Expressions with dać and brać/wziąć | Polish Grammar

Some of the most useful conversational phrases in Polish have nothing to do with the literal meanings of their verbs. Dać radę ("to manage / cope") and da się ("it can be done") are everyday staples built on dać ("to give") that you simply have to memorise. And brać/wziąć ("to take") anchors a family of fixed expressions where the aspect — imperfective brać versus perfective wziąć — carries real meaning: brać udział is participating in general, wziąć udział is taking part in one specific event. This page is the phrase bank, with the aspect logic spelled out.

dać radę — "to manage / to cope / to pull it off"

Rada normally means "advice", but dać radę is a fixed unit meaning "to manage, to be able to handle it". Dam radę! ("I can do it!") is a confidence cry; nie dam rady ("I can't manage") admits defeat. What you manage can follow as an infinitive or as a noun in the dative.

Spokojnie, dasz radę — przygotowałaś się świetnie.

Relax, you'll manage — you've prepared really well.

Nie dam rady zjeść tyle, jestem najedzony.

I can't manage to eat that much, I'm full.

Sam nie dam rady tej szafie — pomożesz mi?

I can't handle this wardrobe on my own — will you help me?

Note nie dam rady — under negation, accusative radę becomes genitive rady. And tej szafie is dative ("cope with the wardrobe").

da się — "it can be done / it's doable" (impersonal)

Da się is impersonal (no subject) — "it's possible / one can". Its negative nie da się means "it can't be done / there's no way". Extremely common.

— Da się to jeszcze naprawić? — Da się, ale potrwa.

— Can this still be fixed? — It can, but it'll take a while.

Nie da się żyć bez kawy.

There's no way to live without coffee.

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Keep da się ("it's doable", impersonal) and dać radę ("to manage", with a personal subject) apart. Da się to zrobić = "it's possible to do this"; Dam radę to zrobić = "I'll be able to do this". The first is about the task; the second is about the person.

dać znać — "to let (someone) know"

Znać alone means "to know (be acquainted with)", but dać znać means "to give word, to let know". The person notified goes in the dative.

Daj mi znać, kiedy dojedziesz.

Let me know when you arrive.

Dam wam znać, jak tylko będę coś wiedział.

I'll let you know as soon as I know anything.

dać spokój — "to leave alone / drop it / give it a rest"

Literally "to give peace". With a dative person/thing it means "to leave [someone/something] alone"; the bare imperative Daj spokój! is a multipurpose "Come on! / Stop it! / Give it a rest!"

Daj spokój, przecież on nie chciał źle.

Come on, he didn't mean any harm.

Daj spokój temu tematowi, nie ma sensu o tym dyskutować.

Drop the subject, there's no point discussing it.

Dałem sobie spokój z tą dietą.

I gave up on that diet.

Dać sobie spokój z czymś ("give oneself peace with something") = to give up on / drop something; the thing goes in z + instrumental.

brać/wziąć udział — "to take part" (aspect matters)

Here is where aspect becomes meaningful. Udział ("participation, a part") combines with both members of the pair, and the choice mirrors the general aspect logic (see imperfective vs perfective). Participation in something is w + locative.

Co roku biorę udział w maratonie.

Every year I take part in the marathon.

W zeszłym tygodniu wziąłem udział w konferencji.

Last week I took part in a conference.

Imperfective brać udział describes habitual or general participation (co roku — every year); perfective wziąć udział points to one completed instance (w zeszłym tygodniu — one specific time).

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In these idioms the aspect is not decoration — it is the meaning. brać udział / brać ślub frame the action as a process, a habit, or a settled plan; wziąć udział / wziąć ślub frame it as a single bounded event. Pick the member by the same question you'd ask for any verb: "one finished event, or a general/ongoing one?"

brać/wziąć ślub — "to get married"

Ślub is "a wedding / marriage vows". Brać ślub / wziąć ślub = "to get married" (for the couple). Same aspect logic: imperfective for the general/process sense or near-future plans, perfective for one completed event.

Bierzemy ślub w czerwcu.

We're getting married in June.

Wzięli ślub w małym kościele pod Krakowem.

