Jeśli jutro zdążymy, wieczorem zaczniemy pakować kartony do samochodu.

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Breakdown of Jeśli jutro zdążymy, wieczorem zaczniemy pakować kartony do samochodu.

• wieczorem: in the evening
• jutro: tomorrow
• my: we

Questions & Answers about Jeśli jutro zdążymy, wieczorem zaczniemy pakować kartony do samochodu.

Why is it zdążymy after jeśli? In English we say if we have time / if we manage, not if we will manage.

This is a very common question.

In Polish, after jeśli when you talk about the future, Polish does not follow the same rule as English. English usually avoids will in the if-clause, but Polish can use a future-time form there.

Here, zdążymy comes from the verb zdążyć = to manage to, to make it in time.

A key detail:

• zdążyć is perfective
• perfective verbs do not have a true present tense for normal present meaning
• their present-looking forms usually refer to the future

So:

• zdążymy literally looks like a present-tense form
• but it means we will manage / we manage in time in a future context

So Jeśli jutro zdążymy... is the normal Polish way to say If we manage tomorrow... / If we have time tomorrow...

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Compare:

• Jeśli jutro zdążymy, ... = If we manage tomorrow, ...
• Jutro zdążymy. = We’ll manage tomorrow.

So even though English uses a present form after if, Polish naturally uses zdążymy here.

What exactly does zdążymy mean?