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### 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).

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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.

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### 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).

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### 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).

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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).

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### Putting it all together

Now you can mix active verbs and verbal nouns to describe exactly how you work in the kitchen!

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Verbal nouns (-nie, -cie)

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
cooking	gotowanie
I like cooking when I have free time.	Lubię gotowanie, gdy mam czas wolny.
Cooking together is a great idea.	Gotowanie razem to świetny pomysł.
preparation	przygotowywanie
Preparing dinner requires a lot of time.	Przygotowywanie obiadu wymaga dużo czasu.
Preparing dessert is a pleasure.	Przygotowywanie deseru to przyjemność.
frying	smażenie
Frying meat is not healthy.	Smażenie mięsa nie jest zdrowe.
I never have time for frying.	Nigdy nie mam czasu na smażenie.
to fry	smażyć
You must fry the onion and garlic.	Trzeba smażyć cebulę i czosnek.
cutting	krojenie
Cutting onions is often a problem.	Krojenie cebuli to często problem.
Cutting tomatoes is easy.	Krojenie pomidorów jest łatwe.
to cut	kroić
When you cut the bread, I prepare the soup.	Gdy kroisz chleb, ja przygotowuję zupę.
We are preparing breakfast, although nobody is hungry.	Przygotowujemy śniadanie, chociaż nikt nie jest głodny.
baking	pieczenie
It is worth trying baking at home.	Warto spróbować pieczenia w domu.
Baking a cake is a good idea.	Pieczenie ciasta to dobry pomysł.
washing	mycie
Nobody likes washing dishes.	Nikt nie lubi mycia naczyń.
Washing hands is important.	Mycie rąk jest ważne.
food	jedzenie
This food is very tasty!	To jedzenie jest bardzo smaczne!
Good food means a happy life.	Dobre jedzenie to szczęśliwe życie.
drinking	picie
I have nothing to drink.	Nie mam nic do picia.
Drinking water is important.	Picie wody jest ważne.
storing	przechowywanie
Storing vegetables is difficult.	Przechowywanie warzyw jest trudne.
to store	przechowywać
We store fruit in the fridge.	Przechowujemy owoce w lodówce.
You must not store meat here.	Nie wolno tutaj przechowywać mięsa.
I do not understand storing old things.	Nie rozumiem przechowywania starych rzeczy.
Cooking is cutting and frying, so today I am preparing dinner: I am cutting an onion and frying meat.	Gotowanie to krojenie i smażenie, więc dzisiaj przygotowuję obiad: kroję cebulę i smażę mięso.