Word
Jeśli mam w domu mąkę i maliny, mogę upiec proste ciasto na weekend.
Meaning
If I have flour and raspberries at home, I can bake a simple cake for the weekend.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Jeśli mam w domu mąkę i maliny, mogę upiec proste ciasto na weekend.
ja
I
mieć
to have
i
and
na
for
Questions & Answers about Jeśli mam w domu mąkę i maliny, mogę upiec proste ciasto na weekend.
Why does the sentence start with Jeśli? Is it the same as if in English?
Yes. Jeśli means if and introduces a condition.
In this sentence, Jeśli mam w domu mąkę i maliny... means If I have flour and raspberries at home...
You may also see jeżeli, which also means if. In most everyday contexts, jeśli and jeżeli are interchangeable, though jeżeli can sound a little more formal or careful.
Why is it mam, not some future form, if the cake is for the weekend?
Because mam refers to the condition now: if I have flour and raspberries at home.
The speaker is talking about a present situation that makes something possible. Polish often uses the present tense in this kind of if sentence, just as English does:
- If I have time, I can do it tomorrow.
- Jeśli mam czas, mogę to zrobić jutro.
So the weekend is in the future, but the condition is about what the speaker has at the moment.
Why is it w domu and not w dom?