Present Tense

1st conjugation or the -am/-asz conjugation

Verbs whose infinitives end in -a belong 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
Pan, Pani

-0

oni, one

-j

pyta-
ja pytam
ty pytasz
on/ona/Pan/Pani pyta

my pytamy
wy pytacie
oni, one pytaj

mie to have belongs here, though its infinitive does not end in -a, ma- is the present tense stem
ja mam
ty masz
on ma

my mamy
wy macie
oni maj

4th conjugation or the -em/-esz conjugation

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 1st conjugation

rozumie-
ja rozumiem
ty rozumiesz
on/ona/Pan/Pani rozumie

my rozumiemy
wy rozumiecie
oni, one rozumiej

je and wiedzie are slightly exceptional in that their present stems are je- and wie- respectively, and in
that their 3rd plural (oni/one) form ends in -dz, not -j.
ja jem
ty jesz
on je

my jemy
wy jecie
oni jedz

2nd conjugation or the -/-isz conjugation

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, spieszy si, cieszy si, liczy
A few verbs whose infinitives end in -e, e.g. myle, musie

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

Endings:
ja

my

-imy

ty

-isz

wy

-icie

on,ona,ono
Pan, Pani

-i

oni, one

myl-e
ja myl
ty mylisz
on/ona/Pan/Pani myli

my mylimy
wy mylicie
oni, one myl

A spelling/pronunciation rule: after cz, sz, , rz, or d we do not write/say i but rather y
ucz-y si
ja ucz si
ty uczysz si
on/ona/Pan/Pani uczy si

my uczymy si
wy uczycie si
oni, one ucz si

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

Quirks:
1. If the infinitive ends in:
si, sie
zi, zie
dzi, dzie
ci, cie

then the 1st sg/3rd pl stem final consonant is:

sz

dz
c

musie

prosi
musimy
musicie
musz

musz
musisz
musi

prosimy
prosicie
prosz

prosz
prosisz
prosi

nudzi si, wstydzi si

then the 1st sg ending is -i, and the 3rd pl ending is -i

2. If the stem ends in:

bi, bie
pi, pie
wi, wie
fi, fie
ni, nie
robi
robi
robisz
robi

mwi
robimy
robicie
robi

mwi
mwisz
mwi

mwimy
mwicie
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 the
infinitive:
stoj
stoisz
stoi

sta stand
stoimy
stoicie
stoj

ba si
boj si
boimy si
boisz si
boicie si
boi si
boj si

spa
pi
pisz
pi

pimy
picie
pi

3rd conjugation or the -/-esz conjugation

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 -owa is replaced by -uj plus endings
Endings:
ja

my

-emy

ty

-esz

wy

-ecie

on, ona, ono

Pan, Pani

-e

oni, one

prac-owa /prac+ uj
ja pracuj
my pracujemy
ty pracujesz
wy pracujecie
on/ona/Pan/Pani pracuje
oni, one pracuj
Practice verbs: denerwowa si be upset, budowa to build, chorowa be sick, fotografowa to
take 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 (pi to drink, bi to hit, beat, my (si) to wash, czu (si) to feel, y
to live, exist) has a different pattern:
Infinitive - + j + endings
pi-+j = pij
ja pij
ty pijesz
on/ona/Pan/Pani pije

my pijemy
wy pijecie
oni, one pij

In verbs which end in -awa (dawa to give, oddawa to return, podawa to hand, sprzedawa to
sell, dostawa to receive), wa is dropped and j plus endings added:
Infinitive - wa + j + endings
dawa-wa+j = daj
ja daj
my dajemy
ty dajesz
wy dajecie
on/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 given
below:
id
idziesz
idzie

i go
idziemy
idziecie
id

by (future)
bd
bdziemy
bdziesz
bdziecie
bdzie
bd

pisz
piszesz
pisze

pisa write
piszemy
piszecie
pisz