After być, the verb you reach for most is mieć ("to have"). It does the obvious work of possession, but it also does several jobs English hands to other verbs: it tells your age, it expresses obligation, and it pairs with abstract nouns like czas ("time") and pytanie ("a question"). It is technically irregular, yet in practice it conjugates almost exactly like the easy -am/-asz class, so the forms cost you very little. The real lessons here are about the cases mieć governs — especially what happens under negation.
The forms
Mieć drops the -ie- of the infinitive and takes endings that rhyme with the -am/-asz class. There is nothing to mutate; learn the six and you are done.
| Person | mieć | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ja | mam | I have |
| ty | masz | you have (sg, informal) |
| on / ona / ono | ma | he / she / it has |
| my | mamy | we have |
| wy | macie | you have (pl, informal) |
| oni / one | mają | they have |
The only diacritic is the nasal ą in the 3rd person plural mają — exactly parallel to czytają, pytają. Writing maja or maą is a spelling error.
Use 1: possession — the object goes in the accusative
A normal possessed thing is the direct object of mieć and therefore takes the accusative. For most masculine inanimate and neuter nouns the accusative looks identical to the dictionary form, so this is invisible at first — Mam samochód ("I have a car"), Mam psa (animate masculine → psa), Mam siostrę (feminine → siostrę).
Mam nowy samochód, ale jeszcze się go uczę.
I have a new car, but I'm still getting used to it.
Masz długopis? Mój przestał pisać.
Do you have a pen? Mine stopped writing.
Oni mają duży dom za miastem.
They have a big house outside the city.
Use 2: abstract objects — time, questions, ideas
Mieć pairs naturally with abstract nouns where English also says "have": mieć czas ("have time"), mieć pytanie ("have a question"), mieć pomysł ("have an idea"), mieć rację ("be right," literally "have rightness"). These are everyday and worth learning as fixed combinations.
Masz chwilę? Mam do ciebie pytanie.
Do you have a minute? I have a question for you.
Mam pomysł na prezent dla mamy.
I have an idea for a present for mum.
Nie kłóć się — ona ma rację.
Don't argue — she's right.
Use 3: age — "I have twenty years"
This is the use English speakers always have to relearn. Polish does not say "I am twenty" with być; it says "I have twenty years" with mieć + a number + the word for 'years'. And the word for "years" follows Polish number grammar: the noun is lata after 2, 3, 4 (and numbers ending in them, except the teens), but lat (genitive plural) after 5 and above, and after the teens.
| Number | Form of "year" | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | rok | Mam rok. (rare, for a baby) |
| 2, 3, 4 | lata | Mam dwa lata. / Mam trzydzieści cztery lata. |
| 5–21, teens | lat | Mam pięć lat. / Mam dwadzieścia lat. / Mam dwanaście lat. |
Mam dwadzieścia lat i studiuję w Krakowie.
I'm twenty and I study in Kraków. (lit. 'I have twenty years')
Moja córka ma trzy lata, a syn ma siedem lat.
My daughter is three and my son is seven.
Ile masz lat?
How old are you? (lit. 'How many years do you have?')
The same number-driven choice between lata and lat governs the question Ile masz lat? — ile ("how many") triggers the genitive plural lat. The full number rules are on the numbers and age page.
Use 4: obligation — mieć + infinitive
Mieć followed by an infinitive expresses a soft obligation or arrangement: "to be supposed to," "to be (meant) to." It is weaker than musieć ("must") — it implies a plan, instruction, or expectation rather than hard necessity. Mam to zrobić = "I'm supposed to do it / I'm to do it."
Mam oddać raport do piątku.
I'm supposed to hand in the report by Friday.
Co mam teraz zrobić?
What am I supposed to do now?
Mieliśmy się spotkać o szóstej, ale on się spóźnia.
We were supposed to meet at six, but he's running late.
This construction also colours future-leaning statements ("the train is to arrive at ten") and is detailed on the obligation page.
The negation trap: nie mam + genitive
Now the single most common mieć mistake. When you negate mieć, the accusative object flips to the genitive — the genitive of negation. Mam czas ("I have time") becomes Nie mam czasu ("I don't have time"). Mam pieniądze ("I have money") becomes Nie mam pieniędzy. The object is no longer accusative; it must change ending.
Nie mam czasu, spieszę się na pociąg.
I don't have time, I'm rushing for the train.
Nie mam pieniędzy do końca miesiąca.
I have no money until the end of the month.
Nie mamy mleka ani chleba — trzeba zrobić zakupy.
We have no milk or bread — we need to do the shopping.
This is not optional or stylistic: leaving the object in the accusative after nie mam is a clear grammatical error to a Polish ear. The rule covers every negated transitive verb, and the full picture is on the genitive of negation page.
Common Mistakes
❌ Mam dwadzieścia lata.
Incorrect — after 5 and above (and 20), 'years' is the genitive plural lat, not lata.
✅ Mam dwadzieścia lat.
I'm twenty.
❌ Jestem dwadzieścia lat.
Incorrect — age uses mieć ('have'), not być ('be').
✅ Mam dwadzieścia lat.
I'm twenty years old.
❌ Nie mam czas na to.
Incorrect — negated mieć forces the genitive: czas → czasu.
✅ Nie mam czasu na to.
I don't have time for that.
❌ Ja miem dwa koty.
Incorrect — the 1sg of mieć is mam, not *miem.
✅ Mam dwa koty.
I have two cats.
❌ Oni maja problem.
Incorrect spelling — the 3pl is mają, with a nasal ą.
✅ Oni mają problem.
They have a problem.
Key Takeaways
- The six forms: mam, masz, ma, mamy, macie, mają — near-regular -am/-asz, with the -ie- dropped (mam, not miem).
- Possession and abstract objects take the accusative (mam pytanie).
- Age is mieć + number + lata/lat (mam dwa lata, mam pięć lat); the number decides the form of "year."
- mieć + infinitive = a soft "be supposed to" (mam to zrobić).
- Negated mieć forces the genitive (nie mam czasu, nie mam pieniędzy) — the most common beginner slip.
Now practice Polish
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Start learning Polish→Related Topics
- mieć — to haveA1 — Full conjugation reference for mieć ('to have') — present, past, future, imperative and conditional — with the cases it governs and the dozens of high-frequency idioms (age, being right, feeling like) that English builds with other verbs.
- The Genitive of NegationB1 — When a Polish verb is negated, its direct object switches from accusative to genitive — an obligatory, automatic rule, plus the frozen existential nie ma + genitive.
- Talking About AgeA1 — How to ask and state age in Polish — 'having years' with mieć, and the rok / lata / lat split driven by the numeral rule.
- Expressing Need, Obligation, and AdviceB1 — The phrase bank for necessity and advice in Polish — Muszę, Trzeba, Powinienem/Powinnam (gender-marked), Potrzebuję + genitive, Radzę ci, Na twoim miejscu, Lepiej — and the trap that nie musisz means 'you don't have to', not 'you mustn't'.
- być in the Present: jestem, jesteś…A1 — The present tense of być ('to be') — the single most important Polish verb — with its irregular forms, the instrumental predicate, and the suppletive existential negative nie ma.