Chcę ukryć kartę.

to want

Breakdown of Chcę ukryć kartę.

• karta: the card
• ukryć: to hide; conceal something

Questions & Answers about Chcę ukryć kartę.

What does chcę mean, and what is its dictionary form?

Chcę means I want.

Its dictionary form is chcieć = to want.

So:

• chcieć = to want
• chcę = I want

This is the 1st person singular form, so the subject is I.

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Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

Polish usually does not need a subject pronoun if the verb already shows who is doing the action.

In chcę, the ending already tells you it means I want, so ja is normally omitted.

• Chcę ukryć kartę. = I want to hide the card.
• Ja chcę ukryć kartę. = I want to hide the card.

The version with ja is possible, but it sounds more emphatic, like I want to hide the card.

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Why is ukryć in the infinitive?

After chcieć (to want), Polish normally uses another verb in the infinitive.

So the pattern is:

• chcę + infinitive
• I want + to + verb

Examples:

• Chcę spać. = I want to sleep.
• Chcę iść. = I want to go.
• Chcę ukryć kartę. = I want to hide the card.

So ukryć is in the basic to hide form because it depends on chcę.

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