Breakdown of Ja myślę, a ty mówisz.
ja
I
ty
you (singular)
a
and / whereas (contrast)
mówić
to speak
myśleć
to think
Questions & Answers about Ja myślę, a ty mówisz.
Why did we include ja and ty if Polish usually drops pronouns?
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 mówisz is "you speak", how do I say "I speak"?
Verbs in this group take an -ę ending for "I" (or -ię if the spelling requires it to keep the consonant soft). To make the "I" form of mówić, you drop the -isz from the "you" form and add -ię, giving you mówię.
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