Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa.

On the course we like to learn new words.

Breakdown of Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa.

• lubić: to like
• nowy: new
• na: on
• my: we
• słowo: the word
• kurs: the course
• poznawać: to learn

Questions & Answers about Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa.

Why is it na kursie and not w kursie?

Both na and w can mean in/at, but they are used with different types of nouns and in many fixed expressions.

With kurs (a course), Polish normally uses na, so:

• na kursie = at the course / in the course
• w kursie sounds wrong or at least very unusual in this context.

Other similar examples:

• na lekcji – in class
• na zajęciach – in (the) classes
• na uniwersytecie – at university
  but
• w szkole – at school
• w kinie – at the cinema

So it’s mostly a matter of idiomatic usage: you just have to learn that it is na kursie, not w kursie. The case (locative) would be the same in both: kursie.

What case is kursie, and why that form?

Kursie is the locative singular form of kurs (course).

You use the locative case after certain prepositions, including na when it means in/at (a place).

Pattern:

• Nominative (dictionary form): kurs
• Locative singular: (na) kursie

Other examples:

• na stole – on the table (from stół)
• na kursie języka polskiego – on a Polish language course (still locative: kursie, języka, polskiego)

Where is the word we in this sentence? Why is there no my?

Polish normally drops subject pronouns when the verb ending makes the subject clear.

The verb lubimy is:

• person: 1st person
• number: plural
• tense: present
• verb: lubić (to like)

So lubimy already means we like. Adding my (we) is only necessary for emphasis or contrast:

• Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa. – On the course, we like to learn new words.
• Na kursie my lubimy poznawać nowe słowa (a oni nie). – On the course, we like to learn new words (but they don’t).

In neutral sentences, you usually leave my out.

Why is it lubimy poznawać, not something like lubimy poznajemy?

In Polish, after lubić (to like), you normally use an infinitive if you want to say like doing something:

• lubić + infinitive

So:

• lubimy poznawać – we like to get to know / learn
• lubimy jeść – we like to eat
• lubię czytać – I like to read

Saying lubimy poznajemy would be like saying “we like we are getting to know” – it’s ungrammatical.

So the structure is:

• Na kursie (location)
• lubimy (we like)
• poznawać (to get to know / to learn – infinitive)
• nowe słowa (new words – object of poznawać).

What is the difference between poznawać and uczyć się here?

Both can be related to learning, but they have different nuances:

• poznawać (imperfective)

  • core meaning: to get to know, to become acquainted with, to discover
  • here: you are encountering and becoming familiar with new words.

• uczyć się (imperfective, reflexive)

  • meaning: to study, to learn (by working on it, studying)
  • focuses more on the active studying process and effort.

So:

• lubimy poznawać nowe słowa – we enjoy coming across and getting familiar with new words (more about exposure, discovery).
• lubimy uczyć się nowych słów – we like studying new words (more about deliberate learning, memorising).

Both are correct, but they emphasize slightly different aspects of learning.

Why is it poznawać, not poznać?

Poznawać and poznać are the imperfective / perfective pair:

• poznawać – imperfective: ongoing, repeated, habitual action
• poznać – perfective: completed action, reaching a result once or in a single event.

In this sentence:

• Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa.
  • talking about something you like in general, habitually during the course.
  • so you use the imperfective: poznawać.

If you used poznać, it would sound like you want to finish getting to know some set of words, or you like the result of having learned them, which is not the usual meaning of this sentence.

Why is it nowe słowa and not nowych słów?

It depends on the verb and its case government:

• poznawać normally takes the accusative case for its direct object.
• uczyć się normally takes the genitive case for what you learn.

So:

• poznawać co? (accusative) → poznawać nowe słowa

  • nowe – accusative plural neuter
  • słowa – accusative plural neuter

• uczyć się czego? (genitive) → uczyć się nowych słów

  • nowych – genitive plural
  • słów – genitive plural

In your sentence, the verb is poznawać, so you must use the accusative: nowe słowa.

