Degree adverbs are the dials you turn on adjectives, other adverbs and verbs to say how much: very, quite, too, a little, almost, completely, not at all. Polish has a small, high-frequency set — bardzo, za/zbyt, dość/dosyć, trochę, prawie, zupełnie, wcale (nie) — and the main things to learn are where each one sits and a couple of patterns that surprise English speakers. The biggest one: Polish uses bardzo ('very') to intensify verbs as well as adjectives, where English has to switch to "very much" or "really".
bardzo — 'very' / 'very much'
Bardzo is the default intensifier. It goes in front of the word it strengthens.
With an adjective or another adverb, it works just like English "very":
To bardzo dobry pomysł, naprawdę.
That's a very good idea, really.
Mówisz bardzo szybko, możesz wolniej?
You're speaking very fast, can you slow down?
The twist comes with verbs. English cannot say "I very like you" — it switches to "I like you very much" or "I really like you". Polish keeps bardzo and simply puts it with the verb:
Bardzo cię lubię.
I like you very much.
Bardzo dziękuję za pomoc.
Thank you very much for your help.
Mojej mamie bardzo się to nie spodobało.
My mum really didn't like it.
So bardzo covers both "very" (with adjectives/adverbs) and "(very) much / really" (with verbs). There is no separate word you must swap in for verbs.
za and zbyt — 'too (much)'
To say something is excessive — "too big", "too expensive" — Polish puts a short word directly in front of the adjective or adverb. There is no separate "too much" phrase. The everyday word is za; the slightly more formal synonym is zbyt.
Te buty są za duże, potrzebuję mniejszego rozmiaru.
These shoes are too big, I need a smaller size.
Tu jest za drogo, chodźmy gdzie indziej.
It's too expensive here, let's go somewhere else.
Wstałem zbyt późno i spóźniłem się na pociąg.
I got up too late and missed the train.
Note that za is short and pre-posed: za duży (too big), za mały (too small), za drogo (too expensive), za szybko (too fast). The pattern is za + the adjective/adverb, never a trailing "too much" as a separate phrase. Zbyt szybko and za szybko both mean "too fast"; zbyt sounds a touch more written/formal.
To say something is too much of a noun or action, Polish uses za dużo / zbyt dużo ('too much / too many') with the genitive — za dużo pracy ('too much work').
Mam ostatnio za dużo pracy i zero czasu dla siebie.
I've had too much work lately and no time for myself.
dość / dosyć — 'quite, fairly, enough'
Dość (and its identical-meaning variant dosyć) means "quite / fairly / rather" before an adjective or adverb, and "enough" with a noun. Both spellings are standard; dość is a little more common in writing.
Film był dość ciekawy, ale trochę za długi.
The film was fairly interesting, but a bit too long.
Mówisz po polsku dosyć dobrze, gratuluję.
You speak Polish quite well, congratulations.
With a noun it means "enough (of)" and takes the genitive:
Mamy dość czasu, nie musimy się śpieszyć.
We have enough time, we don't need to hurry.
There is also the fixed exclamation Dość! / Dosyć tego! meaning "Enough!" / "That's enough!".
trochę — 'a little, a bit'
Trochę softens — "a little, a bit, somewhat". Mind the spelling: tro*chę with the digraph *ch and the nasal ę.
Jestem trochę zmęczony, pójdę się położyć.
I'm a bit tired, I'll go lie down.
Możesz mówić trochę głośniej?
Can you speak a little louder?
With a noun it means "a little (of)" and, like other quantity words, takes the genitive: trochę mleka ('a little milk'), trochę cierpliwości ('a bit of patience').
Dolej mi jeszcze trochę kawy, proszę.
Pour me a bit more coffee, please.
prawie — 'almost, nearly'
Prawie means "almost / nearly" and is extremely frequent. It precedes whatever it qualifies — a number, an adjective, a verb.
Jest już prawie północ, czas spać.
It's almost midnight already, time for bed.
Prawie zapomniałem ci powiedzieć!
