Ugotuję zupę po pracy.

I will cook soup after work.

Breakdown of Ugotuję zupę po pracy.

• ja: I
• po: after
• praca: the work
• zupa: the soup
• ugotować: to cook

Questions & Answers about Ugotuję zupę po pracy.

What tense and aspect is ugotuję?

Ugotuję is 1st person singular, future tense of a perfective verb (ugotować). In Polish, present forms of perfective verbs refer to the future. It promises a single completed action: “I will get the soup cooked.”

How is ugotuję different from gotuję?

• Ugotuję (perfective) = I will cook it and finish it (single, complete event in the future).
• Gotuję (imperfective, present) = I cook / I’m cooking. With a time phrase it can mean a habit: Gotuję zupę po pracy = “I (usually) cook soup after work.”

How is ugotuję different from będę gotować (zupę)?

• Ugotuję focuses on completion/result (one finished act).
• Będę gotować (zupę) is the future of the imperfective and highlights the process or a repeated future activity: “I’ll be cooking soup (after work).” Both are correct but carry different nuances. You cannot say “będę ugotować.”

Can I say będę gotował(a) instead of będę gotować?

Yes. Both are accepted:

• będę gotować (neutral, very common)
• będę gotował (masc.) / będę gotowała (fem.) They mean the same: future imperfective.

Why is it zupę and not zupa?

Because zupę is the accusative singular form of the feminine noun zupa. Transitive verbs like (u)gotować take a direct object in the accusative: “I will cook what? — soup.”

What does po pracy mean grammatically?

Po with the meaning “after” requires the locative case. Praca (work) in the locative singular is pracy. So po pracy = “after work.”

Can po take a different case?

Yes. With the meaning “for, to fetch,” po takes the accusative: iść po chleb = “to go (for) bread.” So po pracę would mean “(to go) for a job,” not “after work.”

Can I change the word order?

Yes, Polish word order is flexible. All of these are correct:

• Ugotuję zupę po pracy (neutral)
• Po pracy ugotuję zupę (emphasis on the time)
• Zupę ugotuję po pracy (emphasis on “soup”) Meaning stays the same; the emphasis shifts.

Do I need the pronoun ja?

No. The verb ending -ę already shows 1st person singular. Use Ja ugotuję zupę po pracy only for emphasis on “I (not someone else).”

Can I drop the object and say just Ugotuję po pracy?

Only if the object is obvious from context. By itself it sounds incomplete because (u)gotować normally needs a direct object.

Is Zrobię zupę also okay?

Yes. Zrobię zupę (“I’ll make soup”) is common and neutral. Przygotuję zupę is a bit more formal. Ugotuję zupę is the most specific for cooking soup (by boiling).

How do I negate the sentence?

Nie ugotuję zupy po pracy. Note that under negation the direct object usually switches to the genitive: zupy (genitive) instead of zupę (accusative). This is the “genitive of negation.”

Any pronunciation tips (especially for ę)?

• Stress is on the second-to-last syllable: u-go-TU-ję | ZU-pę | PRA-cy.
• Final ę (in ugotuję, zupę) is often pronounced like a plain “e” with slight nasalization; everyday speech often sounds like “e.”

Is there a more colloquial way to say “after work”?

Yes, you’ll hear po robocie in informal speech: Ugotuję zupę po robocie. It’s casual; po pracy is the neutral standard.

How do I turn it into a yes–no question?

Use intonation or add czy:

• Ugotujesz zupę po pracy? (Will you cook soup after work?)
• Czy ugotujesz zupę po pracy? (same meaning; slightly more formal/explicit)