Tu nie wolno palić papierosów.

It is not allowed to smoke cigarettes here.

Breakdown of Tu nie wolno palić papierosów.

• nie: not
• tu: here
• wolno: allowed
• palić: to smoke
• papieros: the cigarette

Questions & Answers about Tu nie wolno palić papierosów.

What is the core grammar of this sentence?

• Tu = here
• nie wolno = it is not allowed / one must not (impersonal predicate)
• palić = to smoke (infinitive)
• papierosów = cigarettes (genitive plural)

There is no explicit subject. Literally: Here not allowed to smoke cigarettes.

Why is it papierosów (genitive) and not papierosy (accusative)?

In Polish, when you negate a verb with a direct object, that object usually switches to the genitive. Compare:

• Affirmative: Wolno palić papierosy. (Accusative)
• Negative: Nie wolno palić papierosów. (Genitive)

So the negation in nie wolno triggers genitive.

Could I ever say Tu nie wolno palić papierosy?

No. With negation, you need genitive plural: papierosów. In the affirmative it’s papierosy:

• Tu wolno palić papierosy.

Can I omit papierosów and just say Tu nie wolno palić?

Yes. Tu nie wolno palić is common and means “No smoking here.” It’s broader (no smoking anything). Adding papierosów narrows it to cigarettes.

What’s the difference between tu and tutaj?

They both mean “here.” Tu is a bit shorter and very common; tutaj can feel slightly more emphatic or neutral-formal. Both are fine:

• Tu nie wolno palić papierosów.
• Tutaj nie wolno palić papierosów.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say Nie wolno tu palić papierosów?

Word order is flexible. These are all natural, with small shifts in emphasis:

• Tu nie wolno palić papierosów. (focus on “here”)
• Nie wolno tu palić papierosów.
• Nie wolno palić papierosów tutaj. (puts extra weight on “here” at the end)

Avoid overly scrambled orders like Tu nie wolno papierosów palić in neutral speech.

How does nie wolno work with people? How do I say “You’re not allowed to…”?

Use dative pronouns with (nie) wolno:

• Nie wolno mi = I’m not allowed
• Nie wolno ci = you (sg.) are not allowed
• Nie wolno mu/jej = he/she is not allowed
• Nie wolno nam/wam/im = we/you (pl.)/they are not allowed

Examples:

• Nie wolno ci tu palić. (You’re not allowed to smoke here.)
• Polite: Nie wolno Panu/Pani tu palić. (to a man/woman)

What’s the difference between nie wolno and nie można?

• Nie wolno = not allowed (prohibition, rule, law).
• Nie można = one cannot (may mean not allowed, not possible, not feasible).

Both can appear on signs, but nie wolno sounds like a stricter prohibition. Example:

• Tu nie wolno palić (There’s a rule against it.)
• Tu nie można palić (One cannot/shouldn’t smoke here—could imply rules or practical reasons.)

Why is palić in the infinitive?

After (nie) wolno, the action is expressed with the bare infinitive:

• Wolno parkować.
• Nie wolno spożywać alkoholu.

Does wolno ever mean “slowly”? Could that cause confusion?

Yes, wolno can also mean “slowly” as an adverb. Context distinguishes them:

• Permission: Nie wolno palić. (Not allowed)
• Slowness: On jedzie wolno. (He’s driving slowly)

The impersonal predicate use occurs with an infinitive and often with nie.

Is palić only “to smoke,” or does it also mean “to burn”?

Both. palić = to smoke (cigarettes) or to burn something. The reflexive palić się means “to be on fire/to burn (intransitive).” Compare:

• On pali papierosy. (He smokes cigarettes.)
• Oni palą śmieci. (They burn trash.)
• Dom się pali! (The house is on fire!)

Could I use the perfective zapalić here?

Normally you use the imperfective palić for general prohibitions. Nie wolno tu zapalić would emphasize the single act of lighting one up (even once you can’t do it), which is unusual on signs but possible in specific contexts.

How would I ask “Is it allowed to smoke here?”

• Czy tu wolno palić (papierosy)? Alternative (more neutral/possibility): Czy tu można palić?

What are typical sign-wordings for “No smoking”?

• Zakaz palenia (papierosów). (ban on smoking)
• Palenie zabronione. / Palenie wzbronione. (smoking forbidden; the second is more formal/old-fashioned)
• Prosimy nie palić. (Please do not smoke)

Is Nie możesz tu palić acceptable?

Grammatically yes: Nie możesz tu palić = “You can’t (are not able to) smoke here,” but it often sounds more personal or capability-focused. For impersonal, rule-based prohibition, Nie wolno (tu) palić is preferred.

Why is the negation on wolno (permission) rather than on palić (the action)?

Because the sentence denies permission, not the existence of the action. The structure is “[Here] [not allowed] [to smoke].” Negating wolno is the idiomatic way to express prohibition.

Can I use the singular papierosa instead of plural papierosów?

Only if you mean a specific, single cigarette:

• Generic ban: Nie wolno palić papierosów.
• Very specific context: Nie wolno palić tego papierosa. (You can’t smoke this cigarette.) The generic prohibition normally uses the plural.

What case ending is -ów in papierosów, and is it regular?

It’s the genitive plural ending, common for many masculine nouns (including masculine inanimate like papieros). Paradigm (selected):

• Nom sg: papieros
• Acc sg: papierosa
• Nom pl: papierosy
• Gen pl: papierosów

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

• Tu = “too”
• nie ≈ “nyeh” (the n is soft)
• wolno ≈ “VOL-no” (Polish w = English v)
• palić ≈ “PAH-leech” (final ć is soft, like “tch” said with a smile)
• papierosów ≈ “pah-pyeh-RO-soov” (ó sounds like “oo”, final w like English v)

Stress is penultimate in each word: pa-pie-RO-sów.