The motion verbs iść ("to go [on foot], one direction") and its multidirectional partner chodzić are among the busiest verbs in Polish, and most of that traffic is figurative. Just like English "go" reaches far beyond walking ("how's it going?", "the meeting went well"), Polish iść expresses progress, success, and how things are turning out — and it does so through a dative experiencer: Jak ci idzie? literally "How does it go to-you?" Meanwhile chodzić gives the indispensable chodzi o… ("it's about…"). This page maps that figurative territory.
Literal first: iść spać, iść do pracy
Before the figurative uses, fix the everyday literal collocations. Iść + destination uses do + genitive for enclosed places, na + accusative for events/open areas, and a bare infinitive for purpose.
Idę spać, jestem wykończony.
I'm going to sleep, I'm exhausted.
Codziennie idę do pracy na piechotę.
Every day I walk to work.
Idziemy na spacer po obiedzie?
Shall we go for a walk after lunch?
Note the choice of preposition: do pracy / do szkoły (enclosed institution, do + genitive) but na spacer / na zakupy (activity, na + accusative). See iść vs jechać vs chodzić.
The figurative core: Jak ci idzie? — "How's it going?"
This is the headline construction. Polish reports how things are progressing with iść + a dative experiencer — the person for whom it's going is in the dative, not the nominative.
— Jak ci idzie nauka polskiego? — Powoli, ale do przodu.
— How's your Polish learning going? — Slowly, but forward.
Idzie mu świetnie w nowej pracy.
He's doing great in his new job.
Jak idą interesy?
How's business going?
Parse idzie mu dobrze carefully: the literal structure is "(it) goes to-him well", i.e. things are going well for him. The person is the dative mu ("to him"), and the verb is third-person singular idzie. This dative-experiencer pattern is everywhere in Polish — compare dative subjects and feelings.
coś mi nie idzie — "I'm struggling with something"
The negative of the same pattern. When something nie idzie ("isn't going") for you, you can't get it to work.
Coś mi dzisiaj nie idzie — same błędy.
Something's just not working for me today — nothing but mistakes.
Matematyka zawsze mi nie szła.
Maths never came easily to me.
Again the person is dative (mi) and the difficult thing (matematyka) is the subject. Szła is the feminine past of iść, agreeing with feminine matematyka.
chodzi o… — "it's about… / the point is…"
If you learn one chodzić idiom, learn this. Chodzi o (literally "it walks about") introduces the topic, the issue, or the crux. The thing it's about takes o + accusative.
Nie chodzi o pieniądze, chodzi o zasadę.
It's not about money, it's about the principle.
O co ci chodzi?
What are you getting at? / What's your point?
Chodzi o to, żebyśmy się dogadali.
The point is for us to come to an agreement.
O co chodzi? ("What's it about?") and O co ci chodzi? ("What are you getting at?", with dative ci) are extremely common in conversation. Chodzi o to, żeby… introduces a purpose: "the point is to…".
idzie zima — "winter is coming"
Iść can describe time and seasons approaching, the way English says "winter is coming" or "there's a storm coming".
Idzie zima, trzeba kupić cieplejsze ubrania.
Winter is coming, we need to buy warmer clothes.
Widać, że idzie burza.
You can see a storm is coming.
iść w parze — "to go hand in hand"
Iść w parze (z + instrumental) — literally "to go in a pair (with)" — means two things accompany or correlate with each other.
Wysoka jakość nie zawsze idzie w parze z wysoką ceną.
High quality doesn't always go hand in hand with a high price.
Conversational openers: Jak leci? / Co słychać?
Casual "how's it going" / "what's up". Jak leci? uses lecieć ("to fly") figuratively for how life is flying along; it's informal.
— Cześć! Jak leci? — A, po staremu.
— Hi! How's it going? — Ah, same as always.
Coś jest nie tak z internetem — strona się nie ładuje.
Something's wrong with the internet — the page won't load.
Coś jest nie tak ("something's not right/wrong") is the standard way to flag a problem; nie tak literally means "not so".
