Sprzedawca wyceni antyk.

The seller will appraise the antique.

Breakdown of Sprzedawca wyceni antyk.

• sprzedawca: the salesman
• antyk: the antique
• wycenić: to appraise; to value

Questions & Answers about Sprzedawca wyceni antyk.

What tense is wyceni? It looks like present tense, but the sentence means something future-related.

Wyceni is the future tense of the perfective verb wycenić.

In Polish, perfective verbs do not have a true present tense. Their present-looking forms are used to talk about a completed action in the future.

So:

• wycenia = is valuing / values from the imperfective verb wyceniać
• wyceni = will value / will appraise from the perfective verb wycenić

That is why Sprzedawca wyceni antyk means something like The seller will appraise the antique or The seller will put a value on the antique.

Why is wycenić perfective, and what difference does that make?

The verb wycenić is perfective, which means it presents the action as completed or as a single whole event.

Compare:

• wyceniać = imperfective
  
  • focuses on the process, repetition, or ongoing action
  • Sprzedawca wycenia antyk = The seller is appraising the antique / appraises the antique
• wycenić = perfective
  
  • focuses on reaching the result
  • Sprzedawca wyceni antyk = The seller will appraise the antique / will set a value for it

So the perfective form suggests the seller will finish the valuation, not just be in the middle of doing it.

Why is antyk not changed? Shouldn't the object have a different ending?