Film zaczyna się za pięć minut.

the movie

Breakdown of Film zaczyna się za pięć minut.

• za pięć minut: in five minutes
• się: reflexive pronoun
• zaczynać: to begin

Questions & Answers about Film zaczyna się za pięć minut.

What does each word in Film zaczyna się za pięć minut mean?

Word by word:

• Film = film / movie
• zaczyna = begins / starts
• się = a particle used with some verbs; here it is part of zaczynać się = to begin / to start
• za = in when talking about time from now
• pięć = five
• minut = minutes

So the whole sentence means The movie starts in five minutes.

Why is there się in this sentence?

Because in Polish, the natural verb here is zaczynać się or zacząć się, which means to begin / to start.

Compare:

• Zaczynam film. = I am starting the movie.
  Here someone actively starts something.
• Film zaczyna się. = The movie is starting / begins.
  Here the movie itself is beginning.

So się is not really translated word for word into English here; it is just part of how Polish expresses to begin in this kind of sentence.

What is the dictionary form of zaczyna?