Polish Essential grammar

Abbreviations used in this guide

Each example below has three parts: the original text, a literal gloss describing how every word works, and a natural translation. The glosses use a few shorthand labels so they stay short. Don't worry about memorising them — this is a reference you can come back to.

Person and number · 1sg / 2sg / 3sg — first / second / third person singular (I, you, he/she/it) · 1pl / 2pl / 3pl — first / second / third person plural (we, you-all, they)

Gender and case · m / f / n — masculine / feminine / neuter · sg / pl — singular / plural · m.sg — combined: masculine singular (and similarly f.pl, n.sg, etc.) · NOM / ACC / GEN / DAT / INS / LOC — grammatical cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative/instrumental/locative) — which role the word plays in the sentence

Tense and aspect · PRES — present · PRET — preterite (a finished past event) · IMPF — imperfect (an ongoing or habitual past situation) · FUT — future · PERF — perfect (an action completed with present relevance) · PROG — progressive (action in progress, e.g. am eating) · COND — conditional (would…)

Mood · IND — indicative (regular statement) · SUBJ — subjunctive (uncertainty, wishes, doubts) · IMP — imperative (commands) · INF — infinitive (dictionary form: to go, to eat)

Other · REFL — reflexive (action on oneself: myself, yourself) · PERS — personal a (Spanish only — marks a human direct object) · HON — honorific (extra-polite form, common in Japanese/Korean) · TOP / SUB / OBJ — topic / subject / object markers (Japanese, Korean) · CL — classifier (Chinese, Japanese, Korean — a counter word for nouns) · NEG — negation

Word order

The default order is Subject-Verb-Object, just like English. However, because Polish marks the grammatical role of each noun with case endings, word order is much more flexible than in English: you can move pieces around to shift emphasis without changing the basic meaning. The element placed first usually carries the topic, and the element placed last often carries new or stressed information. In neutral sentences, stick with SVO until you internalize the cases. Adjectives normally precede the noun they describe (a 'classifying' adjective may follow). Subject pronouns are usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person.

• Anna czyta książkę. — Anna reads book-ACC
  Anna is reading a book.
• Książkę czyta Anna. — Book-ACC reads Anna
  It's Anna who's reading the book.
• Czytam książkę. — Read-I book-ACC
  I'm reading a book.

No articles

Polish has no equivalent of 'a/an' or 'the'. A bare noun can be definite or indefinite depending on context. Definiteness is signalled, when needed, by word order (known information tends to come first, new information last), by demonstratives like 'ten/ta/to' (this), 'tamten/tamta/tamto' (that), or by indefinite words like 'jakiś/jakaś/jakieś' (some, a certain). When translating from English, simply drop the article. When translating into English, supply 'a' or 'the' based on whether the noun has been mentioned before or is unique in context.

• Mam psa. — Have-I dog-ACC
  I have a dog.
• Pies śpi. — Dog sleeps
  The dog is sleeping.
• To jest jakiś problem. — This is some problem
  This is some kind of problem.

Gender

Every noun has a grammatical gender that controls adjective and past-tense endings. Beginners learn three: masculine, feminine, and neuter. You can usually tell from the ending of the nominative singular: most masculine nouns end in a consonant (stół, kot, pan), most feminine nouns end in -a (kobieta, książka), most neuter nouns end in -o, -e, -ę, or -um (okno, morze, imię, muzeum). Advanced learners later split masculine into three subgenders (masculine-personal for male humans, masculine-animate for animals, masculine-inanimate for objects), which matters mainly in the accusative singular and in the plural.

• stół, kot, pan — table, cat, gentleman (all masc.)
  table, cat, gentleman
• kobieta, książka, woda — woman, book, water (all fem.)
  woman, book, water
• okno, morze, dziecko — window, sea, child (all neut.)
  window, sea, child

Seven cases

Polish nouns, adjectives, and pronouns change endings according to seven cases. Nominative (mianownik) marks the subject and the dictionary form. Accusative (biernik) marks the direct object of most verbs. Genitive (dopełniacz) marks possession, 'of', the object of negation, and most quantities. Dative (celownik) marks the indirect object ('to/for someone'). Instrumental (narzędnik) marks the means or instrument ('with/by'), and follows 'być' with a profession. Locative (miejscownik) is used only after certain prepositions of location ('in, on, at'). Vocative (wołacz) is used to address someone directly. Cases replace much of what English does with prepositions and word order.