Quick reference table
| Expression | Literal | Meaning | Structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| iść spać | go to-sleep | to go to bed |
|
| Jak ci idzie? | how to-you goes? | How's it going (for you)? | dative experiencer |
| idzie mi dobrze | it goes to-me well | I'm doing well | dative experiencer |
| coś mi nie idzie | something to-me not goes | I'm struggling with sth | dative experiencer |
| chodzi o… | it walks about… | it's about… / the point is… | o + accusative |
| O co (ci) chodzi? | about what (to you) walks? | What's your point? | o + acc., dative person |
| idzie zima | winter goes | winter is coming | — |
| iść w parze (z + instr.) | go in a pair | to go hand in hand | z + instrumental |
| Jak leci? | how flies? | How's it going? (casual) | colloquial |
Common Mistakes
❌ Jak idziesz? (intended: 'how are you doing?')
Incorrect — this asks literally 'how are you walking?'
✅ Jak ci idzie?
How's it going (for you)?
The figurative meaning needs the dative experiencer and a third-person verb. Jak idziesz? with second-person idziesz literally asks about your gait.
❌ Idę dobrze w pracy.
Incorrect — means roughly 'I walk steadily at work'.
✅ Idzie mi dobrze w pracy.
I'm doing well at work.
You are not the subject of iść in the figurative sense — the situation is. You appear in the dative (mi).
❌ Chodzi o pieniądzach.
Incorrect — chodzi o takes the accusative, not the locative.
✅ Chodzi o pieniądze.
It's about money.
Many learners reach for the locative after o (as in mówić o "to talk about"), but chodzi o governs the accusative: o pieniądze, o to, o co.
❌ Co ci chodzi?
Incorrect — the idiom asking 'what's your point' needs o.
✅ O co ci chodzi?
What are you getting at?
Drop the o and you lose the idiom. The fixed question is O co (ci) chodzi?
❌ Coś jest nie dobrze z autem.
Awkward — the fixed phrase is nie tak, not nie dobrze.
✅ Coś jest nie tak z autem.
Something's wrong with the car.
"Something's wrong" is coś jest nie tak ("something is not so"), with the car following in the instrumental after z (z autem).
Key Takeaways
- Iść has a wide figurative range, all built on a dative experiencer: Jak ci idzie?, idzie mi dobrze, coś mi nie idzie. The person is dative; the verb stays third-person.
- Chodzi o + accusative ("it's about…") and O co (ci) chodzi? ("what's your point?") are conversation staples — note the accusative.
- Iść also covers approaching time/seasons (idzie zima) and correlation (iść w parze z).
- Jak leci? (casual "how's it going?") and coś jest nie tak ("something's wrong") round out the everyday toolkit.
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- iść / pójść — to go (on foot)A1 — Full conjugation reference for the determinate motion verb iść and its perfective partner pójść — present, the famously suppletive past (szedł vs szła), future, imperative — plus when to choose iść over chodzić and jechać.
- chodzić — to go (habitually, on foot)A2 — Full conjugation reference for the indeterminate motion verb chodzić ('go around / habitually, walk, attend') — present, past, future, imperative — plus the high-frequency idiom chodzi o ('it's about') and how it pairs with iść.
- Dative Subject: Feelings and StatesB1 — The pervasive Polish construction where the experiencer of a feeling stands in the dative and the predicate is impersonal — zimno mi, smutno mi, podoba mi się, nudzi mi się, chce mi się, udało mi się — with no nominative subject at all.
- iść versus chodzić (Going on Foot)B1 — The most important motion pair: determinate iść (one trip on foot, now) versus indeterminate chodzić (habitual going, walking around, the ability to walk, and 'attend').
- iść vs chodzić vs jechać vs jeździć: Which 'Go'?B1 — Polish splits 'go' into a 2×2 grid — foot vs vehicle and single-trip-now vs habitual — and these four verbs fill the cells. Here's how to choose.