Chapter 11 · one root, a family of verbs
Prefixes and families
pisanie, spisanie, opisanie
Here is the fact that turns Polish vocabulary from a list into a system: most verbs are built from a small root plus a prefix. Learn the roots and what the prefixes do, and you can guess the meaning and the aspect of words you have never seen. Pisać is one root; napisać, przepisać, podpisać, wypisać, odpisać are all built on it.
Two things a prefix can do
Adding a prefix to an imperfective verb does one of two things, and telling them apart is the skill of this chapter.
| What the prefix does | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|
| completes it — same meaning, now perfective | pisać → napisać | a pair: “to write” / “to write and finish” |
| changes it — a new meaning altogether | pisać → podpisać | a new verb: “to sign” |
Ask: does the prefixed verb still mean the same basic action? Napisać is still writing, so it is the perfective partner. Podpisać is signing, a different act, so it is a new word — and it has its own imperfective, podpisywać.
The prefixes and their senses
A prefix is not a random syllable: each one carries an old spatial meaning — in, out, through, up to, away — and that meaning survives, more or less clearly, in the modern verbs. The table gives the sense and the relatives built on the same prefix.
| Prefix | From | To | Meaning | Its own sense |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| na- | pisać | napisać | to write (and finish) | completion, and often "a lot of" |
| Also: nabrać — to get a lot of · najeść się — to eat one's fill · napić się — to have a drink | ||||
| prze- | czytać | przeczytać | to read through | through, across, past |
| Also: przepisać — to copy out, to rewrite · przejechać — to drive past · przepraszać — to apologise | ||||
| po- | mówić | powiedzieć | to say (and have said) | a single act, or a short while |
| Also: popracować — to work a while · posiedzieć — to sit a while · pojechać — to set off | ||||
| za- | dzwonić | zadzwonić | to phone (one call) | the start of an act, or an act that reaches its goal |
| Also: zapytać — to ask a question · zapłacić — to pay · zamknąć — to close up | ||||
| od- | pisać | odpisać | to write back | away, back, off |
| Also: oddać — to give back · odejść — to walk away · odpowiedzieć — to answer back | ||||
| wy- | pić | wypić | to drink up | out, to the end, thoroughly |
| Also: wyjść — to go out · wyspać się — to sleep it off · wypisać — to write out | ||||
| do- | pisać | dopisać | to add in writing | up to, as far as, in addition |
| Also: dojść — to reach, to arrive · dodać — to add · dokończyć — to finish off | ||||
| pod- | pisać | podpisać | to sign | under, or up to |
| Also: podjechać — to drive up to · podejść — to walk up to · podnieść — to pick up | ||||
| w- | iść | wejść | to go in | in, into |
| Also: wnosić — to carry in · włączyć — to switch on · <span class="pl">wjechać</span> — to drive in | ||||
| z- | robić | zrobić | to do (and finish) | completion, or together, or down from |
| Also: zjeść — to eat up · zjechać — to drive down · zebrać — to gather together | ||||
| u- | słyszeć | usłyszeć | to hear (catch it) | a completed act, or away from |
| Also: umyć — to wash · uczyć się — to learn · ujść — to get away | ||||
| roz- | mówić | rozmawiać | to talk, to converse | apart, out, thoroughly; here spreading a conversation out between people |
| Also: rozbić — to break apart · rozejść się — to disperse · rozpisać — to write out in full | ||||
Each prefix has a family. Wy- means “out, to the end”, and it gives wypić (drink up), wyjść (go out), wypisać (write out). Once the sense is in your head, the family stops being a list to memorise and becomes a pattern to recognise.
Four families, side by side
The clearest way to see the system is to take one root and lay its prefixes out. Here is pisać and jechać, each with six relatives.
| Prefix | From pisać | From jechać | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| na- | napisać — to write (and finish) | najechać — to run into | onto, completion |
| prze- | przepisać — to copy out | przejechać — to drive past | through, across |
| od- | odpisać — to write back | odjechać — to drive away | away, back |
| wy- | wypisać — to write out | wyjechać — to drive out | out, to the end |
| do- | dopisać — to add in writing | dojechać — to reach (by vehicle) | up to, as far as |
| pod- | podpisać — to sign | podjechać — to drive up to | under, up to |
| w- | wpisać — to write in, to enter | wjechać — to drive in | in, into |
Compare napisać (“write and finish”, a partner of pisać) with najechać (“run into”, a new verb on a different root meaning). The prefix behaves the same way, but only one of the results is a partner. This is why a prefix cannot be applied mechanically.
