Telling a story in order
You already have najpierw (first), potem (then) and wkrótce (soon). The next link in the chain is następnie — next, then — the neutral, slightly written word for the following step.
| First wash your hands, and then eat breakfast. | Najpierw umyj ręce, a następnie zjedz śniadanie. |
w międzyczasie — in the meantime — for what happens while something else is going on.
| She was reading, and in the meantime I was cleaning. | Ona czytała, a w międzyczasie ja sprzątałem. |
Right now and as soon as
od razu — right away, at once.
| Call me right away. | Zadzwoń do mnie od razu. |
jak tylko — as soon as — opens a time clause. The verb in that clause is usually PERFECTIVE and, for the future, in the perfective future: jak tylko przyjdziesz, jak tylko dostarczą.
| As soon as you come, we will eat lunch. | Jak tylko przyjdziesz, zjemy obiad. |
Within, until now, since long ago
w ciągu + Genitive — within, in the course of: w ciągu godziny, w ciągu tygodnia.
| I will answer within an hour. | Odpowiem w ciągu godziny. |
do tej pory — until now, so far — normally with a negated or unfinished verb.
| So far I have not received an answer. | Do tej pory nie dostałem odpowiedzi. |
od dawna — for a long time (and still now) — with the PRESENT tense, where English uses the perfect: Znam go od dawna — I have known him for a long time.
dawno temu — long ago — with the past tense, like rok temu.
| Long ago we lived in the countryside. | Dawno temu mieszkaliśmy na wsi. |
