Zostawiłem gdzieś okulary.

to leave

Breakdown of Zostawiłem gdzieś okulary.

• okulary: the glasses
• gdzieś: somewhere

Questions & Answers about Zostawiłem gdzieś okulary.

Why is it zostawiłem and not a form with ja?

In Polish, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already tells you who the subject is.

• zostawiłem = I left
• the ending -łem shows 1st person singular masculine

So Zostawiłem gdzieś okulary already means I left my glasses somewhere without needing ja.

You could say Ja zostawiłem gdzieś okulary, but that usually adds emphasis, like I’m the one who left the glasses somewhere.

What does zostawiłem literally mean, and what verb is it from?

Zostawiłem is the past tense of the verb zostawić, which means to leave behind, to leave, or to put and not take with you.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• I left
• I must have left
• I left behind

It is a very natural verb for things like forgetting an object somewhere:

• Zostawiłem telefon w domu = I left my phone at home
• Zostawiła klucze w samochodzie = She left the keys in the car

Why does zostawiłem end in -łem?