When you want to say that something is going to happen very soon—"any minute now" or "any day now"—Polish uses the word lada. It acts as an indefinite temporal determiner that signals an imminent event.
"Any Moment Now"
Pair lada with time-related words to anticipate something happening in the very near future. These phrases are fixed and do not decline:
- lada chwila – any moment now
- lada moment – any moment now
- lada dzień – any day now
Because these phrases describe actions that will be completed suddenly, they are usually paired with perfective verbs in the future tense.
| The doctor will appear at your place any moment now. | Lekarz pojawi się u ciebie lada chwila. |
| Although she is strong, she'll faint any moment now. | Chociaż jest silna, lada chwila zemdleje. |
| Panic will break out any moment now. | Lada moment wybuchnie panika. |
Sudden Events and Arrivals
Verbs that naturally pair with lada often describe sudden arrivals, reactions, or dramatic events like wybuchnąć (to break out) and zawalić się (to collapse).
| This old building will collapse any day now. | Ten stary budynek zawali się lada dzień. |
| They'll reach the station any moment now. | Lada chwila dojadą do stacji. |
While usually seen anticipating the future with lada, these perfective verbs are also used in the past tense to describe sudden events that have already happened.
| The politicians appeared and panic broke out. | Politycy pojawili się i wybuchła panika. |