This page covers the classroom-staple verb pair powtarzać (imperfective) / powtórzyć (perfective), "to repeat" and, in a study context, "to revise / go over". You will hear Powtórz, proszę ("say it again, please") in every Polish lesson, and powtarzać materiał ("to revise the material") in every exam season. The tricky points for an English speaker are the o ↔ ó vowel alternation between the two members and the rz spelling — both are pure orthography traps, not pronunciation difficulties.
What the pair means
The verb has two everyday senses, and the aspect contrast works the same way in both:
- say/do again — repeat a word, a question, an action.
- revise / go over — review study material before a test (very common in school and university talk).
The imperfective powtarzać presents the repeating as a process or habit ("she keeps repeating", "we were revising"); the perfective powtórzyć presents one completed repetition or a finished review ("say it once more", "I've gone over the chapter").
Nauczycielka musiała powtarzać to pytanie kilka razy.
The teacher had to repeat the question several times. (process → imperfective)
Powtórz, proszę — nie zrozumiałem.
Repeat it, please — I didn't understand. (one repetition → perfective)
The o ↔ ó alternation
The two members differ in their root vowel: the imperfective has plain o (powtarzać has a in the suffix but the root is powtarz-), while the perfective and its forms carry ó: powtórzyć, powtórzę, powtórz. This ó is a so-called o kreskowane — historically a long o — and it sounds identical to u, which is exactly why it is a spelling trap. You hear "u" but you must write ó.
| Member | Root vowel | Sample forms |
|---|---|---|
| powtarzać (impf) | a | powtarzam, powtarzał, powtarzaj |
| powtórzyć (pf) | ó | powtórzę, powtórzył, powtórz |
Government: powtórzyć takes the accusative
You repeat something — a word, a question, the material — in the accusative, an ordinary direct object. In the "revise" sense the object is the material studied: powtarzać gramatykę, powtórzyć rozdział.
Przed egzaminem powtarzam całą gramatykę.
Before the exam I revise all the grammar. (habit/process)
Czy możesz powtórzyć swoje nazwisko?
Can you repeat your surname?
Imperfective: powtarzać (present, past, imperative)
powtarzać is a regular -am / -asz verb: powtarzam, powtarzasz… powtarzają.
Present tense
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | powtarzam | powtarzamy |
| 2nd | powtarzasz | powtarzacie |
| 3rd | powtarza | powtarzają |
Past tense (gendered)
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg | powtarzałem | powtarzałam | — |
| 2nd sg | powtarzałeś | powtarzałaś | — |
| 3rd sg | powtarzał | powtarzała | powtarzało |
| Masculine-personal pl | Other plural | ||
| 1st pl | powtarzaliśmy | powtarzałyśmy | |
| 2nd pl | powtarzaliście | powtarzałyście | |
| 3rd pl | powtarzali | powtarzały |
Imperative and participles
Imperative: powtarzaj! (sg), powtarzajmy!, powtarzajcie!. Contemporary adverbial participle: powtarzając. Active adjectival participle: powtarzający. Imperfective passive participle: powtarzany.
Babcia powtarzała mi to samo przysłowie od lat.
Grandma had been repeating the same proverb to me for years.
Powtarzaj te słówka codziennie, a je zapamiętasz.
Repeat these words every day and you'll remember them. (ongoing drill → imperfective)
Perfective: powtórzyć (future, past, imperative)
The perfective powtórzyć is an -ę / -ysz verb. It has no present — its present-shaped forms are the simple future: powtórzę, powtórzysz… powtórzą. The imperative is powtórz!.
Simple future
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | powtórzę | powtórzymy |
| 2nd | powtórzysz | powtórzycie |
| 3rd | powtórzy | powtórzą |
Past tense (gendered)
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg | powtórzyłem | powtórzyłam | — |
| 2nd sg | powtórzyłeś | powtórzyłaś | — |
| 3rd sg | powtórzył | powtórzyła | powtórzyło |
| Masculine-personal pl | Other plural | ||
| 1st pl | powtórzyliśmy | powtórzyłyśmy | |
| 2nd pl | powtórzyliście | powtórzyłyście | |
| 3rd pl | powtórzyli | powtórzyły |
Imperative
Imperative: powtórz! (sg), powtórzmy!, powtórzcie!. The everyday "say it again" is just Powtórz!. Perfective passive participle: powtórzony ("repeated").
Nie usłyszałem — powtórzysz numer telefonu?
I didn't catch that — will you repeat the phone number?
Powtórzmy jeszcze raz ten dialog przed lekcją.
Let's go over this dialogue once more before the lesson.
Aspect in context
Cały weekend powtarzałem do egzaminu.
I revised all weekend for the exam. (sustained process → imperfective)
W końcu powtórzyłem cały materiał i jestem gotowy.
I've finally gone over all the material and I'm ready. (completed result → perfective)
Note that Nie powtarzaj tego! ("don't repeat that!") uses the imperfective, as negative commands regularly do.
Nie powtarzaj tego nikomu — to tajemnica.
Don't repeat that to anyone — it's a secret. (negative → imperfective)
Common Mistakes
❌ Powtórz słówka codziennie.
Aspect mismatch — a daily habit needs the imperfective.
✅ Powtarzaj słówka codziennie.
Repeat the words every day. (repeated action → imperfective)
❌ Możesz powtarzać swoje nazwisko? (jeden raz)
Odd for a single request — use the perfective for one repetition.
✅ Możesz powtórzyć swoje nazwisko?
Can you repeat your surname? (once → perfective)
❌ Powturzę ci to jutro.
Spelling error — write ó, not u, in the perfective.
✅ Powtórzę ci to jutro.
I'll repeat it to you tomorrow.
❌ Powtażać materiał jest nudne.
Spelling error — it's rz, not ż, and the infinitive is powtarzać.
✅ Powtarzać materiał jest nudno.
Revising the material is boring.
❌ Nie powtórz tego nikomu.
Incorrect — negative commands take the imperfective.
✅ Nie powtarzaj tego nikomu.
Don't repeat that to anyone. (negative → imperfective)
Key Takeaways
- powtarzać (imperfective): present powtarzam / powtarzają; repeating as process, habit, or drill; "to revise".
- powtórzyć (perfective): simple future powtórzę / powtórzą, imperative powtórz!; one completed repetition or a finished review.
- Watch the o ↔ ó alternation: plain a/o in the imperfective, ó in every perfective form.
- Watch the rz in both members — never ż.
- Both take a bare accusative object; negative commands use the imperfective.
Now practice Polish
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Start learning Polish→Related Topics
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- Decision Guide: Imperfective or Perfective?B1 — A step-by-step checklist that takes you from intended meaning to aspect — ask about process vs. result and single vs. repeated, run the questions in order, and most clauses choose themselves.
- High-Frequency Aspect Pairs: A Reference ListA2 — A curated, cell-accurate list of the ~50 most common imperfective/perfective pairs every learner needs — grouped sensibly, with the suppletive and irregular ones flagged, made to be memorised as pairs from day one.
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- ó versus uA2 — Why Polish spells the same [u] sound two ways, and the alternation test that resolves most of it.
- Accusative: The Direct ObjectA1 — The accusative's core job — marking the direct object of a transitive verb — and how that case-marking frees Polish word order in ways English can't.