This page collects the handful of commands you will hear and use constantly in Poland: Chodź! (come!), Daj! (give!), Poczekaj! (wait!), Zobacz! (look!), Powiedz! (tell me!), Posłuchaj! (listen!), Pomóż mi! (help me!), Usiądź! / Siadaj! (sit down!), Nie martw się! (don't worry!), Uważaj! (be careful!) and Pospiesz się! (hurry up!). Learning them as ready-made phrases gets you functioning fast — but each one also quietly encodes aspect, and that is the part English speakers miss.
Why even simple commands carry aspect
English commands are aspect-blind: "Wait!" is "Wait!" whether you mean one moment or a whole afternoon. Polish forces a choice. A perfective imperative (Poczekaj!, Zrób to!, Daj!) asks for a single, completed action — do this one thing, now, to the end. An imperfective imperative (Czekaj!, Siadaj!, Słuchaj!) frames the action as a process, an invitation, or a general instruction — and, importantly, it is what you use under negation.
For how imperative forms are built from the present stem, see verbs/imperative/formation. For the aspect rule in depth, see verbs/aspect/aspect-in-imperative.
Come, go, move
Chodź! is one of the first imperatives every learner needs — it is the warm, inviting "come (here)!" and it is imperfective, which is exactly why it sounds friendly rather than barked. Idź! is "go!" — also from the imperfective iść, but it feels firmer and more directive than Chodź!; for a single, decisive "set off!" you can reach for the perfective Pójdź!.
Chodź tu, coś ci pokażę!
Come here, I'll show you something!
Chodźcie, bo film się zaraz zaczyna.
Come on (you all), the film's about to start.
Idź już, bo się spóźnisz.
Go now, or you'll be late.
Notice the plural ending -cie: Chodź → Chodźcie, Idź → Idźcie. You add it whenever you are addressing more than one person informally.
Give, take, show
Daj! is the perfective imperative of dać — a single act of giving. It is everywhere in daily life, almost always with a clitic pronoun: Daj mi (give me), Daj nam (give us).
Daj mi chwilę, zaraz przyjdę.
Give me a second, I'll be right there.
Pokaż, co kupiłeś!
Show me what you bought!
Wait, hurry
Poczekaj! (perfective) is "wait (a moment)!" — bounded, for a short pause. The bare imperfective Czekaj! exists too and feels more like "keep waiting / hold on" as a process. Pospiesz się! (perfective, reflexive) is "hurry up!"
Poczekaj chwilę, muszę zamknąć drzwi.
Wait a moment, I have to lock the door.
Pospiesz się, taksówka już czeka!
Hurry up, the taxi is already waiting!
Poczekajcie na mnie przy wyjściu.
Wait for me (you all) by the exit.
Look, listen, tell
These three pattern together. Zobacz! (perfective) is "(take a) look!" — a single glance — while Patrz! is its imperfective cousin for sustained looking. Posłuchaj! (perfective) and Słuchaj! (imperfective) both mean "listen", but Słuchaj! doubles as a conversation opener, like English "look, ..." or "listen, ...". Powiedz! (perfective of powiedzieć) is "tell (me)!"
Zobacz, jaki ładny zachód słońca!
Look, what a beautiful sunset!
Słuchaj, mam do ciebie prośbę.
Listen, I have a favour to ask you.
Powiedz mi prawdę — co się stało?
Tell me the truth — what happened?
Help me, be careful
Pomóż mi! is the perfective imperative of pomóc (note the ó and the ż). Uważaj! (imperfective) is the standard "be careful! / watch out!" — imperfective because carefulness is an ongoing state, not a one-off act.
Pomóż mi to przenieść, jest za ciężkie.
Help me move this, it's too heavy.
Uważaj, podłoga jest mokra!
Be careful, the floor is wet!
Sit down: the invitation puzzle
Here the aspect contrast is most visible. The perfective Usiądź! is "sit down" as a single instruction (a doctor, a photographer). But when you welcome a guest, you use the imperfective Siadaj! (or the polite Proszę siadać), because an invitation is framed as an offered process, not a command to complete.
Proszę, siadaj, zaraz zrobię herbatę.
Please, have a seat, I'll make some tea in a moment.
Usiądź prosto, bo będą cię bolały plecy.
Sit up straight, or your back will hurt.
Negative commands are imperfective
A reliable rule: negated imperatives are almost always imperfective. That is why "don't worry" is Nie martw się! (imperfective martwić się) and never Nie zmartw się! Using a perfective after nie implies a warning about an accidental single event, which is not what you usually mean.
Nie martw się, wszystko będzie dobrze.
Don't worry, everything will be fine.
Nie spiesz się, mamy mnóstwo czasu.
Don't rush, we have loads of time.
Being polite: proszę, the conditional, and niech
A bare imperative can sound blunt. Three everyday softeners:
- Add proszę ("please"): Poczekaj, proszę or Proszę poczekać (the latter with the infinitive, more formal).
