Brać / wziąć ("to take") is the verb Polish learners point to when they want to explain why high-frequency verbs must be memorised as whole sets rather than derived from a rule. The two aspect partners come from unrelated roots (a true suppletive pair), and on top of that each member has its own surprising present/future stem. Add the past wziął / wzięła with its nasal ą → ę swap, and you are looking at a verb with three or four distinct stems, none predictable from the others. The good news: the payoff for memorising it is enormous — biorę ("I take / I'll have"), weź! ("take it!"), and dozens of brać/wziąć collocations are everywhere.
Aspect partner — a suppletive pair
- brać — imperfective: taking as a process or habit ("be taking," "take regularly," "keep taking").
- wziąć — perfective: a single completed taking ("take, pick up, grab").
The two infinitives share no root at all — brać vs wziąć — exactly like English "go" vs "went." See suppletive and irregular pairs.
Imperfective brać — present (the bior- / bierz- split)
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja | biorę | I take / am taking |
| ty | bierzesz | you take |
| on / ona / ono | bierze | he / she / it takes |
| my | bierzemy | we take |
| wy | bierzecie | you (pl.) take |
| oni / one | biorą | they take |
Two surprises here. First, the infinitive brać gives no hint of the present stem bior- / bierz- — the vowel o/e appears from nowhere. Second, within the present there is an internal split: the outer forms keep -or- (biorę, biorą — 1sg and 3pl), while the middle forms soften to -erz- (bierzesz, bierze, bierzemy, bierzecie). This is the same "1sg and 3pl keep the back vowel, the rest palatalise" pattern you meet in móc (mogę / mogą vs możesz).
Zawsze biorę ze sobą parasol, na wszelki wypadek.
I always take an umbrella with me, just in case. (1sg → biorę)
Dlaczego bierzesz moje rzeczy bez pytania?
Why do you take my things without asking? (2sg → bierzesz)
Oni biorą wszystko zbyt dosłownie.
They take everything too literally. (3pl → biorą)
Past of brać: brałem / brałam, brał / brała / brało, brali / brały (virile brali vs non-virile brały). Imperative: bierz! ("take / keep taking").
Brałam ten lek przez cały miesiąc.
I was taking that medicine for a whole month. (woman → brałam)
Perfective wziąć — simple future (the wezm- / weźm- stem)
Wziąć is perfective, so its present-shaped forms are future in meaning. Its stem is yet another shape — wezm- / weźm- — sharing nothing with either infinitive:
| Person | wziąć (simple future) | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja | wezmę | I'll take |
| ty | weźmiesz | you'll take |
| on / ona / ono | weźmie | he / she / it will take |
| my | weźmiemy | we'll take |
| wy | weźmiecie | you (pl.) will take |
| oni / one | wezmą | they'll take |
Note the spelling carefully: the outer forms have a hard z — wezmę (1sg), wezmą (3pl) — while the middle forms soften to ź before the -mie-: weźmiesz, weźmie, weźmiemy, weźmiecie. Same outer/inner logic as biorę / bierzesz. The ź (z with kreska) is a real, separate letter — weźmiesz with plain z is a spelling error.
Wezmę taksówkę, bo nie zdążę na autobus.
I'll take a taxi, I won't make the bus. (1sg → wezmę)
Weźmiesz mnie ze sobą na koncert?
Will you take me with you to the concert? (2sg → weźmiesz)
Oni wezmą sprawy w swoje ręce.
They'll take matters into their own hands. (3pl → wezmą)
Past of wziąć — the ą / ę nasal swap
The past of wziąć introduces a fourth wrinkle: the masculine singular has nasal ą (wziął), but every other form softens it to ę (wzięła, wzięli, wzięłam…).
| Subject | Past form | English |
|---|---|---|
| ja (m. / f.) | wziąłem / wzięłam | I took |
| ty (m. / f.) | wziąłeś / wzięłaś | you took |
| on / ona / ono | wziął / wzięła / wzięło | he / she / it took |
| my (vir. / non-vir.) | wzięliśmy / wzięłyśmy | we took |
| wy (vir. / non-vir.) | wzięliście / wzięłyście | you (pl.) took |
| oni / one | wzięli / wzięły | they took |
The rule of thumb: ą stands only in the masculine singular wziął (and wziąłem, wziąłeś, where it's followed by the -m / -ś). Everywhere a vowel ending follows the -ł-, it becomes ę: wzięła, wzięło, wzięli, wzięły. This is the same nasal alternation as wziąć / wzięli and zacząć / zaczęli (begin). For why the two nasals trade places, see the nasal vowels ą and ę.
Wziął urlop i pojechał w góry.
He took leave and went to the mountains. (on → wziął, ą)
Wzięła głęboki oddech i weszła na scenę.
