Learn Hardcore Polish: Może warto poczekać jeszcze pięć minut. - Maybe it’s worth waiting five more minutes.

Here Może means maybe/perhaps (an adverb). The identical spelling can also be the 3rd person singular of móc (he/she/it can), but context tells them apart:

Może warto poczekać… = Maybe it’s worth waiting…
On może poczekać. = He can wait.

Tip: Don’t confuse może with morze (the sea).

Why is there no comma after Może?

Because Może here is not a parenthetical insert but an adverb modifying the whole statement. Polish does not require a comma after it in this use: Może warto…. Writing Może, warto… would be incorrect.

What exactly is warto?

Warto is an impersonal predicative meaning it is worth. It doesn’t change for person or number and is followed by an infinitive:

Warto spróbować. = It is worth trying.
Negative: Nie warto ryzykować. = It’s not worth risking.

Why is the verb in the infinitive (poczekać) after warto?

Because warto requires an infinitive to express what is worth doing: warto + [infinitive]. Hence warto poczekać.

Why poczekać and not czekać?

Aspect. Poczekać (perfective) presents waiting as a bounded, one-off action (wait for a while/for a set period). Czekać (imperfective) is ongoing or habitual waiting. With a specific duration like jeszcze pięć minut, perfective poczekać is the natural choice.

Could I use zaczekać instead of poczekać?

Yes. Zaczekać is also perfective and very common in the sense “wait (for a bit/for someone).” Here, Może warto zaczekać jeszcze pięć minut is fine.

What does jeszcze mean in this sentence?

Here jeszcze means more / another / additional: jeszcze pięć minut = five more minutes. It can also mean still/yet in other contexts: On jeszcze śpi = He is still sleeping.

Can I move jeszcze around? Does word order change the meaning?

All are acceptable, with slight differences in focus:

Może warto poczekać jeszcze pięć minut. (neutral; most common)
Może warto jeszcze pięć minut poczekać. (mild focus on the duration)
Może jeszcze warto poczekać. (suggests “maybe it’s still worth waiting” rather than “five more minutes”)

Why is it pięć minut and not pięć minuty?

Because Polish numerals govern different noun forms:

1: minutę (I’ll wait one minute = Poczekam minutę.)
2–4: minuty (two/three/four minutes)
5 and above: minut (genitive plural), hence pięć minut.

Do I need a preposition like przez or na for duration?

Usually no. Bare duration is standard: poczekać pięć minut. You can add przez to emphasize the span (more typical with imperfective): Czekałem przez pięć minut. Don’t use na for duration with czekać; na marks the object of waiting (see next).

How do I say “wait for someone/something” together with the time?

Use czekać/poczekać na + accusative for the object, and add the time normally:

Poczekam na ciebie jeszcze pięć minut. = I’ll wait for you five more minutes.
Poczekajmy na autobus pięć minut. = Let’s wait for the bus for five minutes.

Could I phrase this as a more direct suggestion with “we”?

Yes. Common alternatives:

Może poczekamy jeszcze pięć minut. = Maybe we’ll wait five more minutes. (inclusive, gentle suggestion)
Może poczekajmy jeszcze pięć minut. = Let’s maybe wait five more minutes. (imperative, still polite)

What about by in Może warto by…?

Adding the particle by softens the suggestion further, like “maybe it would be worth…”:

Może warto by poczekać jeszcze pięć minut.
Even more explicit: Może warto by było poczekać jeszcze pięć minut. All are correct; with by it sounds more tentative.

Can this be written with a question mark?

Yes. Może warto poczekać jeszcze pięć minut? is common in speech and writing to frame it as a suggestion-question. With a period, it reads as a tentative statement; with a question mark, it invites agreement.

Any quick pronunciation tips?

może: the ż is like English “zh” in “measure” (MO-zhe; stress on the first syllable).
warto: VAR-to (stress on VAR).
poczekać: poh-CHEH-kach (stress on CHE; cz like “ch” in “church”; final ć is a soft “tch”).
jeszcze: YESH-cheh (cluster szcz pronounced “shch”).
pięć: pyench (nasal ę ≈ “en” before ć).
minut: MEE-noot (stress on MI).