Verbal nouns with -nie and -cie
Polish frequently turns verbs into nouns to describe the process or act of doing something, much like the English "-ing" (as in "cooking" or "baking").
Verbs typically form this noun by replacing their infinitive ending (like -ać, -yć, or -ić) with -anie or -enie. For instance, gotować (to cook) becomes gotowanie (cooking), and smażyć (to fry) becomes smażenie (frying).
For short, single-syllable verbs (like myć — to wash, or pić — to drink), the ending is often -cie. This gives us mycie (washing) and picie (drinking). Note that the word jedzenie (eating/food) is also a verbal noun!
All verbal nouns ending in -nie and -cie are neuter.
Actions vs. Processes
Remember that verbal nouns describe the concept or process. When describing an active, ongoing action performed by someone, you must still use the conjugated verb, such as kroić (to cut) or smażyć (to fry).
Imperfective verbs with -ywać / -iwać
Another common way to form an imperfective verb (describing ongoing or habitual actions) from a perfective one is by adding the suffix -ywać or -iwać.
These verbs conjugate in the present tense just like the -ować verbs you already know: you drop the -ywać or -iwać and add the endings -uję, -ujesz, -uje, -ujemy, -ujecie, -ują.
For example, przygotowywać (to prepare) becomes przygotowuję (I prepare), and przechowywać (to store) becomes przechowujesz (you store).
Because these new verbs are imperfective, they can also be turned into long verbal nouns ending in -nie to describe the process of the action, giving us words like przygotowywanie (preparing) and przechowywanie (storing).
Putting it all together
Now you can mix active verbs and verbal nouns to describe exactly how you work in the kitchen!