Learn Polish: Ja myślę, a ty mówisz.

In Polish, you usually drop subject pronouns like ja (I) and ty (you) because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. However, we include them when we want to emphasize contrast. By using them here, the sentence highlights the difference between us: I am thinking, whereas you are speaking.

Why does this sentence use a for "and" instead of i?

Both a and i can translate to "and", but they have different jobs. You use i to simply add things together. You use a to show a contrast between two subjects or actions. Because this sentence contrasts what I am doing with what you are doing, a (which often translates as "and", "but", or "while") is the correct word.

Why do myśleć (to think) and mówić (to speak) follow the same pattern if their dictionary forms look different?

The -ę / -isz conjugation group can be a little sneaky! It includes verbs ending in -ić (like mówić) and -yć, but it also includes some common verbs ending in -eć, like myśleć. Even though their dictionary forms look different, they conjugate the same way in the present tense: ja myślę, ty myślisz and ja mówię, ty mówisz.

If is "you speak", how do I say "I speak"?