Błędu is the genitive singular form of błąd (mistake).
In the positive sentence, you say:
In the negative:
Polish very often changes a direct object from accusative to genitive under negation, especially with a single, countable object:
So:
popełnić błąd → nie popełnić błędu.
The ending tells you the person:
So Nie chcę popełnić błędu must be spoken by “I”, not “he/she/it”.
Compare:
The only difference in writing is that final ę vs e, but it completely changes the subject.
In Polish, when you use a verb like chcieć (to want), the next verb normally stays in the infinitive, just like in English:
So:
Other examples:
This is about aspect:
With chcę you usually choose:
So the original sentence focuses on not making one mistake in this context.
Poles would understand Nie chcę zrobić błędu, but it sounds less natural than Nie chcę popełnić błędu.
Typical patterns:
So:
You’ll hear zrobić błąd, but if you want best textbook Polish, learn popełnić błąd.
Yes, but there is a nuance:
Possible sentences:
Both are fine; context decides which feels better.
Yes, Polish word order is quite flexible. However, some orders are more natural:
Usually you keep popełnić błąd together as a verb–object pair. Moving błędu before popełnić is stylistically marked and not what beginners need to aim for.
Approximate pronunciation:
chcę – roughly [htseh̃]
popełnić – [PO-pew-nʲich] (stress always on the first syllable in Polish):
Full sentence: Nie chcę popełnić błędu – [nye htseh popew-nʲich BWEN-doo] (approx.).
No, in the present tense the form chcę does not change with gender.
Same sentence for both.
Gender affects verb forms mainly in the past tense and some participles, e.g.: