Polish verb BYĆ – to be. Without hundreds of extra words, look how to conjugate it in present, past and future tense.

BYĆ – to be

Ja jestemI am
Ty jesteśYou are
On, ona, ono jestHe, she, it is
My jesteśmyWe are
Wy jesteścieYou are(plural)
Oni, one sąThey are

What is the difference between Oni and One? The difference is in gender. Oni is when we tell about men, or men with women. One is when we tell about only women:

On+on = Oni

On+ona = Oni

Ona+Ona = One

Now look how to conjugate BYĆ in past tense. It can be complicated at first sight, because past tense is fully gender based.

Ja byłem

Ja byłam

I was (a man says)

I was (a woman says)

Ty byłeś

Ty byłaś

You were (said to a man)

You were (said to a woman)

On był

Ona była

Ono było

He was

She was

It was

My byliśmy

My byłyśmy

We were (m+m or m+w)

We were (w+w)

Wy byliście

Wy byłyście

You were (m+m or m+w)

You were (w+w)

Oni byli

One były

They were (m+m or m+w)

They were (w+w)

And in future tense. It is much easier, future tense is not gender based.

Ja będęI will be
Ty będzieszYou will be
On, ona, ono będzieHe, she, it will be
My będziemyWe will be
Wy będziecieYou will be
Oni, one będąThey will be

And also, look at formal words “Mr.”, “Mrs.” that are needed to talk politely with a person whom you don’t know. Verbs with these pronouns are conjugated like with pronouns On, ona, ono.

Pan – Mr.

Pani – Mrs.

Panowie – Nr. (plural)

Panie – Mrs. (plural)

Państwo –Mr. and Mrs. (plural)

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Sebastian Lelek

    There are some mistakes:
    It is: Ja byłam (should be: Ja byłem) – I was (a man says)
    My byłyśmy (My byliśmy) – We were (m+m or m+w)
    My byliśmy (My byłyśmy) – We were (w+w)
    One były – They were (w+w) also (it+it=One)

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