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### Verbs taking "o" for Goals and Requests

In Polish, when you fight, strive, or ask for an objective, you often use the preposition **o** followed by the target of your request in the **Accusative** case. 

Remember how the Accusative case forms these objects:
- Feminine nouns ending in **-a** change to **-ę**, and their adjectives take **-ą** (e.g., a "larger salary" becomes **większą pensję**).
- Plural inanimate nouns and adjectives (like "better conditions") usually match their dictionary forms.

Here are two common verbs for pursuing a goal:
- **walczyć o** (to fight for)
- **starać się o** (to strive for)

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### Demanding and Appealing

When advocating for rights or better conditions, you will frequently use verbs of demanding and requesting:

- **upominać się o** (to demand what is rightfully yours)
- **apelować o** (to appeal for)

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### Combining with Impersonal Verbs

You can pair these "verbs + o" with impersonal expressions like **trzeba** (one must) or **nie wolno** (one must not). The verb taking **o** stays in the infinitive.

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### Stating Your Demands

Labor unions often officially list their objectives. Such an objective or demand is called a **postulat**.

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Verbs taking 'o' (walczyć o)

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
to fight for	walczyć o
pay rise	podwyżka
salary	pensja
Is the trade union fighting for a pay rise, or for a larger salary?	Czy związek zawodowy walczy o podwyżkę, czy o większą pensję?
to demand (what is owed)	upominać się o
fair	sprawiedliwy
right	prawo
Working women are demanding fair rights.	Pracujące kobiety upominają się o sprawiedliwe prawa.
to appeal for	apelować o
improvement	poprawa
Working citizens are appealing for an improvement in safety.	Pracujący obywatele apelują o poprawę bezpieczeństwa.
to strive for	starać się o
Are we striving for a pay rise, or for better conditions?	Czy staramy się o podwyżkę, czy o lepsze warunki?
Are you fighting for a pay rise, or appealing for an improvement in conditions?	Czy walczycie o podwyżkę, czy apelujecie o poprawę warunków?
One must strive for an improvement in conditions.	Trzeba starać się o poprawę warunków.
One must demand better conditions.	Trzeba upominać się o lepsze warunki.
demand	postulat
Do working people have any main demand?	Czy pracujący ludzie mają jakiś główny postulat?
One must not forget that working people are fighting for their rights.	Nie wolno zapominać, że pracujący ludzie walczą o swoje prawa.
One must not reject this condition, but one can strive for an improvement.	Nie wolno odrzucić tego warunku, ale można starać się o poprawę.
Are they appealing for an improvement in conditions, or for fair rights?	Czy oni apelują o poprawę warunków, czy o sprawiedliwe prawa?
We are fighting for a fair salary because this is our main demand.	Walczymy o sprawiedliwą pensję, bo to jest nasz główny postulat.