- Use the formal-address strategy with niech for pan/pani: Niech pan usiądzie (please sit down, sir).
- Use a conditional request: Mógłbyś mi pomóc? (could you help me?), which is gentler than a command.
Proszę poczekać, lekarz zaraz przyjdzie.
Please wait, the doctor will be here shortly. (formal)
Niech pani usiądzie, tu jest wolne miejsce.
Please have a seat, ma'am, there's a free spot here. (formal)
Mógłbyś mi podać sól?
Could you pass me the salt? (polite request)
For the full politeness toolkit see verbs/imperative/politeness-and-softening and pragmatics/requests-and-offers.
Quick reference
| Command | Meaning | Aspect | Plural (-cie) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chodź! | Come (here)! | imperfective | Chodźcie! |
| Idź! | Go! | imperfective | Idźcie! |
| Daj! | Give! | perfective | Dajcie! |
| Poczekaj! | Wait (a moment)! | perfective | Poczekajcie! |
| Zobacz! | (Take a) look! | perfective | Zobaczcie! |
| Powiedz! | Tell (me)! | perfective | Powiedzcie! |
| Posłuchaj! / Słuchaj! | Listen! | perf. / imperf. | Posłuchajcie! / Słuchajcie! |
| Pomóż mi! | Help me! | perfective | Pomóżcie mi! |
| Usiądź! / Siadaj! | Sit down! / Have a seat! | perf. / imperf. | Usiądźcie! / Siadajcie! |
| Nie martw się! | Don't worry! | imperfective | Nie martwcie się! |
| Uważaj! | Be careful! | imperfective | Uważajcie! |
| Pospiesz się! | Hurry up! | perfective | Pospieszcie się! |
Common Mistakes
❌ Nie zmartw się, wszystko będzie dobrze.
Incorrect — negated commands take the imperfective.
✅ Nie martw się, wszystko będzie dobrze.
Don't worry, everything will be fine.
❌ Chodźcie tu! (said to one friend)
Incorrect — the -cie ending is plural; use the singular for one person.
✅ Chodź tu!
Come here! (to one person)
❌ Daj to. (to your boss, with no softening)
Too blunt for a formal situation — add proszę or use the formal form.
✅ Czy mógłby mi pan to podać?
Could you pass me that, sir? (polite)
❌ Pomoż mi to przenieść.
Incorrect spelling — the imperative of pomóc is pomóż, with ó and ż.
✅ Pomóż mi to przenieść.
Help me move this.
❌ Siadaj, panie doktorze. (to a doctor, expecting them to examine you)
Wrong register/aspect for the situation — use the perfective instruction.
✅ Proszę usiąść.
Please sit down. (formal instruction)
Key Takeaways
- Memorize these commands as phrases first, but notice the aspect: perfective for a single act (Daj!, Poczekaj!, Zobacz!), imperfective for invitations and warm welcomes (Chodź!, Siadaj!).
- Negated commands are nearly always imperfective: Nie martw się!, Nie spiesz się!
- The plural informal ending is -cie: Chodźcie!, Poczekajcie!
- Soften a bare command with proszę, with niech pan/pani, or with a conditional question (Mógłbyś...?).
- Watch the spelling traps: Pomóż (ó, ż), Usiądź (ą, dź).
Now practice Polish
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Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- Forming the ImperativeA2 — How Polish builds commands — the 2sg from the present stem (rób!, pisz!, idź!), the 1pl -my (róbmy!) and 2pl -cie (róbcie!), plus the niech 3rd-person form that handles polite 'you' (Niech pani siada).
- Polite Commands and Softening RequestsB1 — A bare Polish imperative can sound abrupt — this page is the full politeness ladder, from Daj! to Czy byłby pan tak uprzejmy…, with proszę + infinitive, niech + pani, conditional questions, and the że/no particles.
- Aspect in the ImperativeB1 — Aspect drives the meaning and tone of Polish commands: the perfective urges one completed action (Zrób to!), the imperfective invites an ongoing or general one (Wchodź!) — and crucially, negative commands flip to the imperfective (Nie rób tego!).
- Making Requests, Offers, and SuggestionsB1 — How to ask, offer, and suggest across politeness levels — the very polite gender-marked conditional Czy mógłbyś / Czy mogłaby pani…?, proszę + infinitive, the bare imperative for friends, offers with Może + genitive (Może herbaty?), and suggestions like Może byśmy…? and Co powiesz na…?
- Please, Thank You, and Politeness FormulasA1 — The core Polish courtesy words — the astonishingly multifunctional proszę ('please / here you are / you're welcome / go ahead / pardon?'), dziękuję and dzięki, the replies to thanks (proszę / nie ma za co / proszę bardzo), przepraszam, and ordering with Poproszę.
- 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.