Making the perfective, and then the imperfective again
A prefixed verb is normally perfective. If you then need the imperfective of that new verb — for a habit, or a process — you add a suffix instead. This gives a two-step family, and it is very common in real Polish.
| Step | Verb | Aspect | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| the root | pisać | impf | to write |
| + prefix | napisać | pf | to write (and finish) |
| + prefix, new meaning | podpisać | pf | to sign |
| + suffix on the new verb | podpisywać | impf | to be signing, to sign repeatedly |
| the root, new meaning | czytać | impf | to read |
| + prefix | przeczytać | pf | to read through |
| przeczytać — to read pf | |
|---|---|
| Future | |
| ja | przeczytam |
| ty | przeczytasz |
| on / ona / ono | przeczyta |
| my | przeczytamy |
| wy | przeczytacie |
| oni / one | przeczytają |
| Past | |
| ja (masc.) | przeczytałem |
| ja (fem.) | przeczytałam |
| ty (masc.) | przeczytałeś |
| ty (fem.) | przeczytałaś |
| on | przeczytał |
| ona | przeczytała |
| ono | przeczytało |
| my (masc. persons) | przeczytaliśmy |
| my (other) | przeczytałyśmy |
| wy (masc. persons) | przeczytaliście |
| wy (other) | przeczytałyście |
| oni | przeczytali |
| one | przeczytały |
| Imperative | |
| ty | przeczytaj |
| my | przeczytajmy |
| wy | przeczytajcie |
| Conditional | |
| ja (masc.) | przeczytałbym |
| ja (fem.) | przeczytałabym |
| ty (masc.) | przeczytałbyś |
| ty (fem.) | przeczytałabyś |
| on | przeczytałby |
| ona | przeczytałaby |
| ono | przeczytałoby |
| my (masc. persons) | przeczytalibyśmy |
| my (other) | przeczytałybyśmy |
| wy (masc. persons) | przeczytalibyście |
| wy (other) | przeczytałybyście |
| oni | przeczytaliby |
| one | przeczytałyby |
Every form from Wiktionary. A perfective verb has no present tense — these are its future forms.
Prefix makes a perfective. Suffix makes an imperfective. So a longer word is not always the perfective — kupować is longer than kupić and is the imperfective. The rule is about the direction of the step, not about the length.
When a prefix stops meaning anything
Some very common prefixed verbs have lost the spatial sense completely. Zrobić is not “do down”; it is simply the perfective of robić. Napisać is not “write onto”; it is the plain perfective. For these, the prefix is a grammatical marker, not a word.
| Prefix | Verb | Its partner | Is the prefix meaningful? |
|---|---|---|---|
| z- | zrobić | robić | no — pure completion |
| na- | napisać | pisać | no — pure completion |
| prze- | przeczytać | czytać | partly — “through to the end” |
| po- | powiedzieć | mówić | no — a suppletive pair in practice |
| wy- | wypić | pić | yes — “out, to the last drop” |
A learner who knows that prze- means “through” may expect przepraszać to mean something like “ask through”. It means “to apologise”. The prefix system is a guide to meaning, not a code you can decode word by word.
How to use this when you meet a new verb
What to take away
- A prefix either completes a verb (same meaning, now perfective) or makes a new verb (new meaning).
- Prefix senses are spatial: w- in, wy- out, prze- through, od- away, do- up to, pod- under.
- Prefix makes perfective; suffix makes imperfective: podpisać → podpisywać.
- Some prefixes are pure grammar and mean nothing: zrobić, napisać.
- Use the prefix as a guess, then confirm the form in a table.
Drills
Flashcards
Prefix on the front, sense on the back.
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