Talking about the future in Polish is mostly a matter of one decision you make over and over: is this a single, finished act ("I'll buy a car") or an ongoing or repeated one ("I'll be studying every evening")? That single aspect choice runs through almost every future sentence, so a phrase bank for plans is really an aspect drill in disguise. On top of it sit a few intention frames — mam zamiar, planuję, chcę — that let you talk about what you intend rather than what will simply happen. This page gives you the building blocks and the time markers to hang them on.
Two futures, one decision
Unlike English, which builds the future with a single helper ("will" / "going to"), Polish has two distinct future constructions, and which one you reach for depends on the aspect of the verb:
- Perfective verbs form the future with their present-tense endings — but the meaning is future. Kupić ("to buy", perfective) → kupię "I'll buy." This is the simple/perfective future.
- Imperfective verbs form the future with będę, będziesz, będzie… plus either the infinitive or the gendered -ł/-ła form. Kupować ("to buy", imperfective) → będę kupować / będę kupował(a) "I'll be buying / I buy (habitually, in future)." This is the compound/imperfective future.
Kupię nowy telefon w przyszłym miesiącu.
I'll buy a new phone next month. (one definite purchase — perfective)
Będę oszczędzać na nowy telefon.
I'll be saving up for a new phone. (an ongoing process — imperfective)
So a single English sentence with "will" splits into two Polish patterns. The good news: there is no extra tense to learn for the perfective — you already know the present endings. For the deep mechanics see the perfective simple future and the imperfective compound future pages; the choice itself is laid out in aspect in the future.
"I'll do it" — the perfective for a single act
When you commit to one concrete, completable action, Polish uses the perfective future, which looks exactly like a present tense:
Zrobię to jutro, obiecuję.
I'll do it tomorrow, I promise. (one finished act)
Napiszę do ciebie wieczorem.
I'll write to you in the evening.
Spotkamy się o piątej pod kinem.
We'll meet at five in front of the cinema.
Notice there is no będę here. Zrobię already means "I will do (and complete)." Adding będę would be a grammatical error, because zrobić is perfective and perfectives cannot take będę. This is the single most common slip English speakers make — see the mistakes below.
"I'll be doing it" — będę + infinitive for the ongoing
When the action stretches over time, repeats, or you simply want to name an activity without stressing its completion, use będę plus the imperfective infinitive:
W wakacje będę się uczył hiszpańskiego.
Over the holidays I'll be studying Spanish. (male speaker — ongoing)
Co wieczór będę dzwonić do rodziców.
I'll call my parents every evening. (repeated action)
Będziemy mieszkać w Krakowie przez rok.
We'll be living in Kraków for a year.
You may hear two equivalent shapes: będę uczyć (with the infinitive) and będę uczył / uczyła (with the gendered past-like form). Both are correct and common; the gendered form is slightly more frequent in speech, and it forces you to mark gender (będę robił "I'll be doing", male; będę robiła, female).
"I intend to" — mam zamiar + infinitive
To talk about intentions rather than plain predictions, Polish has a small set of frames that all take a bare infinitive. The most idiomatic is mieć zamiar (literally "to have an intention"):
Mam zamiar rzucić palenie od nowego roku.
I intend to quit smoking from the new year.
Nie mam zamiaru się poddawać.
I have no intention of giving up. (note the genitive zamiaru after negation)
Oni mają zamiar sprzedać mieszkanie.
They intend to sell the flat.
Two things to flag. First, the infinitive after mam zamiar is usually perfective when the intended act is a single completed one (rzucić, sprzedać). Second, under negation zamiar shifts to the genitive zamiaru — nie mam zamiaru — because of the genitive of negation that follows nie mam.
"I'm planning to" — planuję + infinitive
Planować ("to plan") works just like English "plan to," taking an infinitive directly:
Planuję w tym roku zwiedzić Włochy.
This year I'm planning to visit Italy.
Co planujesz robić w weekend?
What are you planning to do at the weekend?
Note the natural aspect contrast: zwiedzić (perfective — see the whole country, one trip) vs robić (imperfective — open-ended activity). Planować is itself imperfective, so you can also say będę planował "I'll be planning," but for stating a plan the simple present planuję is what you want.
"I want to" — chcę + infinitive
For wishes and softer plans, chcieć ("to want") plus an infinitive is the everyday workhorse:
Chcę w przyszłym tygodniu odwiedzić babcię.
Next week I want to visit my grandmother.
Chcemy kupić mieszkanie, zanim ceny wzrosną.
We want to buy a flat before prices go up.
