Polish present tense: -am, -asz verbs (czytać, mieszkać)

Czytam książkę. Mieszkam w Warszawie. Gram w szachy.I read a book. I live in Warsaw. I play chess.

Polish verbs are grouped by the endings they take in the present tense. The -am, -asz group is the biggest and the most regular, so it is a friendly place to start. Learn one verb, such as czytać (to read), and dozens of others follow the same pattern.

Quick shortcut: take the infinitive, drop -ć, and add -m, -sz, nothing, -my, -cie, -ją. So czytać → czytam, czytasz, czyta, czytamy, czytacie, czytają.

In English the verb barely changes (I read, you read, we read) and the pronoun is required. In Polish every person has its own ending, so the pronoun is usually left out: Czytam. is already "I read".

How the endings work

Start from the infinitive czytać and remove -ć. What is left, czyta-, is the stem. Most of the forms simply add a short ending to it:

Notice three things:

• The singular endings are -m, -sz and no ending at all in the 3rd person (czyta).
• The plural endings are -my, -cie, -ją. The 1st and 2nd person endings echo the ones you already know from jesteśmy and jesteście (see The verb być in the present).
• czyta serves on, ona, ono and also polite address with pan and pani; czytają serves oni and one and państwo (see Formal address: pan / pani / państwo).

More verbs with the same pattern

The same endings work for many frequent verbs:

A few examples in sentences:

• Mieszkamy w Polsce. (We live in Poland.)
• Anna gra w tenisa. (Anna plays tennis.)
• Znasz Piotra? (Do you know Piotr?)
• Dzieci słuchają. (The children are listening.)

The nouns in these sentences have special endings (w Polsce, Piotra), which come from the case system: The locative case: location and The accusative case: animate masculine nouns and people. At this stage it is enough to recognise them next to the verb.

One present tense for "now" and "usually"

Polish has no separate "be + -ing" form. The same present form says both what happens regularly and what is happening right now:

• Czytam codziennie. (I read every day.)
• Czytam teraz. (I am reading now.)
• Mieszkam w Krakowie. (I live in Kraków.)

Words such as codziennie (every day), teraz (now) and zawsze (always) make the meaning clear when it matters.

Leaving out the pronoun

Because every person has its own ending, the pronoun is often left out: Czytam., Mieszkamy w Polsce., Gracie w piłkę? You can add it for contrast or emphasis: Ja czytam, a ty grasz. (I am reading, and you are playing.)

The 3rd person forms czyta and czytają do not show who is meant, so a noun or pronoun usually stays unless the previous sentence has already made it clear: Anna czyta., Oni mieszkają w Krakowie. More about the subject pronouns is in Personal pronouns.

Negatives and questions

For a negative, put nie before the verb, and write it as a separate word:

• Nie czytam. (I am not reading. / I don't read.)
• Anna nie mieszka w Warszawie. (Anna doesn't live in Warsaw.)
• Nie gramy w szachy. (We don't play chess.)

For a yes/no question you can add czy at the start, or simply raise your voice at the end:

• Czy mieszkasz w Polsce? (Do you live in Poland?)
• Mieszkasz w Polsce? (Do you live in Poland?)

Polish has no word like English do here, so there is no extra helper in either the question or the negative. More about the two patterns is in Negation with "nie" and Questions: czy and question words.

Not every -ać verb follows this pattern

The ending -ać on its own does not guarantee -am, -asz. Several very common verbs ending in -ać belong to the -ę, -esz group, because the stem changes:

• pisać → piszę, piszesz (to write)
• brać → biorę, bierzesz (to take)

Verbs in -ować such as pracować (to work) take -uję, -ujesz (pracuję, pracujesz), and verbs such as robić and mówić have their own pattern. They have dedicated lessons: Present tense: -ę, -esz verbs, Present tense: -ę, -isz / -ysz verbs and Present tense: irregular verbs. A good habit is to learn each new verb together with its ja form: czytać – czytam.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Ja czytasz. → ✅ Ja czytam. (-sz is only for ty)
• ❌ Anna czytam. → ✅ Anna czyta. (the 3rd person has no ending)
• ❌ Oni czyta. → ✅ Oni czytają. (the 3rd person plural ends in -ją)
• ❌ My czytacie. → ✅ My czytamy. (-cie is only for wy)
• ❌ Czytam nie. → ✅ Nie czytam. (nie goes before the verb)

Quick check

Choose the correct form.

1. Ja ___ w Warszawie. (mieszkać)
2. Anna ___ książkę. (czytać)
3. My ___ w tenisa. (grać)
4. Wy ___ Piotra? (znać)
5. Oni ___ w Krakowie. (mieszkać)
6. Ty ___ dużo. (czytać)

Key takeaways

• The -am, -asz pattern: drop -ć from the infinitive and add -m, -sz, nothing, -my, -cie, -ją: czytam, czytasz, czyta, czytamy, czytacie, czytają.
• It covers many frequent verbs: czytać, mieszkać, grać, pytać, słuchać, znać, kochać.
• One present form means both "I read" and "I am reading".
• The verb ending shows the person, so the pronoun is usually left out and added for contrast or emphasis.
• Negative: nie before the verb. Question: add czy or raise your voice.
• A few verbs in -ać (pisać, brać, spać) and all verbs in -ować follow other patterns, so it helps to learn each new verb with its ja form.