What is the grammatical form of nowe słowa exactly?

Nowe słowa is:

• nowe – adjective nowy (new), neuter plural, nominative or accusative
• słowa – noun słowo (word), neuter plural, nominative or accusative

In this sentence:

• poznawać takes a direct object (what do we get to know? → new words), so we are in the accusative plural.
• For neuter nouns, nominative plural and accusative plural look the same: słowa.
• Adjectives agree, so nowe is also accusative plural neuter.

So functionally it’s accusative plural neuter, even though the form matches nominative.

Could the word order be different, like Lubimy poznawać nowe słowa na kursie?

Yes. Polish word order is fairly flexible. These versions are all grammatically correct:

1. Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słowa.
   – Neutral; slight emphasis on on the course as the setting.

2. Lubimy poznawać nowe słowa na kursie.
   – Slightly more neutral/flat; often sounds like a straightforward statement.

3. Nowe słowa lubimy poznawać na kursie.
   – Emphasis on new words.

The differences are mostly about focus and emphasis, not grammar. The original sentence is a very standard, natural order.

Is poznawać nowe słowa the most natural way to say learn new words, or is there another common expression?

Poznawać nowe słowa is natural and understandable, and it emphasizes encountering / getting acquainted with new words, often through exposure (listening, reading, conversation).

Other very common options:

• uczyć się nowych słów – to study/learn new words (more about actively memorising).
• poznawać nowe słówka – similar to the original but with słówka, a more informal/diminutive term for words / vocabulary items; often used in class/learning contexts.

So you might also hear:

• Na kursie lubimy uczyć się nowych słów.
• Na kursie lubimy poznawać nowe słówka.

Your original sentence is perfectly natural, especially if the idea is discovering/meeting many new words.

What is the difference between słowo, słowo’s plural forms, and words like wyraz and słówko?

• słowo – word (general, very common)

  • singular: słowo
  • plural:
    • słowa – normal, neutral plural
    • słów – genitive plural (used after some verbs and prepositions: nie znam tych słów – I don’t know these words)

• słówko – diminutive of słowo

  • suggests a little word / vocabulary item, often used in learning contexts:
    • uczyć się słówek – to learn vocab items / words

• wyraz – word, but mainly in a more technical/linguistic sense or in school grammar:

  • ile wyrazów ma to zdanie? – how many words does this sentence have?

In your sentence, nowe słowa is the most neutral choice. For a more “classroom vocabulary” feel, you could say nowe słówka.

How do you conjugate lubić and poznawać in the present tense?

Lubić (imperfective, to like):

• ja lubię – I like
• ty lubisz – you (sg) like
• on/ona/ono lubi – he/she/it likes
• my lubimy – we like
• wy lubicie – you (pl) like
• oni/one lubią – they like

Poznawać (imperfective, to get to know / to become acquainted with):

• ja poznaję
• ty poznajesz
• on/ona/ono poznaje
• my poznajemy
• wy poznajecie
• oni/one poznają

Your sentence uses:

• lubimy – we like
• poznawać – infinitive (to get to know / to learn)

How do you pronounce the key words in this sentence?

Approximate pronunciation (in a simplified way for English speakers):

• Na – nah (short a, as in father)

• kursie – KOOR-shye

  • ku like coo
  • rsie → ś is a soft sh, very close to sh in she but softer.

• lubimy – loo-BEE-mih

  • stress on BEE: lu-BI-my
  • final y is like a short, harder i, between i and uh.

• poznawać – po-zNA-vatch

  • stress on NA: poz-NA-wać
  • ć like a soft ch in chew but palatalised.

• nowe – NO-veh

  • stress on NO.

• słowa – SWO-vah

  • ł is like English w
  • stress on SWO.

Whole sentence, with stress marks:
Na KUR-sie lu-BI-my poz-NA-wać NO-we SŁO-wa.