Ja muszę skończyć zadanie.

I must finish the task.

Breakdown of Ja muszę skończyć zadanie.

• ja: I
• musieć: to have to
• zadanie: the task
• skończyć: to finish

Questions & Answers about Ja muszę skończyć zadanie.

Why is ja used in this sentence? Is it necessary?

In Polish, subject pronouns like ja (I) are usually optional because the verb ending already shows the person. Here muszę alone tells you the subject is first person singular. Adding ja:

• Puts extra emphasis on I (as opposed to someone else).
• Makes it stylistically stronger or more formal.
  You can omit it entirely: Muszę skończyć zadanie.

What does muszę mean and how is it formed?

Muszę is the first person singular present tense of the modal verb musieć, meaning “to have to” or “must.”
Formation:

1. Take the infinitive musieć.
2. Conjugate to present:
   
   • ja muszę
   • ty musisz
   • on/ona/ono musi
     …
     It expresses necessity or obligation in the present/future.

Why is the main verb in the infinitive (skończyć) instead of a finite form?

When you use a modal verb like musieć, the action that follows stays in the infinitive. So you always say muszę + skończyć (not skończę). The pattern is:
[modal verb] (conjugated) + [main verb in infinitive].

Is skończyć the only way to say “to finish”? What about kończyć or zakończyć?

Polish has aspect pairs:

• kończyć (imperfective) = “to be finishing” or “to finish regularly.”
• skończyć (perfective) = “to finish (once),” emphasizes completion.
• zakończyć (also perfective) = “to conclude” or “to finish” with a nuance of “bring to an end.”
  Here, skończyć zadanie is the most neutral perfective choice: “finish the task” (complete it).

Why is zadanie in this form? Should it change case?

Zadanie is a neuter noun. As the direct object of a perfective verb, it appears in the accusative. For neuter nouns, nominative and accusative forms are identical, so zadanie stays the same.

What is the default word order in this sentence? Can it be rearranged?

The default is Subject–Verb–Object: Ja muszę skończyć zadanie. Polish allows relatively free word order for emphasis:

• Skończyć muszę zadanie. (stresses finish)
• Zadanie muszę skończyć. (stresses task)
• Muszę ja skończyć zadanie. (very emphatic “I”)

Does muszę skończyć imply you will finish it right now or sometime later?

It expresses obligation, not immediate action. You’re saying “I have to finish the task” at some point—maybe very soon or by a deadline. Context clarifies whether it’s right now or later.

How do you pronounce muszę skończyć zadanie correctly?

Polish stress is almost always on the penultimate syllable. So:

• mu-SZĘ (stress on mu)
• sko-ŃCZYĆ (stress on ńczy)
• za-DA-nie (stress on da)
  Phonetically roughly: [ˈmu.ʂɛ skoˈɲt͡ʂɨt͡ʂ zaˈda.ɲɛ].