The plain verb robić ("do, make") is one of the first verbs you meet in Polish, but it is also a factory. Bolt a prefix onto it and you get a specialised perfective: zrobić ("do, get done"), przerobić ("rework, redo"), zarobić ("earn"), wyrobić ("produce, develop, churn out"), odrobić ("do [homework], make up"). Each of those perfectives then grows its own imperfective with the suffix -rabiać (przerabiać, zarabiać, odrabiać, wyrabiać). This page shows the pattern with one fully conjugated pair — przerabiać / przerobić — and then decodes the family, because once you can read a prefix you can read all of them.
The base: robić (impf) → present forms
Before the prefixes, anchor the base. Robić is a regular -ę / -isz verb: stem robi-, with the predictable 1sg softening to robię (note the nasal ę).
| Person | robić (present) | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja | robię | I do / make / am doing |
| ty | robisz | you do |
| on / ona / ono | robi | he / she / it does |
| my | robimy | we do |
| wy | robicie | you (pl.) do |
| oni / one | robią | they do |
Crucially, every prefixed perfective in this family conjugates in its future exactly like robić conjugates in its present — same endings, same 1sg softening: zrobię, przerobię, zarobię, odrobię, wyrobię. So if you know robię / robisz / … / robią, you already know all five future paradigms; you just prepend the prefix.
Co robisz w weekend? Nic specjalnego.
What are you doing this weekend? Nothing special.
A fully conjugated pair: przerabiać (impf) / przerobić (pf)
This is the model pair. The perfective przerobić ("rework, redo, convert, get through [material]") is robić with the prefix prze- ("through, across, re-"); its imperfective is przerabiać (the -rabiać twin).
Imperfective przerabiać — present
| Person | przerabiać (present) | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja | przerabiam | I rework / am reworking |
| ty | przerabiasz | you rework |
| on / ona / ono | przerabia | he / she / it reworks |
| my | przerabiamy | we rework |
| wy | przerabiacie | you (pl.) rework |
| oni / one | przerabiają | they rework |
Note the shift in conjugation class: the perfective przerobić follows the -ę / -isz type (like robić), but its imperfective przerabiać has jumped to the -am / -asz type — the same -ać class as czytać, mieszkać. This class swap is typical of the -rabiać suffix and applies right across the family.
Past: przerabiałem / przerabiałam, przerabiał / przerabiała / przerabiało, przerabialiśmy / przerabiałyśmy, przerabiali / przerabiały. Imperative: przerabiaj!. Contemporary adverbial participle: przerabiając ("while reworking"). Passive participle: przerabiany.
W liceum przerabialiśmy „Lalkę
In high school we worked through Prus's 'The Doll' for a whole semester. (przerabiać = cover/study material)
Ona ciągle przerabia stare ubrania na coś nowego.
She's always remaking old clothes into something new.
Perfective przerobić — simple future
| Person | przerobić (simple future) | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja | przerobię | I'll rework |
| ty | przerobisz | you'll rework |
| on / ona / ono | przerobi | he / she / it will rework |
| my | przerobimy | we'll rework |
| wy | przerobicie | you (pl.) will rework |
| oni / one | przerobią | they'll rework |
Compare line by line with the robić present at the top: identical endings, identical ę in the 1sg. Past: przerobiłem / przerobiłam, przerobił / przerobiła / przerobiło, przerobiliśmy / przerobiłyśmy, przerobili / przerobiły. Imperative: przerób! (note the ó, which appears because the syllable is now closed — the same o → ó alternation as robić → rób!). Passive participle: przerobiony.
Daj mi godzinę, przerobię ten raport i odeślę.
Give me an hour, I'll redo this report and send it back. (one completed act → perfective)
Stolarz przerobił szafę na biurko.
The carpenter converted the wardrobe into a desk.
Decoding the family by prefix
Polish prefixes carry recurring meanings, so each robić-derivative is roughly "robić + the prefix's flavour." Learn the prefixes once and the verbs unlock themselves.
| Verb (pf / impf) | Prefix sense | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| zrobić / robić | z- (completion) | do, make, get done (the plain perfective of robić) |
| przerobić / przerabiać | prze- (through / re-) | rework, redo, convert, get through (material) |
| zarobić / zarabiać | za- (acquire by doing) | earn (money) |
| odrobić / odrabiać | od- (off, make up) | do (homework), make up (a missed lesson, lost time) |
| wyrobić / wyrabiać | wy- (out, fully) | produce, churn out; develop (a habit, a skill); knead (dough) |
| dorobić / dorabiać | do- (in addition) | earn on the side, make extra; make an additional copy (a key) |
| narobić / narabiać | na- (a quantity of) | make a lot of, cause (a mess, noise, trouble) |
The two highest-frequency derivatives for a learner are zarobić / zarabiać ("earn") and odrobić / odrabiać ("do homework") — you will meet them constantly.
zrobić — the default perfective of robić
When you simply need the completed counterpart of robić, it is zrobić (future zrobię, zrobisz, … zrobią; imperative zrób!, again with ó).
