This page is a reference you will come back to. It collects the most frequent aspect pairs in spoken Polish — the verbs that show up in nearly every conversation — and presents them the way you should always store them in memory: as pairs, imperfective first, perfective second, with a gloss. The single most common intermediate-level mistake is reaching for the wrong member of a pair, and the cure is to learn the two members together from the very beginning. Never memorise kupić on its own; memorise kupować / kupić as one unit. Use this list to do exactly that.
How to read the tables: the third column shows how the pair is built, so you start noticing the patterns covered on the prefix and suffix pages. Most pairs add a prefix to make the perfective (pisać → napisać); some build the imperfective with a suffix off a perfective base (dać → dawać); a handful are suppletive, meaning the two members come from totally different roots (like English go / went) and must simply be memorised.
Daily actions: doing, making, working
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| robić | zrobić | do, make · prefix z- |
| pisać | napisać | write · prefix na- |
| czytać | przeczytać | read · prefix prze- |
| tłumaczyć | przetłumaczyć | translate, explain · prefix prze- |
| uczyć się | nauczyć się | learn (study) · prefix na- |
| pomagać | pomóc | help · irregular (suffix drop + stem change) |
| pokazywać | pokazać | show · suffix -ywać on the imperfective |
| zaczynać | zacząć | begin · imperfective in -ynać, nasal stem |
| kończyć | skończyć | finish · prefix s- |
Codziennie robię to samo, ale dzisiaj zrobiłem coś innego.
Every day I do the same thing, but today I did something different. (habit → one completed act)
Uczę się polskiego od roku i w końcu nauczyłem się czasów.
I've been learning Polish for a year and I've finally learned the tenses.
Speaking, asking, telling
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| mówić | powiedzieć | say, speak · suppletive (different root) |
| prosić | poprosić | ask for, request · prefix po- |
| pytać | zapytać | ask (a question) · prefix za- |
| dzwonić | zadzwonić | call, phone · prefix za- |
| dziękować | podziękować | thank · prefix po- |
| odpowiadać | odpowiedzieć | answer · suppletive-ish (built on -powiedzieć) |
| przepraszać | przeprosić | apologise · suffix vs. base shift |
Mówiłem ci to wczoraj, a teraz powiem jeszcze raz.
I told you this yesterday, and now I'll say it once more. (process → one completed act, future)
Zadzwoń do mnie, jak dojedziesz.
Give me a call when you get there. (one completed call — perfective)
Getting and giving: take, give, buy
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| brać | wziąć | take · suppletive (different root) |
| dawać | dać | give · suffix -awać on the perfective |
| kupować | kupić | buy · suffix -ować on the perfective |
| dostawać | dostać | get, receive · suffix -awać on the perfective |
| płacić | zapłacić | pay · prefix za- |
| sprzedawać | sprzedać | sell · suffix -awać on the perfective |
| znajdować | znaleźć | find · suppletive (different root) |
| zostawiać | zostawić | leave (behind) · suffix vs. base |
Zwykle biorę kawę bez cukru, ale dziś wzięłam z cukrem.
I usually take my coffee without sugar, but today I took it with sugar. (habit → one act)
Nie mogę znaleźć kluczy — gdzie je zostawiłem?
I can't find my keys — where did I leave them?
Eating, drinking, the body
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| jeść | zjeść | eat · prefix z- |
| pić | wypić | drink · prefix wy- |
| gotować | ugotować | cook · prefix u- |
| myć się | umyć się | wash (oneself) · prefix u- |
| ubierać się | ubrać się | get dressed · suffix -erać vs. base |
Powoli piję herbatę, a brat już wypił całą swoją.
I'm slowly drinking my tea, and my brother has already drunk all of his. (process → completed whole)
Coming and going: open, close, return, meet
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| otwierać | otworzyć | open · suffix -erać vs. base |
| zamykać | zamknąć | close · perfective in -nąć |
| wracać | wrócić | come back, return · suffix -ać vs. base |
| spotykać (się) | spotkać (się) | meet · suffix -ywać/-ykać vs. base |
| wchodzić | wejść | go/come in, enter · suppletive motion roots |
| wychodzić | wyjść | go/come out, leave · suppletive motion roots |
Zwykle wracam do domu o szóstej, ale dziś wróciłem później.
I usually get home at six, but today I got back later. (habit → one act)
Spotykamy się co tydzień, a w piątek spotkamy się wcześniej.
