Happening to Someone
To say that something "happens" to someone or that someone "happens to do" something, Polish uses the reflexive verbs zdarzać się (imperfective) and zdarzyć się (perfective).
These verbs are usually used impersonally. In the present tense, you will use the third-person singular zdarza się. In the past tense, it takes the neuter third-person singular form zdarzyło się.
Specify who is experiencing the event using the Dative case (like mi, ci, or jej). You can follow this directly with an infinitive verb to state what they happened to do.
| I happened to meet an old friend. | Zdarzyło mi się spotkać dawnego przyjaciela. |
| She happened to forget his name. | Zdarzyło jej się zapomnieć, jak on się nazywa. |
Bumping Into People
You can use this construction with the imperfective form to ask about things that happen regularly or repeatedly. A common scenario is bumping into old friends (wpaść na dawnych znajomych).
| Do you often happen to bump into old acquaintances? | Czy często zdarza ci się wpaść na dawnych znajomych? |
You can also use this structure without an infinitive, simply to state that an event occurred to someone.
| That has never happened to me before! | Nigdy wcześniej mi się to nie zdarzyło! |
Happening with "Że" Clauses
Instead of an infinitive, you can follow the main phrase with a clause introduced by że (that) to describe an entire situation that occurred.
| It happened to me that I couldn't say anything because the surprise was big. | Zdarzyło mi się, że nie mogłem nic powiedzieć, bo zaskoczenie było duże. |
Coincidences and Fate
When you cross paths with someone from your past, you might talk about a coincidence (przypadek) or fate (los). Add adjectives like niesamowity (amazing) or niezwykły (unusual) to express your surprise (zaskoczenie) or shock (szok).
| It was a huge surprise that it happened to us yesterday. | To było wielkie zaskoczenie, że wczoraj nam się to zdarzyło. |
| This unusual coincidence is a real shock for me. | Ten niezwykły przypadek to dla mnie prawdziwy szok. |
| Do you think this amazing coincidence is just fate? | Myślisz, że ten niesamowity przypadek to tylko los? |