Czy możemy wypić herbatę po pracy?

Breakdown of Czy możemy wypić herbatę po pracy?

herbata
the tea
czy
question marker
po
after
móc
can
praca
the work
wypić
to drink
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Polish now

Questions & Answers about Czy możemy wypić herbatę po pracy?

What does the word Czy do in this sentence? Is it required?
Czy is a neutral yes/no question particle. It simply marks the sentence as a question. It’s optional in everyday speech: you can say Możemy wypić herbatę po pracy? with rising intonation and it’s perfectly natural. Using Czy feels a bit more formal or careful (and is very common in writing). Note: czy is not used in wh-questions (those start with words like kto, co, kiedy, gdzie, dlaczego).
Why is the verb perfective (wypić) instead of imperfective (pić)?

Aspect matters in Polish. Wypić (perfective) presents a single, complete act—roughly “drink up” a portion (e.g., a cup). Pić (imperfective) is about the process or a habitual/general action (“to drink”). So:

  • Czy możemy wypić herbatę po pracy? = Can we have a tea (this time, and finish it) after work?
  • Czy możemy pić herbatę po pracy? = Are we allowed/able to drink tea after work (in general/as a habit)?
What nuance does the prefix wy- add in wypić?
The prefix wy- here perfectivizes pić and adds a “to completion” sense: wypić ≈ “to drink up (a whole serving).” By contrast, plain pić is just “to drink” (no implication of finishing). Another useful pair: dopić = “to finish (the rest of a drink).”
Why does herbatę end in -ę? What case is it?

It’s the accusative singular, used for the direct object of a transitive verb in an affirmative sentence. Feminine nouns ending in -a typically take in the accusative singular:

  • herbata → herbatę
  • kawa → kawę
  • kanapka → kanapkę
Why is it po pracy and not po pracę? What case is that?
After po (“after” in a temporal sense), Polish uses the locative case. Praca (work) in the locative singular is pracy. More examples: po obiedzie (after lunch), po filmie (after the film), po lekcjach (after classes).
Where is the word “we”? I don’t see a pronoun.
It’s in the verb ending. Możemy is 1st person plural (“we can”). Polish usually drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows the person and number. You can add My for emphasis: My możemy…
How would I make it more polite or tentative, like “Could we… perhaps”?

Use the conditional of móc or a softening particle:

  • Czy moglibyśmy wypić herbatę po pracy? (Could we…?)
  • Moglibyśmy wypić herbatę po pracy? (colloquial)
  • Może wypijemy herbatę po pracy? (Perhaps we’ll have a tea after work?)
  • Może byśmy wypili herbatę po pracy? (even gentler)
If I want to ask about general permission or a habit, how do I say it?

Use the imperfective:

  • Czy możemy pić herbatę po pracy? = Are we allowed/able to drink tea after work (as a general rule)?
What’s the difference between wypić herbatę and napić się herbaty?
  • Wypić (co?) herbatę: transitive + accusative; suggests drinking a whole serving.
  • Napić się (czego?) herbaty: reflexive + genitive; means “to have a drink (of) tea,” focusing on taking some amount (not necessarily the whole serving). Correct: Czy możemy się napić herbaty po pracy? Incorrect: Czy możemy napić herbatę…? (you must use się and genitive with napić się)
Do I need się here? Where does it go?

With wypić you do not use się. With napić się, you must. Placement: się typically comes after the first stressed element:

  • Czy możemy się napić herbaty po pracy?
  • Po pracy możemy się napić herbaty?
Can I say “have tea” with the verb mieć?
No. Mieć herbatę means “to possess tea.” For “have tea” (as in drink), use drinking verbs: pić, wypić, or napić się. You can also name a portion: wypić filiżankę/kubek herbaty (to drink a cup/mug of tea).
What other word orders are possible?

Polish allows flexible word order for nuance. All of these are grammatical:

  • Czy możemy wypić herbatę po pracy? (neutral)
  • Czy po pracy możemy wypić herbatę? (focus on time)
  • Możemy wypić herbatę po pracy? (no czy, conversational)
  • Wypijemy herbatę po pracy? (Will we drink…? confirming a plan)
  • Herbatę możemy wypić po pracy? (emphasizes the object)
How do I negate it? Does the case change?

Yes—under negation, the direct object usually switches to the genitive:

  • Affirmative: Możemy wypić herbatę.
  • Negative: Nie możemy wypić herbaty. With napić się, it stays genitive: Nie możemy się napić herbaty po pracy.
How is it pronounced?

Approximate pronunciations (IPA in brackets):

  • Czy [t͡ʂɨ] — “ch” as in “chur,” vowel is Polish y [ɨ], not English “ee.”
  • możemy [mɔˈʐɛmɨ] — ż like “s” in “measure.”
  • wypić [ˈvɨ.pit͡ɕ] — w = English “v”; final ć is a soft “ch” (as in “cheek,” but lighter).
  • herbatę [xɛrˈba.tɛ] — h like German “Bach”; final ę sounds mostly like plain “e” here.
  • po [pɔ]
  • pracy [ˈprat͡sɨ] — c = “ts”; y = [ɨ]. Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable: mo-ŻE-my, her-BA-tę, PRA-cy.
How could someone answer this naturally in Polish?

Examples:

  • Tak, możemy. (Yes, we can.)
  • Jasne. / Pewnie. (Sure.)
  • Chętnie! (Gladly!)
  • Niestety nie mogę/nie możemy. (Unfortunately I can’t/we can’t.)
  • Lepiej jutro. (Better tomorrow.)
Any colloquial alternatives for the same idea?
  • Diminutive: Wypijemy herbatkę po pracy? (a cuppa)
  • Suggestion vibe: Może herbatka po pracy?
  • More casual time phrase: Po robocie wypijemy herbatę? (colloquial for “after work”)
  • “Go for” phrasing: Idziemy na herbatę po pracy? (Are we going for a tea after work?)