Zrobię ci herbatę, usiądź.
I'll make you some tea, sit down.
Zrób to dzisiaj, jutro nie będzie czasu.
Get it done today, there'll be no time tomorrow.
zarobić / zarabiać — earn
This is the verb for earning money. Imperfective zarabiać ("earn [regularly], make a living"); perfective zarobić ("earn [a specific sum]").
Ile zarabiasz w tej nowej firmie?
How much do you earn at this new company? (habitual income → imperfective)
W lecie zarobiłem na nowy laptop.
Over the summer I earned enough for a new laptop. (a completed goal → perfective)
odrobić / odrabiać — do homework, make up
Odrabiać lekcje / odrobić lekcje ("do one's homework") is a fixed everyday collocation; the same verb covers "making up" lost time or a missed day.
Najpierw odrób lekcje, potem komputer.
Do your homework first, then the computer.
Muszę odrobić te dwa dni, które opuściłam w pracy.
I have to make up those two days I missed at work.
Why the i → a vowel change in the imperfectives
You may notice the perfectives keep the o/i of robić (-robić, -robię) while the imperfectives swap to a: przerabiać, zarabiać, odrabiać, wyrabiać. This o → a alternation is a regular feature of secondary-imperfective formation (the same change you see in pomóc → pomagać, wrócić → wracać). It is not optional and not random — it is the morphological signal that you are looking at the imperfective member. So zarobić (pf) vs zarabiać (impf) differ in exactly two things: the vowel and the conjugation class.
Dorabiam wieczorami jako korepetytor.
I earn extra in the evenings as a tutor. (ongoing side job → dorabiać)
Common Mistakes
❌ Ile zarobisz miesięcznie?
Incorrect — for habitual, recurring income use the imperfective zarabiasz; the perfective zarobisz means 'how much will you earn (this once)'.
✅ Ile zarabiasz miesięcznie?
How much do you earn a month?
❌ Odrobiam lekcje codziennie po szkole.
Incorrect — the imperfective is odrabiam (i → a in the imperfective stem), not odrobiam.
✅ Odrabiam lekcje codziennie po szkole.
I do my homework every day after school.
❌ Zrobisz herbatę? — Tak, robię ją teraz.
Incorrect — to describe the act you're completing now, the natural answer mixes badly; if it's done as one act, use the perfective: zaraz zrobię.
✅ Zrobisz herbatę? — Tak, zaraz zrobię.
Will you make tea? — Yes, I'll make it in a moment.
❌ Przerabiam ten raport i zaraz wysyłam.
Incorrect — if you mean you'll finish reworking it as one completed act before sending, use the perfective przerobię, not the open-ended imperfective.
✅ Przerobię ten raport i zaraz wyślę.
I'll rework this report and send it right away.
❌ Zrobiłem dużo bałaganu w kuchni.
Incorrect — the idiomatic verb for 'making a mess (a lot of it)' is narobić, with the na- 'a quantity of' prefix.
✅ Narobiłem bałaganu w kuchni.
I made a real mess in the kitchen.
Key Takeaways
- robić ("do/make") is a base verb that prefixes turn into specialised perfectives; each then forms a -rabiać imperfective.
- Perfectives keep robić's -ę / -isz endings (zrobię, przerobię, zarobię, odrobię); imperfectives in -rabiać take -am / -asz endings and an o → a vowel (zarabiać, odrabiać, przerabiać).
- High-frequency members for learners: zarabiać / zarobić ("earn"), odrabiać / odrobić lekcje ("do homework"), zrobić ("the default perfective of robić").
- Imperatives close the syllable and trigger o → ó: zrób!, przerób!, odrób!.
- Read the prefix and you read the verb: prze- "re-/through," za- "earn/acquire," od- "make up," wy- "produce fully," na- "make a lot of."
Now practice Polish
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