Musimy wydrukować bilety do kina.

We must print the cinema tickets.

Breakdown of Musimy wydrukować bilety do kina.

• do: to
• musieć: must
• my: we
• kino: the cinema
• bilet: the ticket
• wydrukować: to print

Questions & Answers about Musimy wydrukować bilety do kina.

Why is there no word for “we” in the sentence?

Polish usually drops subject pronouns because verb endings show the person. Musimy already means “we must/have to.” You’d add my only for emphasis or contrast (e.g., To my musimy… = It’s we who have to…).

What nuance does musimy have compared with “have to,” “must,” or “need to”?

Musimy (from musieć) expresses obligation/necessity, ranging from practical necessity to strong must, depending on context. It’s closer to English “have to/must.” Don’t use potrzebujemy here; potrzebujemy = “we need (require)” something, not obligation to act.

Why is it wydrukować and not drukować?

Aspect. Wydrukować is perfective (a single, completed printing), which fits a one-time task we want finished. Drukować is imperfective (the process or habit).

• Musimy wydrukować bilety… = We need to get the tickets printed (completed).
• Musimy drukować bilety… = We have to be printing tickets (as a general rule/habit), or we must engage in printing (process), which is a different meaning.

What does the prefix wy- add in wydrukować?

Wy- often adds the idea “out/completely/result.” Drukować = to print (process), wydrukować = to print out/finish printing (result).

What case is bilety, and why not biletów?

Bilety is accusative plural (masculine inanimate), used as the direct object of wydrukować. The accusative plural form equals the nominative plural for this noun. Biletów is genitive plural and appears, for example, under negation: Nie musimy drukować biletów (We don’t have to print tickets).

What case is kina in do kina, and why?

Kina is genitive singular of kino (neuter). The preposition do (“to/towards” a place/institution) always takes the genitive. Hence do kina (“to the cinema”/“for the cinema” in the admission sense).

Why is it do kina and not na kino?

With venues/institutions, Polish typically uses do: iść do kina/teatru/muzeum. Use na for events: na film, na koncert, na mecz. So you buy/print bilety do kina (tickets to the cinema), but bilety na film (tickets for a specific movie).

Can I say “tickets for the movie” in Polish?

Yes: bilety na film (and often plus the title). For the venue in general, use bilety do kina. Often you’ll combine both ideas in context, e.g., Idziemy do kina na film X.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move parts around?

Polish word order is flexible for emphasis. All of these are correct, with slightly different focus:

• Musimy wydrukować bilety do kina. (neutral)
• Bilety do kina musimy wydrukować. (emphasis on the tickets)
• Musimy bilety do kina wydrukować. (emphasis on completing the printing) Intonation and context do the rest of the work.

Do I need to add nasze (“our”) as in English “our tickets”?

Not unless it’s needed for clarity or emphasis. Polish often omits possessives when ownership is obvious from context: Musimy wydrukować bilety usually implies “our tickets.” Add nasze only if you need to contrast or clarify: Musimy wydrukować nasze bilety (nie ich).

How would I ask “Do we have to print the tickets?”

Use czy or just rising intonation:

• Czy musimy wydrukować bilety do kina?
• Musimy wydrukować bilety do kina? (more conversational)

How do I talk about past or future obligation?

• Past: Musieliśmy / Musiałyśmy wydrukować… (we had to; masculine/mixed group vs. all-female)
• Future: Będziemy musieli / Będziemy musiały wydrukować… (we will have to; masculine/mixed vs. all-female)
  Modal musieć agrees in gender/number in the past and with będziemy in the future.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

• w sounds like English “v”: wydrukować ≈ “vih-droo-KO-vatch”
• ó sounds like “oo” in “food”: dru
• y is a central vowel (not “ee”): my ≈ “mih”
• Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable: mu-SI-my wy-dru-KO-wać bi-LE-ty do KI-na
• ć is a soft “ch/tch” sound.

How would I replace “tickets” with “them”?

Use the non-virile plural pronoun je (because bilety are non-virile):
Musimy je wydrukować.
You can also place it earlier: Je musimy wydrukować (strong emphasis on “them”).

How does negation affect the verb and case here?

With negation, Polish tends to prefer the imperfective for general “no need” and switches the object to genitive:

• Nie musimy drukować biletów. (We don’t have to print tickets.)
  Using perfective under negation is rare and usually sounds odd in this context.

Are there softer or alternative ways to express this?

• Softer “should”: Powinniśmy/powinnyśmy wydrukować bilety.
• Impersonal “one needs to”: Trzeba wydrukować bilety.
• Suggestion/let’s: Wydrukujmy bilety.