I almost forgot to tell you!
A common pairing is prawie nigdy ('almost never'), prawie nic ('almost nothing'), prawie wszyscy ('almost everyone').
Prawie nikt nie przyszedł na spotkanie.
Almost nobody came to the meeting.
zupełnie / całkiem — 'completely, totally'
Zupełnie means "completely / utterly", often with a negative or an absolute adjective: zupełnie sam ('completely alone'), zupełnie inny ('completely different'). The near-synonym całkiem can mean "completely" but in speech often softens to "quite/pretty" (całkiem niezły 'pretty good').
Po tej rozmowie czuję się zupełnie inaczej.
After that conversation I feel completely different.
Zupełnie o tym zapomniałam, przepraszam.
I completely forgot about it, I'm sorry.
wcale nie — 'not at all'
Wcale almost always travels with the negation nie and means "not at all / not in the least". It is a strong, emphatic denial. Because Polish uses double negation, the nie stays on the verb even with wcale.
— Nudzisz się? — Wcale nie, świetnie się bawię!
— Are you bored? — Not at all, I'm having a great time!
To wcale nie jest takie trudne, jak myślisz.
It's not at all as hard as you think.
Wcale mi to nie przeszkadza.
It doesn't bother me in the least.
Used alone, Wcale nie! is a complete, emphatic "Not at all! / No way!". English speakers tend to drop the nie by analogy with the standalone English phrase — in Polish the nie is obligatory whenever there is a verb.
A quick reference
| Polish | Meaning | Typical position / note |
|---|---|---|
| bardzo | very; (very) much | before adj/adv AND with verbs (bardzo lubię) |
| za / zbyt | too (excessively) | za + adj/adv (za drogo); zbyt more formal |
| dość / dosyć | quite, fairly; enough | before adj/adv; + genitive noun = "enough of" |
| trochę | a little, a bit | before adj/adv; + genitive noun |
| prawie | almost, nearly | before the qualified word |
| zupełnie | completely, utterly | often with negatives/absolutes |
| wcale (nie) | (not) at all | nie stays on the verb |
Common Mistakes
❌ Bardzo dużo cię lubię.
Incorrect — to intensify a verb, bardzo alone is the word, not 'bardzo dużo'.
✅ Bardzo cię lubię.
I like you very much.
(English "very much" tempts learners to add a second word. With a verb, plain bardzo already means "very much / really".)
❌ Ta kawa jest bardzo gorąca do picia.
Incorrect — for 'too hot', Polish uses za, not bardzo.
✅ Ta kawa jest za gorąca do picia.
This coffee is too hot to drink.
(Bardzo is "very" (a high but acceptable degree); "too" (excessive) is za + adjective. They are not interchangeable.)
❌ To jedzenie jest za bardzo słone.
Incorrect — don't stack za + bardzo; 'too salty' is just za słone.
✅ To jedzenie jest za słone.
This food is too salty.
(Za + bardzo together is wrong before an adjective. Use za słone. The combination zbyt + adjective is also fine: zbyt słone.)
❌ Wcale lubię to miasto.
Incorrect — wcale requires nie on the verb.
✅ Wcale nie lubię tego miasta.
I don't like this city at all.
❌ Mam dość czas.
Incorrect — quantity words take the genitive: dość czasu.
✅ Mam dość czasu.
I have enough time.
(Dość, trochę, za dużo all govern the genitive when followed by a noun: czasu, not czas.)
Key Takeaways
- bardzo = "very" with adjectives/adverbs and "(very) much / really" with verbs (bardzo cię lubię). Don't reach for a "very much" phrase.
- "Too" = za (everyday) or zbyt (formal), placed directly before the adjective/adverb: za drogo, zbyt szybko. Never za bardzo
- adjective.
- dość/dosyć = "quite / enough", trochę = "a bit"; both take the genitive before a noun.
- prawie = "almost", zupełnie = "completely", wcale nie = "not at all" (the nie is obligatory).
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