Perfective Verbs
Polish verbs come in pairs: imperfective (focusing on the ongoing process or habit) and perfective (focusing on the completion and result of the action). This lesson introduces perfective verbs to talk about completed future actions.
To form the future perfective, simply apply the present-tense endings you already know to a perfective verb stem. Because an action's completion cannot be ongoing in the present, applying present-tense endings to a perfective verb automatically places the action in the future.
Let's look at skończyć (to finish). Conjugate it like a present-tense verb to mean "will finish":
Familiar Patterns Apply
All present-tense spelling rules and conjugation patterns apply perfectly to future perfective verbs. For example, perfective verbs ending in -ować still change to -uj- before adding their endings:
Similarly, standard rules for typical verb endings (like -ę/-isz or -ę/-ysz) remain exactly the same:
Completed Actions and Results
Use the future perfective whenever you are talking about a specific, intended result. You are focusing on the fact that the action will be done, rather than the time spent doing it.
Here are a few more common perfective verbs in action, focusing on the result of paying, understanding, and asking:
