Chcemy się wymieniać ubraniami.

to want

Breakdown of Chcemy się wymieniać ubraniami.

• ubranie: the clothing
• wymieniać się: to exchange things with each other

Questions & Answers about Chcemy się wymieniać ubraniami.

What does chcemy mean, and why is there no separate word for we?

Chcemy means we want. It is the 1st-person plural form of chcieć (to want).

In Polish, the verb ending often already shows who the subject is, so a separate word for we is not necessary. You could say My chcemy..., but that adds emphasis, like we do want...

Why is wymieniać in the infinitive after chcemy?

Because Polish uses the infinitive after chcieć, just like English uses to + verb after want.

So the pattern is:

chcemy + infinitive

Examples:

• Chcemy iść = We want to go
• Chcemy czytać = We want to read
• Chcemy się wymieniać ubraniami = We want to swap clothes

What does się mean here?

Here się makes the action reciprocal: the people involved are doing it with each other.

So wymieniać się ubraniami means to exchange / swap clothes with one another.

This does not always translate neatly as ourselves. In many Polish verbs, się is simply part of how the verb is used.