Table of Contents
You’ve been asking questions and negating verbs since lesson 3. This lesson gathers all the rules about questions and negation in Polish in one place and adds the details that trip learners up: the double negative, the genitive after negation, and how to answer a negative question without confusing everyone.
Yes/no questions
Polish has no “do/does” and no word-order gymnastics. Either put czy at the front, or just say the statement with rising intonation:
Czy masz czas? = Masz czas? – Do you have time?
Czy to jest twój samochód? = To twój samochód? – Is this your car?
Czy is neutral and slightly more careful; the bare question is everyday speech. Both are correct everywhere.
Question words
Co? – what? Co robisz? – What are you doing?
Kto? – who? Kto to jest? – Who is this?
Gdzie? – where? Gdzie mieszkasz? – Where do you live?
Dokąd? – where to? Dokąd idziesz? – Where are you going?
Skąd? – where from? Skąd jesteś? – Where are you from?
Kiedy? – when? Kiedy wracasz? – When are you coming back?
Dlaczego? – why? Dlaczego pytasz? – Why do you ask?
Jak? – how? Jak się masz? – How are you?
Jaki / jaka / jakie? – what kind of? Jaka jest pogoda? – What’s the weather like?
Który / która / które? – which? Który autobus jedzie do centrum? – Which bus goes to the center?
Ile? – how much / many? Ile to kosztuje? – How much is it?
Kto and co decline like nouns: kogo? (whom?), komu? (to whom?), z kim? (with whom?), o czym? (about what?). Z kim rozmawiałeś? – Who were you talking to?
Negation: nie before the verb
Put nie directly before the verb, always written separately from it:
Nie rozumiem – I don’t understand
Ona nie pracuje w poniedziałki – She doesn’t work on Mondays
Two grammar effects follow. First, as you know from the lesson on mieć, a negated direct object switches to the genitive: Mam czas → Nie mam czasu. Znam ją → Nie znam jej. Second, “there is no” is nie ma: Nie ma problemu.
The double negative is mandatory
Where English picks one negative word per sentence, Polish stacks them, and the verb still needs its nie:
Nikt nie wie – Nobody knows (literally “nobody doesn’t know”)
Nic nie rozumiem – I understand nothing
Nigdy nigdzie nie chodzę – I never go anywhere (three negatives, perfectly correct)
The negative words: nikt (nobody), nic (nothing), nigdy (never), nigdzie (nowhere), żaden (none, no…).
Answering questions
Tak – yes. Nie – no. A blunt “Nie” can sound short; Poles soften it: Niestety nie – unfortunately not. Raczej nie – probably not. Chyba tak – I think so.
One trap: answering negative questions. Nie masz czasu? (You don’t have time?) If you indeed have no time, answer Nie, nie mam – Polish agrees with the negative, where English says “No, I don’t” too, so you’re safe. But if you DO have time, say Mam, mam or Ależ tak, mam! rather than a lone “tak”, which is ambiguous.
Examples
Czy mówi Pan po angielsku? – Do you speak English? (formal)
Skąd jesteś? Jestem z Kanady – Where are you from? I’m from Canada
Kogo szukasz? – Who are you looking for?
Ile kosztuje ten bilet? – How much does this ticket cost?
Nie wiem, nie pytaj mnie – I don’t know, don’t ask me
Nikt nic nie widział – Nobody saw anything
Dlaczego nigdy nie dzwonisz? – Why do you never call?
Która godzina? Nie mam zegarka – What time is it? I don’t have a watch
Vocabulary
| kto – who
co – what gdzie – where skąd – where from kiedy – when dlaczego – why |
nikt – nobody
nic – nothing nigdy – never nigdzie – nowhere szukać – to look for pytać / zapytać – to ask |
Exercises
Part A: fill in the question word.
- ______________ mieszkasz? – W Krakowie – Where do you live? In Krakow
- ______________ jesteś? – Z Polski – Where are you from? From Poland
- ______________ to kosztuje? – How much does it cost?
- ______________ wracacie do domu? – Jutro – When are you coming home? Tomorrow
- ______________ autobus jedzie na dworzec? – Which bus goes to the station?
Part B: negate the sentence (watch the case!).
- Mam samochód → ______________ – I don’t have a car
- Znam tego człowieka → ______________ – I don’t know this man
- Ona zawsze dzwoni → Ona ______________ – She never calls
- Ktoś wie → ______________ – Nobody knows
- W lodówce jest mleko → W lodówce ______________ – There is no milk in the fridge
Answers:
A: 1: Gdzie; 2: Skąd; 3: Ile; 4: Kiedy; 5: Który
B: 1: Nie mam samochodu; 2: Nie znam tego człowieka; 3: nigdy nie dzwoni; 4: Nikt nie wie; 5: nie ma mleka