Mam dwadzieścia lat.

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Breakdown of Mam dwadzieścia lat.

• mieć: to have
• rok: the year
• dwadzieścia: twenty

Questions & Answers about Mam dwadzieścia lat.

Why does Polish say Mam dwadzieścia lat literally as I have twenty years, instead of I am twenty years old?

That is simply the normal Polish pattern for talking about age.

• English uses to be: I am twenty years old
• Polish uses mieć (to have): Mam dwadzieścia lat

So in Polish, age is expressed as something you have, not something you are.

More examples:

• Mam osiemnaście lat = I am 18
• Ona ma trzydzieści lat = She is 30
• Ile masz lat? = How old are you? literally How many years do you have?

What does mam mean exactly?

Mam means I have.

It is the 1st person singular form of the verb mieć (to have).

A few useful forms:

• mam = I have
• masz = you have
• ma = he/she/it has
• mamy = we have
• macie = you have (plural)
• mają = they have

So:

• Mam dwadzieścia lat = I am twenty years old
• Masz dwadzieścia lat = You are twenty years old

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?