On pracuje dobrze.

He works well.

Breakdown of On pracuje dobrze.

• on: he
• pracować: to work
• dobrze: well

Questions & Answers about On pracuje dobrze.

What is the function of on in this sentence and do I always need to include it?

on is the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun in the nominative case, serving as the subject (“he”). Because Polish verbs are conjugated, you can drop on and still say Pracuje dobrze (“He works well”). Including on adds clarity or emphasis, especially in contrastive contexts.

Why do we use dobrze instead of dobry?

dobrze is an adverb meaning “well,” and adverbs modify verbs. dobry is an adjective meaning “good” and would modify a noun. Since we’re describing how he works, we need the adverb dobrze.

How do I know that pracuje is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of pracować?

Polish verbs change their endings for person and number. For pracować (“to work”) the present-tense paradigm is: • ja pracuję (I work)
• ty pracujesz (you work)
• on/ona/ono pracuje (he/she/it works)
The ending -uje signals 3rd person singular present.

Why is there no direct object after pracuje? Doesn’t “to work” require something to work on?

In Polish, pracować can be intransitive (just “to work”) or transitive (“to work on something”). Here it’s intransitive: On pracuje dobrze means “He works well,” with no object needed. To specify what he works on, you’d add a phrase in the appropriate case, e.g.:
On pracuje nad projektem. (“He works on the project.”)

Can I omit the pronoun on?

Yes. Polish verbs carry the subject information themselves.
• On pracuje dobrze. (with pronoun, for emphasis)
• Pracuje dobrze. (without pronoun, still “He works well”)

How would I make this sentence negative?

Place nie immediately before the verb:
On nie pracuje dobrze.
This means “He does not work well.”

How can I turn this into a question?

Two common ways:

1. Add Czy at the beginning:
   Czy on pracuje dobrze?
2. Rely on rising intonation only:
   On pracuje dobrze?
   Both mean “Does he work well?”

Is On pracuje dobrze talking about a regular habit or about right now?

Polish present tense covers both habitual and ongoing actions. Context tells you which:
• Habitual: On pracuje dobrze w tej firmie. (“He works well at this company.”)
• Ongoing: Zobacz, on teraz pracuje dobrze. (“Look, he’s working well now.”)

Why aren’t there articles like “the” or “a” in front of on or pracuje?

Polish has no definite or indefinite articles. Concepts of “a” or “the” are expressed by context, word order, or additional words, so you simply say On pracuje dobrze without any article.

What aspect is the verb pracuje, and how would I refer to a completed action?

pracować is an imperfective verb, indicating ongoing or habitual action. To talk about a completed action, you’d switch to a perfective construction, for example:
On dobrze wykonał pracę. (“He performed the job well.”)