |
| dać | daj | dajmy | dajcie | give! |
| wziąć | weź | weźmy | weźcie | take! |
| móc | móż | móżmy | móżcie | — |
| spać | śpij | śpijmy | śpijcie | sleep! |
A few imperative forms are grammatically real but practically never said. Móż (from móc) is one: mathematicians “let x be…” use it, nobody orders anyone to be able. Bądź is different — it is alive and common in farewells and fixed phrases: Bądź zdrów (take care), bądź uprzejmy (be so kind).
Five traps
What to take away
- Three forms: ty, my, wy. Add -my and -cie to the ty form.
- The ty form comes from the oni present, minus its ending.
- Niech gives the third person and the polite command: Niech pan siada.
- Negative commands take the imperfective and the genitive: nie rób tego.
- Bare imperatives are blunt. Proszę + infinitive is the everyday polite form.
Drills
Flashcards
Verb on the front, command on the back. Say it before you turn the card.
A 7-day plan
Fifteen minutes a day. Tick the boxes as you go — the ticks are saved.