Chcę + infinitive sits between intention and plan: warmer than planuję, less binding than mam zamiar. For the conjugation of chcieć (it is mildly irregular: chcę, chcesz, chce…) see the chcieć reference.
Time markers — pinning plans to the calendar
Plans need anchors. The high-frequency future time expressions are worth memorising as fixed phrases, because they each carry a particular case:
| Polish | English | Case / note |
|---|---|---|
| jutro / pojutrze | tomorrow / the day after | adverb, no case |
| w przyszłym tygodniu | next week | w + locative |
| w przyszłym miesiącu | next month | w + locative |
| w przyszłym roku | next year | w + locative |
| za tydzień / za rok | in a week / in a year | za + accusative |
| w wakacje | over the (summer) holidays | w + accusative |
| niedługo / wkrótce | soon | adverb |
Za tydzień zaczynam nową pracę.
In a week I'm starting a new job. (perfective-flavoured present used for a scheduled future)
W przyszłym roku skończę studia.
Next year I'll finish my studies.
That last pair shows a habit English speakers should adopt: Polish often uses an ordinary present for a fixed schedule (zaczynam nową pracę za tydzień), much like English "I'm starting next week," while the perfective skończę states the completed milestone.
A short plan, stated three ways
W przyszłym tygodniu kupię bilety do Gdańska.
Next week I'll buy tickets to Gdańsk. (perfective — one purchase)
Mam zamiar pojechać tam z Anią.
I intend to go there with Ania.
Będziemy zwiedzać Stare Miasto przez cały dzień.
We'll be visiting the Old Town all day. (imperfective — drawn out)
The same trip, told through the three tools: the perfective milestone (kupię), the intention frame (mam zamiar pojechać), and the imperfective for the lingering activity (będziemy zwiedzać).
Common Mistakes
❌ Będę zrobić to jutro.
Incorrect — zrobić is perfective and cannot take będę.
✅ Zrobię to jutro.
I'll do it tomorrow.
❌ Będę kupię nowy samochód.
Incorrect — you cannot stack będę onto a perfective future form.
✅ Kupię nowy samochód. / Będę kupować części.
I'll buy a car. / I'll be buying parts.
❌ Nie mam zamiar się poddawać.
Incorrect — after nie mam, zamiar shifts to the genitive of negation: zamiaru.
✅ Nie mam zamiaru się poddawać.
I have no intention of giving up.
❌ Planuję że zwiedzę Włochy.
Incorrect — planować takes a bare infinitive, not a że-clause, when the subject is the same.
✅ Planuję zwiedzić Włochy.
I'm planning to visit Italy.
❌ Będę uczył hiszpański.
Incorrect — uczyć się governs the genitive, so it's hiszpańskiego, not the accusative.
✅ Będę się uczył hiszpańskiego.
I'll be studying Spanish.
Key Takeaways
- The first decision is aspect: a single finished act → perfective future (zrobię, kupię, present endings); an ongoing/repeated one → będę + imperfective (będę robić / robił).
- Never put będę in front of a perfective verb — that is the signature English-speaker error.
- Intention frames take a bare infinitive: mam zamiar zrobić, planuję zrobić, chcę zrobić. Under negation, nie mam zamiaru (genitive).
- Anchor plans with set time phrases: jutro, w przyszłym tygodniu (w + locative), za tydzień (za + accusative), niedługo.
Now practice Polish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- The Simple Future (Perfective)A2 — Perfective verbs have no present tense, so their present-looking conjugation means the future: zrobię = 'I'll do/finish', kupię = 'I'll buy', przeczytam = 'I'll read through' — built with no auxiliary at all.
- The Compound Future (Imperfective)A2 — The imperfective future = będę + either the infinitive or a gender-agreeing -ł participle: będę czytać = będę czytał/czytała, for ongoing or repeated future actions — and only ever with imperfective verbs.
- Choosing Aspect in the FutureB1 — Aspect doesn't just colour the Polish future — it chooses how you build it: the perfective future is a single conjugated word (zrobię, napiszę), the imperfective future is będę plus the infinitive, and the two are never interchangeable.
- Making Arrangements and AppointmentsB1 — Scheduling in Polish — Kiedy się spotkamy?, Umówmy się na piątek (umówić się na + accusative), Pasuje ci? (the dative 'does it suit you?'), O której się spotkamy?, and the handy one-word agreements Pasuje! and Zgoda!
- The Future of być: będęA2 — będę, będziesz, będzie, będziemy, będziecie, będą is both the future copula ('I'll be home') and the auxiliary for the imperfective future ('I'll be reading'); the future existential negative takes the genitive: nie będzie czasu.