Breakdown of Jeśli nie będziesz pracować, nie będziesz mieć pieniędzy.
być
to be
mieć
to have
nie
no / not
pracować
to work
pieniądze
money
jeśli
if
Questions & Answers about Jeśli nie będziesz pracować, nie będziesz mieć pieniędzy.
Why does the Polish sentence use the future tense (będziesz pracować) when the English translation uses the present ("If you do not work")?
In English, we usually use the present tense after "if" to talk about the future ("If you do not work..."). Polish is more logical here: since both actions happen in the future, you must use the future tense in both parts of the sentence. So, after jeśli, you literally say "If you will not work" (jeśli nie będziesz pracować).
Could I use jeżeli instead of jeśli in this sentence?
Yes! Jeśli and jeżeli both mean "if" and are completely interchangeable in these types of conditional sentences. Jeśli is just a bit shorter and more common in everyday speech.
Why is the word for money pieniędzy instead of pieniądze?
The verb mieć (to have) normally takes the Accusative case, which would be pieniądze. However, this sentence is negative (nie będziesz mieć). In Polish, whenever you negate a verb, its direct object must change to the Genitive case. Pieniędzy is the Genitive form of pieniądze.
Can I say nie będziesz pracował instead of nie będziesz pracować?
Yes, you can. To form the future tense of an imperfective verb, you combine a form of "to be" (będziesz) with either the infinitive (pracować, mieć) or the past tense form (pracował if speaking to a man, pracowała if speaking to a woman). Both structures are correct and mean exactly the same thing.
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