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### Expressing strong wishes with "oby"

When you want to express a strong hope, wish, or apprehension, use the particle *oby* (hopefully / if only). In this lesson, we will practice using it in the context of luck, bets, and superstitions (*przesądy*).

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The golden rule of *oby* is that it must be followed by a verb in the **past tense**, even when talking about the present or the future!

For third-person subjects (he/she/it/they), simply use *oby* followed by the past tense verb. A common way to wish someone luck in Poland is to keep your fingers crossed (*trzymać kciuki*).

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### Attaching personal endings to "oby"

If the wish is about yourself (I/we) or the person you are talking to (you), the personal endings for the past tense (*-m*, *-ś*, *-śmy*, *-ście*) detach from the verb and attach **directly to the word *oby***. 

This leaves the main verb in its bare third-person past form. Let's look at some examples from the casino (*kasyno*) and making bets (*zakład*).

- *oby* + *-m* = **obym** (hopefully I)
- *oby* + *-ś* = **obyś** (hopefully you)

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When talking about "we", add *-śmy* to form **obyśmy**. You will often use this when checking your betting slip (*kupon*) to see if you guessed correctly (*trafić*).

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### Invoking good luck

There are a few other ways to attract luck or ward off a bad outcome, such as finding a horseshoe (*podkowa*), knocking on wood (*odpukać*), or simply hoping for a miracle (*cud*). Notice how *oby* easily pairs with all of these situations to express a strong desire for a good outcome.

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Strong wishes (oby)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

predicative

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

This is (to jest)

The verb to be, singular (być)

Formal address (Pan, Pani)

Demonstrative pronouns (ten, ta, to)

Adjective agreement

Negation (nie)

Basic questions (czy, kto, co, gdzie, jak)

The verb to be, plural (być)

Present tense -m/-sz verbs

Reflexive verbs (się)

Coordinating conjunctions (i, a, ale)

Feminine direct objects (Accusative)

Inanimate direct objects (Accusative)

Animate masculine direct objects (Accusative)

Present tense verbs 2 (-ę, -isz / -ysz)

Expressing location (w, na)

Locative adjective agreement

Professions and nationalities (Instrumental)

Accompaniment (z + Instrumental)

Present tense verbs 3 (-ę, -esz)

Plural possessives (nasz, wasz)

Numbers 1 to 10

Genitive of possession

Genitive of negation

Lack or absence (nie ma)

Basic quantifiers (dużo, mało, trochę)

Liking things (podoba mi się)

Modal verbs (móc, musieć)

Subordinating conjunctions (bo, że)

Unidirectional motion verbs (iść, jechać)

Expressing age (mieć... lat)

Habitual motion (chodzić, jeździć)

Expressing destination (do)

Days of the week (poniedziałek, wtorek...)

Plural nouns for objects and animals

Plural nouns for people

Plural adjective agreement

Accusative object pronouns (go, ją, je...)

The past tense of to be (był)

Singular past tense (-łem, -łam...)

Expressing age (mieć + lata / lat)

Plural past tense (-li / -ły)

Perfective past tense

Future tense (będę + infinitive)

Age: one year (mieć rok)

Prices and currency (złoty, grosz)

Destination (na + accusative)

Non-masculine plurals (-e, -y, -i)

Instrumental pronouns (ze mną, z tobą)

To know (znać vs wiedzieć)

The future perfective tense

The imperative mood

Months of the year (styczeń, luty)

Greetings and farewells (dzień dobry, cześć)

Introducing yourself (mam na imię)

Thank you and sorry (dziękuję, przepraszam)

Left, right, up and down (po lewej stronie)

Parts of the body (ręka, noga)

Parts of the day (dzień, noc, południe)

What is it like? (jaki, jaka, jakie)

Speaking Polish (mówić po polsku)

Instrumental for adjectives (dobrym, dobrą)

Please do... (proszę + infinitive)

Interests (interesować się + Instrumental)

Can one? (można, trzeba, nie wolno)

By bus or by train (jechać autobusem)

Where are you from? (jestem z Polski)

Where exactly? (obok, przy, przed, za, pod, nad)

What time is it? (Która godzina?)

Not seeing her (go, jej, ich; niego, niej, nich)

When I have time (kiedy as a conjunction)

Irregular past stems (miał, mieli)

The verb 'iść' in the past (szedł, szli)

Imperfective future (będę odpoczywał)

Past aspect (robił vs zrobił)

Future aspect (będzie malował vs pomaluje)

Perfective motion with po- (pójść, pojechać)

Arrival verbs with przy- (przyjść, przyjechać)

Departure verbs with wy- (wyjść, wyjechać)

The Vocative case (Panie, Mamo)

Plural possessives (moi, moje)

Reflexive possessive pronouns (swój)

Genitive plural of masculine nouns (-ów, -y, -i)

Genitive plural of feminine and neuter nouns

Genitive plural of adjectives (-ych, -ich)

Accusative plural of masculine personal nouns

Question	Answer
the superstition	przesąd
hopefully / if only	oby
Superstitions are popular, hopefully we won't have bad luck.	Przesądy są popularne, obyśmy nie mieli pecha.
I don't believe in this superstition, but hopefully it won't rain today.	Nie wierzę w ten przesąd, ale oby dzisiaj nie padało.
the thumb	kciuk
Hopefully we will win the match, I am keeping my fingers crossed!	Obyśmy wygrali mecz, trzymam kciuki!
Hopefully he won't lose the money, we are keeping our fingers crossed.	Oby nie przegrał pieniędzy, trzymamy kciuki.
the casino	kasyno
We are in the casino, hopefully I will win something.	Jesteśmy w kasynie, obym coś wygrał.
He went to the casino, hopefully he didn't lose his wallet.	Poszedł do kasyna, oby nie zgubił portfela.
the bet	zakład
This is a stupid bet, hopefully they won't play.	To głupi zakład, oby nie grali.
I lost the bet, but hopefully she forgot about it.	Przegrałem zakład, ale oby o tym zapomniała.
the betting slip	kupon
Where is my betting slip? Hopefully no one took it.	Gdzie jest mój kupon? Oby nikt go nie wziął.
to guess correctly / to hit	trafić
I filled out the betting slip, hopefully we guessed right.	Wypełniłem kupon, obyśmy trafili.
We have a betting slip, hopefully we hit the right numbers.	Mamy kupon, obyśmy trafili dobre numery.
I didn't guess the date, hopefully you guessed correctly.	Nie trafiłem daty, obyś ty trafił.
the horseshoe	podkowa
A horseshoe brings luck, hopefully we will find one.	Podkowa przynosi szczęście, obyśmy jakąś znaleźli.
He has a horseshoe, hopefully it will bring luck.	Ma podkowę, oby przyniosła szczęście.
to knock on wood	odpukać
You have to knock on wood, hopefully nothing bad will happen.	Trzeba odpukać w drewno, oby nic złego się nie wydarzyło.
I knocked on wood, hopefully I won't lose.	Odpukałem w drewno, obym nie przegrał.
the miracle	cud
The situation is bad, hopefully a miracle will happen.	Sytuacja jest zła, oby wydarzył się cud.
We need a miracle, hopefully we will survive.	Potrzebujemy cudu, obyśmy przetrwali.
You can smell smoke, hopefully it's not a fire!	Czuć dym, oby to nie był pożar!
Hopefully he will do what he promised.	Oby zrobił to, co obiecał.