She took a deep breath and walked onto the stage. (ona → wzięła, ę)
Wzięli ślub w małym wiejskim kościele.
They got married in a small village church. (men/mixed → wzięli, ę)
Imperatives — bierz! and weź!
| Person | brać (impf) | wziąć (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ty | bierz! | weź! |
| my | bierzmy! | weźmy! |
| wy | bierzcie! | weźcie! |
| 3rd (formal) | niech bierze | niech weźmie / niech pan(i) weźmie |
Weź is everyday — and note its second life as a discourse softener/intensifier: weź przestań ("oh come on, stop it"), weź się ogarnij ("get a grip"), where weź barely means "take" at all (informal).
Weź parasol, bo zaraz będzie padać.
Take an umbrella, it's about to rain. (perfective → weź)
Weź przestań, to wcale nie jest śmieszne.
Come on, stop it, that's not funny at all. (informal weź as a softener)
Government and collocations
The object of brać / wziąć is the accusative. The verb anchors a rich set of light-verb collocations where "take" pairs with a noun:
- brać udział (w czymś) — take part (in something) [+ locative]
- wziąć ślub — get married (lit. "take a wedding/vow")
- wziąć prysznic / kąpiel — take a shower / bath
- brać / wziąć coś pod uwagę — take something into account
- brać kogoś za kogoś — mistake someone for someone
- wziąć się do roboty / za coś — get down to work / get to it
Czy bierzesz udział w jutrzejszym spotkaniu?
Are you taking part in tomorrow's meeting? (brać udział + w + locative)
Musimy wziąć pod uwagę pogodę.
We have to take the weather into account.
Najwyższy czas wziąć się do roboty.
It's high time we got down to work. (wziąć się do)
For the family of "take" expressions, see light-verb collocations; for carrying verbs (nieść / nosić), compare brać and prać.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ja bierę parasol.
Incorrect — the 1sg has the back vowel: biorę, not 'bierę'.
✅ Biorę parasol.
I'm taking an umbrella.
❌ Jutro wziąć taksówkę.
Incorrect — for 'I'll take', use the perfective simple future wezmę, not the infinitive.
✅ Jutro wezmę taksówkę.
Tomorrow I'll take a taxi.
❌ Wezmiesz mnie ze sobą?
Incorrect — the 2sg softens the z to ź: weźmiesz.
✅ Weźmiesz mnie ze sobą?
Will you take me with you?
❌ Ona wziął głęboki oddech.
Incorrect — ą belongs only to masculine wziął; the feminine is wzięła, with ę.
✅ Ona wzięła głęboki oddech.
She took a deep breath.
❌ Oni wziąły ślub w czerwcu.
Incorrect — a couple (a group with a man) is virile: wzięli, not wzięły.
✅ Oni wzięli ślub w czerwcu.
They got married in June.
Key Takeaways
- A suppletive pair with unrelated roots: brać (impf) / wziąć (pf).
- Present of brać: biorę, bierzesz, bierze, bierzemy, bierzecie, biorą — bior- in 1sg/3pl, bierz- elsewhere.
- Future of wziąć: wezmę, weźmiesz, weźmie, weźmiemy, weźmiecie, wezmą — hard z in 1sg/3pl, soft ź elsewhere.
- Past of wziąć: wziął (masc., ą) but wzięła, wzięli, wzięły (all ę).
- Imperatives bierz! / weź!; weź also softens speech (weź przestań).
- Object in the accusative; anchors brać udział, wziąć ślub, wziąć prysznic, wziąć pod uwagę.
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Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- Suppletive and Irregular Aspect PairsB1 — Some of the commonest Polish verbs form their aspect pair from a completely different root — 'take' is brać but wziąć, 'say' is mówić but powiedzieć — so the two halves must be memorised together as a unit.
- The Nasal Vowels ą and ęA2 — How Polish ą and ę are really pronounced — nasal, decomposed into vowel + nasal consonant, denasalized, or reduced — depending on what follows.
- dawać / dać — to giveA2 — Full reference for dawać (impf) / dać (pf), 'to give': present daję/dajesz…, future dam/dasz…/dadzą, imperative daj — with the dative+accusative double object and the must-know idioms dać radę ('manage') and da się ('it can be done').
- Light-Verb Collocations: robić, mieć, brać, dawaćB1 — The fixed verb+noun units English speakers calque wrong — robić zdjęcie (not 'take'), mieć rację (have rightness), brać udział, dawać radę — with the case each governs and how to learn them as wholes.
- prać / wyprać — to wash (laundry); plus stem-change modelsB2 — Full conjugation of prać/wyprać 'to do laundry', showing the same io/ie stem alternation as brać, and how Polish splits 'wash' three ways.