English splits everyday actions across three verbs — do the shopping, make coffee, take a photo. Polish collapses almost all of them into one aspect pair: imperfective robić / perfective zrobić. So you robić photos, robić the shopping, and zrobić yourself a coffee. This page is the collocation bank, and it tackles the two things learners get wrong: choosing robić where English would tempt you toward brać ("take"), and adding the dative-reflexive sobie ("for oneself").
The core insight: do, make, and take collapse into robić
There is no do/make distinction in Polish, and crucially no "take" for producing things. You do not take a photo in Polish — you make one (robić zdjęcie). This is the single most common interference error, because "take a photo" is so fixed in English that learners reach for brać/wziąć ("to take"). It is wrong.
robić zdjęcia — "to take photos"
The flagship example. Robić zdjęcie (one photo) / robić zdjęcia (photos). Perfective zrobić zdjęcie for a single completed shot.
Zrobisz mi zdjęcie na tle zamku?
Will you take a photo of me with the castle behind?
Robiła zdjęcia całą wycieczkę.
She was taking photos the whole trip.
The aspect choice follows the usual logic (see imperfective vs perfective): zrobić for one finished snapshot, robić for the ongoing activity.
robić zakupy — "to do the shopping"
Zakupy ("shopping, purchases") is a plural-only noun. Robić zakupy is the everyday "go shopping / do the shopping".
W soboty zawsze robimy zakupy na cały tydzień.
On Saturdays we always do the shopping for the whole week.
Muszę jeszcze zrobić zakupy przed kolacją.
I still have to do the shopping before dinner.
robić wrażenie — "to make an impression / to impress"
Wrażenie ("impression") in the accusative. To impress on someone, the person takes na + locative.
Nowy dyrektor robi dobre wrażenie.
The new director makes a good impression.
Jej prezentacja zrobiła na wszystkich ogromne wrażenie.
Her presentation made a huge impression on everyone.
Note na wszystkich — locative after na for the people impressed.
robić porządki — "to tidy up / clean house"
Porządki (plural of porządek, "order") is the activity of a big tidy-up or spring-clean.
Przed świętami robimy generalne porządki.
Before the holidays we do a big spring clean.
The dative-reflexive sobie — "for oneself"
Polish loves to add sobie ("for/to oneself", the dative of the reflexive pronoun) to zrobić and many other verbs. It signals that you do the action for your own benefit. It's idiomatic and very frequent — leaving it out doesn't make you wrong, but adding it makes you sound natural. See siebie / sobie for the full pronoun.
Zrobię sobie kawę, chcesz też?
I'll make myself a coffee, want one too?
Zrób sobie przerwę, pracujesz od rana.
Take yourself a break, you've been working since morning.
Zrobiliśmy sobie miły wieczór.
We made ourselves a nice evening.
Robić sobie przerwę ("take a break") is itself a fixed collocation — again robić, not brać, even though English says "take a break".
Talking about activity: Co robisz?
Co robisz? ("What are you doing?") is the default Polish way to ask about current activity — note that Polish has no continuous tense, so the simple present covers "are doing".
— Co robisz w weekend? — Nic specjalnego, odpoczywam.
— What are you doing this weekend? — Nothing special, just relaxing.
Nic nie robię, po prostu siedzę.
I'm not doing anything, just sitting around.
Nic nie robić ("to do nothing") requires the double negative nic … nie — both the negative pronoun and the verbal nie are obligatory in Polish.
robić z igły widły — "to make a mountain out of a molehill" (idiom)
Literally "to make a pitchfork out of a needle". A vivid, common idiom for exaggerating. Z igły ("out of a needle", z + genitive) → widły ("a pitchfork", the accusative result).
Nie rób z igły wideł — to tylko mała rysa.
Don't make a mountain out of a molehill — it's just a small scratch.
Dziennikarze znowu robią z igły widły.
The journalists are exaggerating again.
Note that in the imperative-with-nie example the object slides to the genitive wideł (genitive of negation): nie rób … wideł.
robić się — "to be getting / becoming" (impersonal)
Robi się + adjective/adverb describes a changing condition, like English "it's getting…". The verb is impersonal (no subject).
Robi się ciemno, wracajmy.
It's getting dark, let's head back.
Zrobiło się zimno po zachodzie słońca.
It got cold after sunset.
Quick reference table
| Expression | English instinct | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| robić zdjęcie | "take" a photo | to take a photo | never brać/wziąć |
| robić zakupy | "do" the shopping | to do the shopping | zakupy = plural only |
| robić sobie przerwę | "take" a break | to take a break | dative sobie |
| zrobić sobie kawę | "make" coffee | to make oneself a coffee | dative sobie |
| robić wrażenie (na + loc.) | "make" an impression | to impress | na kimś = locative |
| robić porządki | "do" the cleaning | to tidy up | plural |
| robi się … | "it's getting…" | to be getting (a state) | impersonal |
| robić z igły widły | — | to exaggerate (idiom) | colloquial |
Common Mistakes
❌ Wziąłem zdjęcie zamku.
Incorrect — 'take a photo' calques English; Polish makes a photo.
✅ Zrobiłem zdjęcie zamku.
I took a photo of the castle.
The number-one robić error. You make a photo in Polish; wziąć zdjęcie sounds like physically grabbing a printed photograph.
❌ Robię kawę dla siebie.
Awkward — Polish prefers the dative reflexive sobie.
✅ Robię sobie kawę.
I'm making myself a coffee.
Dla siebie ("for myself") is grammatical but heavy; native speakers use the lighter dative sobie for everyday benefit.
❌ Nic robię w weekend.
Incorrect — missing the obligatory verbal nie.
✅ Nic nie robię w weekend.
I'm not doing anything this weekend.
A negative word like nic still requires nie on the verb — Polish uses double (concord) negation.
❌ Robię prysznic.
Incorrect — 'take a shower' is the fixed phrase brać/wziąć prysznic.
✅ Biorę prysznic. / Wezmę prysznic.
I'm taking a shower. / I'll take a shower.
A genuine exception: prysznic ("shower") and kąpiel ("bath") go with brać/wziąć, not robić. So not every English "take" maps to robić — these two are lexicalised with "take".
❌ Nie rób z igły widły.
Incorrect — under negation the object becomes the genitive wideł.
✅ Nie rób z igły wideł.
Don't exaggerate.
The genitive of negation applies even inside idioms: robić … widły (accusative) → nie rób … wideł (genitive).
Key Takeaways
- One aspect pair, robić/zrobić, covers English do, make, and most production-sense take (photos, decisions, breaks).
- The big trap is robić zdjęcie ("take a photo") — never brać/wziąć. But prysznic/kąpiel are real exceptions that do take brać/wziąć.
- Add the dative-reflexive sobie for actions done for your own benefit: zrobić sobie kawę, robić sobie przerwę.
- Robi się
- adjective = "it's getting…"; nic nie robić needs double negation.
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