# Learning verbs



## Smsh

Hello,

I've noticed there are a whole lot of exceptions in Polish, concerning the verbs. A lot don't really seam to fit with any verb type. So my question is, should I get used to conjugating the verbs according to the verb type, or should I simply learn the conjugations of each verb separately?


----------



## JakubikF

I think there are some exceptions but not too many to concern if there are any conjugation rules. Indeed, they excist, because in Polish there are few types of conjugation. I cannot tell you why, one verb is conjugated in a concrete type. However verb of same conjugation seems to be similar in a way. 

Could you give any excample which you have come across to conclude that there are a lot of verbs which do not fit to any group?


----------



## Smsh

I've found a bunch of verbs in my dictionary, that don't really seem to fit to any verb type. They are not indicated as belonging to "am/asz", or "ę/isz", but they are indicated with something different, like "yję/yjesz", or "szę/szesz". Others, for some reason, are indicated with the complete verb, like "chcę/chcesz"(chieć), or "znajdę/znajdziesz" (znaleźć).

In the book I have, 4 verb types are indicated: "am/asz", "ę/esz", ę/isz", and "em/esz". 

Do the verbs indicated with for example ""yję/yjesz", belong to one of these four types, but with some differences?
Or are there other minor verb types, besides the four indicated above?


----------



## JakubikF

Ok, first of all - "znajdę/znajdziesz" come from "znajdować" not "znaleźć". Conjugation for the latter one would be "znalazłem/znalazłeś/znalazł/znaleźliśmy/znaleźliście/znaleźli". As far as I know it is a perfective form of "znajdować" (an imperfective one). 

The ending "szę/szesz". The only verb that comes to my mind now is "pisać". In Polish very often "s" is converted to "sz" while changing forms of words e.g. pisać->piszę etc. 

yję/yjesz, well, it is impossible to pronunce the conjugated form of e.g. "myć", "tyć", "żyć" as "myę", "tyę", "żyę". I think it is the main reason why we need to put "j" there: "myję, tyję, żyję". It is just my unprofessional, logical explanation. It can be also connected with "y" and following vowel. There is no word in Polish which contains such structure like "-y(vowel)-". I think in this case j-letter is added every time.


----------



## robin74

JakubikF said:


> Ok, first of all - "znajdę/znajdziesz" come from "znajdować" not "znaleźć".


That's not right. "znajdę/znajdziesz" comes form "znaleźć".
"Znajdować" is conjugated "znajduję/znajdujesz". 
The former is perfect, while the latter is imperfect.



> Conjugation for the latter one would be "znalazłem/znalazłeś/znalazł/znaleźliśmy/znaleźliście/znaleźli".


That's in the past tense. What Smsh's dictionary gives are endings for present / future tense.


----------



## JakubikF

robin74 said:


> That's not right. "znajdę/znajdziesz" comes form "znaleźć".
> "Znajdować" is conjugated "znajduję/znajdujesz".
> The former is perfect, while the latter is imperfect.


I mixed up few things. Thank you for correcting me.


----------



## kknd

I think you should check up conjugation tables of verbs, there are eleven types of them, few with subtypes (I ~ II ~ III ~ IV ~ Va ~ Vb ~ Vc ~ VIa ~ VIb ~ VIIa ~ VIIb ~ VIIIa ~ VIIIb ~ IX ~ Xa ~ Xb ~ Xc ~ XI). See Czasowniki w języku polskim (check list of links having form as above) for detailed description. Note: unfortunately everything is in Polish.


----------



## doctorcolossus

kknd -- Thank-you for that link.  It's very comprehensive.  I'm inclined to work on a translation, but I believe it's useful for students of Polish (or of any language!) to familiarize themselves with grammatical terms _in their target language_.  In this case however, I feel that memorizing 11 (+ 7 sub-) conjugations is a chore enough in itself!

According to Marta here:
phrasebase.com/archive2/polish-language-lessons/verb-in-polish.html
... and qazsedcft here:
polishforums.com/polish_verbs-18_3576_0.html
... there are only four groups of verbs in Polish.  I have noticed -- especially in grammars designed for anglophone learners of Polish -- that the number of conjugation types is considered something of a subjective matter. In these cases it's probably designed to simplify matters for students, who might give up if they knew that there were 11+ forms!  But then again, I suspect these eleven forms might just be another interpretation, rather than a definitive rule; perhaps there are multiple valid systems for classifying these patterns, and no universal consensus.  I would like to know what some native speakers have to say about this.

What's equally mind-boggling to me, is memorizing all of those perfective & imperfective aspect pairs, and employing them correctly!

Concerning verb conjugations, I think my best advice would be not to try too hard at memorizing those ludicrous tables all in one _coup_ (unless your mind is well-suited to that sort of thing).  With Polish, I think it's best to skip between grammar and its context frequently; to try and progressively develop an instinct for the declensions and conjugations, before coming back to memorizing the rules, through exercises in reading and listening.  Afterward, the grammatical tables will be more illuminating.  Of course, it's difficult to understand the language at first without some grammatical background, so that's why I prefer to go back and forth constantly between grammar and practice.  My idea is that the memory retains information better when it is an answer to a question the mind has already formulated; if you come across the solution to something you were wondering about in particular, you'll retain that information better than if you were simply reading it from a long list of rules.


----------



## kknd

Intuitions are the key, none of us know those tables by heart and we are still using Polish correctly (with small mistakes which happens to everybody only). You're also using English—your mother tounge—in similar way, just by knowing what is okay and what is not. Practice makes perfect, isn't it?  All we have to do is to provide ourselves with sufficient amount of language context in which we can develop it's correct use.


----------



## Denis555

kknd said:


> Intuitions are the key, none of us know those tables by heart and we are still using Polish correctly (with small mistakes which happens to everybody only). You're also using English—your mother tounge—in similar way, just by knowing what is okay and what is not. Practice makes perfect, isn't it?  All we have to do is to provide ourselves with sufficient amount of language context in which we can develop it's correct use.


 
I agree with you. The problem is that as foreigners we want "shortcuts" to the language, in other words some rules that can make life easier. 

We can't simply use "intuition" because we would have to have spent our childhood in Poland. And of course we didn't. At that time we were busy getting this "intuition" in our own languages... 

But it's totally true that "Practice makes perfect". I just hope that this practice doesn't mean a whole lifetime as we came to this _Polish _party quite late!

Well, I just can say that despite all the drinks and the strong "wódka" crashing through our minds, making us at times confused, this party is really enjoyable, and all Poles can be really proud of the beautiful and elegant language they call their own!


----------