We meet every week, and on Friday we'll meet earlier. (repeated → one future meeting)
Perceiving, remembering, watching
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning · how built |
|---|---|---|
| widzieć | zobaczyć | see · suppletive (different root) |
| słyszeć | usłyszeć | hear · prefix u- |
| oglądać | obejrzeć | watch, view · suppletive-ish (prze-/ob- + different stem) |
| pamiętać | zapamiętać | remember / memorise · prefix za- |
| zapominać | zapomnieć | forget · suffix -inać vs. base |
| myśleć | pomyśleć | think · prefix po- |
| zmieniać | zmienić | change · suffix -iać vs. base |
| próbować | spróbować | try, taste · prefix s- |
Nie widziałem tego filmu, ale jutro go zobaczę.
I haven't seen this film, but I'll see it tomorrow.
Zawsze zapominam jej imię — muszę je w końcu zapamiętać.
I always forget her name — I really must memorise it.
A note on the suppletive pairs
A few of the most common pairs are suppletive: the imperfective and perfective look nothing alike because they descend from different roots. You cannot derive one from the other, so these have to be memorised whole. They are worth singling out because they are unavoidable in everyday speech:
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| brać | wziąć | take |
| mówić | powiedzieć | say, tell |
| widzieć | zobaczyć | see |
| znajdować | znaleźć | find |
| oglądać | obejrzeć | watch |
| kłaść | położyć | put (lay down) |
These get their own full treatment on the suppletive and irregular pairs page. For now, just notice that brać / wziąć and mówić / powiedzieć are pairs even though they share no letters — that is exactly the kind of thing English speakers must learn to expect.
Common Mistakes
❌ Wczoraj kupowałem nowy telefon.
Odd — imperfective frames a process, but a single purchase is usually completed
✅ Wczoraj kupiłem nowy telefon.
Yesterday I bought a new phone. (one completed purchase — perfective)
For a single finished purchase use the perfective kupić. The imperfective kupować fits "I was shopping for / used to buy", not "I bought one".
❌ Codziennie zjadam śniadanie i wypijam kawę.
Acceptable but marked — perfective-derived forms over-emphasise completion for a daily routine
✅ Codziennie jem śniadanie i piję kawę.
Every day I eat breakfast and drink coffee. (habit — imperfective)
A habit is imperfective: jeść, pić. Save zjeść, wypić for a single occasion where finishing the portion is the point.
❌ Zaraz będę wziąć parasol.
Incorrect — będę never combines with a perfective
✅ Zaraz wezmę parasol.
I'll grab an umbrella in a sec. (perfective future = plain present-shaped form)
Wziąć is perfective, so its future is the single word wezmę, not będę wziąć.
❌ Mówię ci to jutro.
Incorrect — imperfective present can't mean a one-time future telling
✅ Powiem ci to jutro.
I'll tell you tomorrow. (one completed telling — perfective future)
For a single future act of telling, use the perfective powiedzieć (powiem). The imperfective mówię is the present "I am saying / I say".
Key Takeaways
- Learn every verb as a pair (kupować / kupić), imperfective first — picking the wrong member is the top intermediate error and pairing prevents it.
- Most perfectives are built by prefix (zrobić, napisać, przeczytać); many imperfectives by suffix (dawać, kupować, pokazywać); a handful are suppletive (brać/wziąć, mówić/powiedzieć).
- These ~50 pairs cover the overwhelming majority of everyday verbs — master this list and you can express most actions in either aspect.
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Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- Forming Aspect Pairs: Perfectivizing PrefixesB1 — The commonest way a perfective partner is built is by adding a prefix to an imperfective base — but which prefix is unpredictable, and many prefixes also change meaning, so each pair must be learned.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: Imperfectivizing SuffixesB1 — The second way to build a pair: derive an imperfective from a perfective by adding a suffix like -ywać/-iwać or -ać — the engine behind secondary imperfectives and three-step chains like pisać → przepisać → przepisywać.
- 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.
- Telling the Imperfective from the PerfectiveA2 — Practical shape cues that let you guess a verb's aspect on sight — the -ywać/-iwać suffix screams imperfective, -nąć screams perfective, a bare simple verb is usually imperfective — with honest warnings about where the cues fail.
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Aspect is the central, pervasive feature of the Polish verb — almost every verb is one of an imperfective/perfective pair, and you choose between process and completed whole before you even pick a tense.