First Polish Sentence Patterns
Four patterns produce hundreds of real sentences. Learn these and you can point things out, say what you have, ask a question, and say no — everything a first conversation needs.
To jest — This Is
To jest… ("this is / that is") is the all-purpose opener, and it never changes for gender — to stays to whatever follows. In speech Poles often shorten it to just to.
To jest moja kawa.
This is my coffee.
Note: Works for anything: To jest Piotr. To jest problem. To (jest) dobre.
Mam — I Have
Polish has a straightforward verb for having: mieć. Mam = "I have."
Asking Questions
Two easy tools cover most beginner questions.
1. Yes/no questions — start with czy, or just use rising intonation. Czy is the spoken question mark; dropping it is fine in casual speech.
Czy masz czas? / Masz czas?
Do you have time?
Note: czy signals a yes/no question; without it, intonation does the job.
2. Question words — put the question word first:
Saying No with nie
Polish negation is simple: put nie right before the verb. Unlike Czech, where ne- glues on, Polish keeps nie as a separate little word.
Nie rozumiem, proszę mówić wolniej.
I don't understand, please speak slower.
Note: nie sits just before the verb: nie rozumiem. Two survival phrases in one line.
Next, get the nouns under control with noun gender.