Breakdown of Policzże to ostrożnie, żeby się nie przeliczyć!
to
this
nie
no / not
ostrożnie
carefully
żeby
so that, in order to
policzyć
to count (perfective)
-że
(emphatic imperative particle)
przeliczyć się
to miscalculate
Questions & Answers about Policzże to ostrożnie, żeby się nie przeliczyć!
How does the prefix prze- create the meaning of "miscalculate" in przeliczyć się?
While the prefix prze- often means doing something thoroughly or across a boundary, it has a specific function (especially when paired with the reflexive się) of indicating an error, a failure, or doing something to excess. Here, liczyć (to count) becomes przeliczyć się (to make a mistake in your calculation or to overestimate yourself).
What is the purpose of the -że attached to the verb in policzże?
The suffix -że (which becomes -ż after a vowel) is an emphatic particle used with imperative verbs. It adds urgency, impatience, or strong persuasion to the command. It turns a standard "count it" into a much stronger "do count it!" or "just count it!"
Why is przeliczyć in the infinitive rather than conjugated for "you"?
Because the subject of both actions is exactly the same person. When the person receiving the command is the same person who shouldn't miscalculate, Polish uses żeby (so that / in order to) followed directly by an infinitive. If the subjects were different, you would need a conjugated verb, such as żebyś się nie przeliczył (so that you wouldn't miscalculate).
Both verbs in this sentence are perfective. Why not use the imperfective aspect here?
The perfective aspect is used because the speaker is focused on the completed result of the actions. Policzże means "get this completely counted," not "spend time counting." Likewise, przeliczyć się warns against the final, completed event of making a specific error, not the ongoing process of doing math.
Learn Policzże to ostrożnie, żeby się nie przeliczyć and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free