Looking Forward with "Cieszyć się na"
To express that you are eagerly anticipating or "looking forward to" an upcoming event, Polish uses the reflexive verb cieszyć się (to be glad/happy) paired with the preposition na.
| to look forward to | cieszyć się na |
The Grammar: "Na" + Accusative
Whenever you use cieszyć się na to anticipate something, the noun that follows must be in the Accusative case.
Fortunately, for many events—like masculine inanimate nouns (przylot, rejs, debiut) and non-virile plurals (odwiedziny)—the Accusative form is identical to the dictionary (Nominative) form.
| We are looking forward to your arrival and a long visit. | Cieszymy się na twój przylot oraz długie odwiedziny. |
| The hostess is counting on good weather and is looking forward to this cruise. | Gospodyni liczy na dobrą pogodę i cieszy się na ten rejs. |
| I am looking forward to your debut and I hope for a successful camping trip. | Cieszę się na twój debiut i mam nadzieję na udany biwak. |
Pairing with Similar Verbs
You can naturally pair cieszyć się na with other verbs that also take na + Accusative, such as liczyć na (to count on) or mieć nadzieję na (to hope for).
| The actor is counting on your visit and is looking forward to his debut. | Aktor liczy na wasze odwiedziny i cieszy się na swój debiut. |
| The student is counting on this internship; therefore, he is looking forward to the trip to the capital. | Student liczy na ten staż, dlatego cieszy się na wyjazd do stolicy. |
Anticipation in the Negative
If you want to express that you are not looking forward to something, simply place nie before the verb.
Remember: while negating a verb usually changes a direct object from Accusative to Genitive, this rule does not apply to objects of a preposition. Because the noun follows the preposition na, it safely remains in the Accusative case, even in a negative sentence.
| I will not look forward to the fair until you buy tickets for the ball. | Nie będę się cieszyć na jarmark, dopóki nie kupisz biletów na bal. |
| We were not looking forward to his exhibition opening until we saw the paintings. | Nie cieszyliśmy się na jego wernisaż, dopóki nie zobaczyliśmy obrazów. |