They got married in a small church near Kraków.

The first (imperfective bierzemy) presents an arranged, in-progress plan — natural for announcing the date. The second (perfective wzięli) reports a single completed event. The marriage partner, if mentioned, takes z + instrumental: wziąć ślub z kimś.

wziąć pod uwagę — "to take into account / consider"

Uwaga means "attention"; wziąć pod uwagę (literally "to take under attention") = to consider, to factor in. Usually perfective. What you consider goes in the accusative.

Musimy wziąć pod uwagę koszty transportu.

We have to take transport costs into account.

Biorąc pod uwagę pogodę, lepiej zostać w domu.

Considering the weather, it's better to stay home.

Biorąc pod uwagę ("taking into account / considering") is a frozen adverbial participle, very common at the start of a sentence (formal/written).

wziąć się za coś / do roboty — "to get down to something"

Wziąć się za coś ("to take oneself to something", za + accusative) or wziąć się do roboty ("to get to work") means to buckle down and start. Colloquial and energetic.

No dobra, biorę się do roboty.

OK then, I'm getting down to work.

Najwyższy czas wziąć się za naukę.

It's high time to get down to studying.

brać prysznic — "to take a shower"

A reminder that brać/wziąć really does mean "take" in some fixed phrases — notably prysznic ("shower") and kąpiel ("bath"), where Polish does not use robić.

Wezmę szybki prysznic i wychodzimy.

I'll take a quick shower and we're off.

Quick reference table

Expression	Literal	Meaning	Government / aspect note
dać radę	give advice	to manage / cope	infinitive or dative; neg. → rady
da się	it gives itself	it can be done (impers.)	neg. nie da się
dać znać	give to-know	to let know	dative person
dać spokój	give peace	leave alone / drop it	dative; or z + instr.
brać / wziąć udział	take a part	to take part	w + locative; impf=general, pf=one event
brać / wziąć ślub	take a wedding	to get married	z + instr.; impf=plan, pf=event
wziąć pod uwagę	take under attention	to take into account	accusative
wziąć się za / do	take oneself to	to get down to sth	za + acc. / do + gen.; colloquial

Common Mistakes

❌ Nie dam radę tego zrobić.

Incorrect — under negation radę becomes the genitive rady.

✅ Nie dam rady tego zrobić.

I won't be able to do this.

The affirmative is dam radę (accusative), but the negative pulls the genitive of negation: nie dam rady.

❌ Mogę to zrobić? — Tak, daje się.

Incorrect — wrong form; the impersonal is da się, and 'daje się' here is a different verb.

✅ Da się? — Tak, da się.

Is it doable? — Yes, it can be done.

The impersonal possibility phrase is fixed as da się (perfective). Daje się exists but means "lets itself / is given" — not what you want here.

❌ Wziąłem udział na konferencji.

Incorrect — udział governs w + locative, not na.

✅ Wziąłem udział w konferencji.

I took part in the conference.

"Take part in" is brać/wziąć udział *w + locative. The preposition *na is wrong here.

❌ Co roku wziąłem udział w maratonie.

Aspect clash — co roku ('every year') is habitual, so use the imperfective.

✅ Co roku biorę udział w maratonie.

Every year I take part in the marathon.

Habitual, repeated participation requires the imperfective brać; the perfective wziąć would mean one single completed instance, contradicting co roku.

❌ Robię prysznic rano.

Incorrect — 'take a shower' uses brać/wziąć, not robić.

✅ Biorę prysznic rano.

I take a shower in the morning.

A shower is one of the fixed brać/wziąć phrases; robić prysznic sounds like you're building a shower.

Key Takeaways

Dać radę ("manage") and da się ("it's doable") are conversational staples unrelated to literal giving — memorise them, and watch the genitive of negation in nie dam rady.
Dać znać ("let know") and dać spokój ("leave alone / give it a rest") take the dative person.
With brać/wziąć idioms, aspect carries meaning: brać udział / brać ślub = general or planned; wziąć udział / wziąć ślub = one completed event.
Mind the government: udział *w
- locative, ślub z
  - instrumental, *wziąć pod uwagę
    - accusative.

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