Wolę iść pieszo do pracy, kiedy pogoda jest dobra.

I prefer to walk to work when the weather is good.

Breakdown of Wolę iść pieszo do pracy, kiedy pogoda jest dobra.

• ja: I
• być: to be
• do: to
• kiedy: when

Questions & Answers about Wolę iść pieszo do pracy, kiedy pogoda jest dobra.

Why is it wolę, and what form is that?

Wolę is the 1st person singular present tense of woleć, meaning to prefer.

So:

• woleć = to prefer
• wolę = I prefer

Polish usually does not need a separate subject pronoun like ja here, because the verb ending -ę already tells you it means I. So:

• Wolę = I prefer
• Ja wolę = I prefer too, but with extra emphasis on I

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Why is there no word for to before iść?

In Polish, after a verb like woleć (to prefer), you normally use the bare infinitive.

So:

• Wolę iść = I prefer to go / I prefer going

Polish does not need a separate word equivalent to English to before the infinitive in this structure.

Compare:

• Chcę iść = I want to go
• Lubię czytać = I like to read / I like reading
• Wolę iść = I prefer to go

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Why is it and not ?