Najpierw rozgrzewam olej, a dopiero potem wrzucam cebulę i warzywa.

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Breakdown of Najpierw rozgrzewam olej, a dopiero potem wrzucam cebulę i warzywa.

• i: and
• a: and
• najpierw: first

Questions & Answers about Najpierw rozgrzewam olej, a dopiero potem wrzucam cebulę i warzywa.

Why are the verbs rozgrzewam and wrzucam in the present tense if this is describing cooking steps?

In Polish, recipes and step-by-step instructions often use the present tense to describe what the speaker does next. It works a lot like English recipe style: I heat the oil, then I add the onion...

So rozgrzewam = I am heating / I heat
and wrzucam = I throw in / I add

This is very natural in Polish when describing a process.

If you wanted a future meaning, you would normally use perfective future forms, for example:

• rozgrzeję
• wrzucę

But in instructions, the present tense is extremely common.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

Because Polish usually does not need subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• rozgrzewam = I heat
• wrzucam = I throw in / add

The ending -am already tells you it is 1st person singular: I.

You could say Ja najpierw rozgrzewam olej..., but that would usually add emphasis, like I do it this way.

What does najpierw mean, and how is it different from potem?