Making verbs imperfective with -ywać and -iwać
Polish verbs typically come in pairs: perfective (for completed actions) and imperfective (for ongoing or repeated processes). You can often create an imperfective verb from a perfective stem using the suffix -ywać or -iwać.
For example, turning the perfective zapisać (to save) into a continuous or repeated action gives us zapisywać (to save / to be saving).
| to save | zapisywać |
Conjugating -ywać verbs in the present tense
Because present tense actions are ongoing or habitual, they always use imperfective verbs. Just like verbs ending in -ować, those ending in -ywać or -iwać undergo a stem change when conjugated.
The -ywać / -iwać ending changes to -uj- before taking the standard present tense endings (-ę, -esz, -e, -emy, -ecie, -ą). For instance, zapisywać becomes zapisuję (I am saving / I save).
| I systematically save files on the computer because it is important. | Systematycznie zapisuję pliki na komputerze, bo to jest ważne. |
| The assistant is preparing a report for the boss. | Asystent przygotowuje raport dla szefa. |
| This director is signing the contract right now. | Ten dyrektor właśnie podpisuje umowę. |
Office workflows and routines
These imperfective verbs are especially useful for describing regular administrative workflows and daily office tasks, like passing on data or solving problems.
| Are you passing on the data to the client? | Czy przekazujesz dane klientowi? |
| The new manager solves problems quickly. | Nowy kierownik szybko rozwiązuje problemy. |
The -uj- pattern remains consistent across all grammatical persons, such as the "we" form (-ujemy):
| We often receive invoices from this company. | Często otrzymujemy faktury od tej firmy. |
| When we receive an email, we prepare an answer. | Kiedy otrzymujemy mail, przygotowujemy odpowiedź. |