• To jest Anna. Widzę Annę. Książka Anny. — This is Anna-NOM. See-I Anna-ACC. Book Anna-GEN
  This is Anna. I see Anna. Anna's book.
• Daję Annie kwiaty. — Give-I Anna-DAT flowers-ACC
  I'm giving Anna flowers.
• Mieszkam w Warszawie z Anną. — Live-I in Warsaw-LOC with Anna-INSTR
  I live in Warsaw with Anna.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns in the nominative are ja (I), ty (you sg.), on/ona/ono (he/she/it), my (we), wy (you pl.), oni (they, masc. personal) / one (they, all other groups). They are usually dropped because the verb ending shows the person; use them only for emphasis or contrast. In other cases, common forms include: me - mnie/mi, you - ciebie/cię/tobie/ci, him - jego/go/jemu/mu, her - jej/ją, us - nas/nam, you-pl. - was/wam, them - ich/im/je. Polite address uses pan (sir) / pani (madam) / państwo (ladies and gentlemen) plus a third-person verb, not 'ty'.

• (Ja) jestem nauczycielem. — (I) am teacher-INSTR
  I am a teacher.
• Kocham cię. — Love-I you-ACC
  I love you.
• Czy pan mówi po polsku? — Q sir speaks in Polish
  Do you (formal, m.) speak Polish?

Verb aspect

Like Russian, Polish verbs come in aspectual pairs: imperfective and perfective. The imperfective describes an action as ongoing, repeated, or habitual, with no implied endpoint (pisać - to write/be writing). The perfective describes the action as a single completed whole, often with a result (napisać - to write and finish). Both members of a pair share a basic meaning but differ in aspect. Perfectives are usually formed by adding a prefix (pisać → napisać, robić → zrobić) or by a stem change (kupować → kupić). Choosing the right aspect is one of the hardest parts of Polish: think 'process' (imperfective) vs 'achievement' (perfective).

• Czytałem książkę. — Read-PAST-IPFV-I.M book-ACC
  I was reading a/the book.
• Przeczytałem książkę. — Read-PAST-PFV-I.M book-ACC
  I read the book (finished it).
• Co dzień piszę listy. — Every day write-I-IPFV letters-ACC
  Every day I write letters.

Present tense

Only imperfective verbs have a present tense; perfective 'present-form' conjugations always refer to the future. The infinitive typically ends in -ć. Verbs fall into conjugation classes by their endings; the most common patterns are -m/-sz (mam, masz, ma, mamy, macie, mają), -ę/-isz/-ysz (mówię, mówisz, mówi, mówimy, mówicie, mówią), and -ę/-esz (piszę, piszesz, pisze, piszemy, piszecie, piszą). The endings encode person and number, so the subject pronoun is normally omitted. There is no separate progressive: 'piszę' covers both 'I write' and 'I am writing'.

• Mam czas. — Have-I time-ACC
  I have time.
• Mówisz po polsku. — Speak-you in Polish
  You speak Polish.
• Piszemy list. — Write-we letter-ACC
  We are writing a letter.

Past tense

The Polish past tense is built from the infinitive stem (drop -ć) plus an ending that agrees with the subject in number, person, AND gender. Singular masculine adds -łem/-łeś/-ł, feminine -łam/-łaś/-ła, neuter -ło. Plural splits into masculine-personal (-liśmy/-liście/-li) and 'all other' (-łyśmy/-łyście/-ły). So 'I wrote' is 'pisałem' if you are male, 'pisałam' if you are female. The same applies to perfective verbs: napisałem (m.) / napisałam (f.). The personal endings (-(e)m, -(e)ś, etc.) can detach and 'float' to another stressed word in the sentence, especially after question words.

• Pisałem list. — Write-PAST-I.M letter-ACC
  I (male) was writing a letter.
• Pisałam list. — Write-PAST-I.F letter-ACC
  I (female) was writing a letter.
• Dzieci były w domu. — Children were-NONMASCPL in house-LOC
  The children were at home.

Future

Polish builds the future in two ways, chosen by aspect. Imperfective verbs use a compound future: a conjugated form of 'być' (będę, będziesz, będzie, będziemy, będziecie, będą) plus either the infinitive or the gendered past-tense participle (będę pisać or będę pisał/pisała). Perfective verbs have no present tense; their present-looking conjugation is in fact a simple future, expressing a completed action to come (napiszę = 'I will write (and finish)'). So a learner picks aspect first, then conjugates: imperfective process = 'będę' + infinitive; perfective result = present-form endings on the perfective verb.

• Będę pisać list. — Will-be-I write-INF letter-ACC
  I will be writing a letter.
• Będę pisał list. — Will-be-I wrote-M letter-ACC
  I (male) will be writing a letter.
• Napiszę list. — Write-PFV-I letter-ACC
  I will write the letter (and finish it).

Present-tense regular conjugation paradigms

Polish textbooks group imperfective verbs into three present-tense conjugation patterns, named here Conjugation I, II, and III. The class is determined by the present-tense endings, not by the infinitive ending. Subject pronouns are normally dropped; the ending carries the person and number.

Conjugation I (-ę / -esz): typical for verbs like 'pić' (to drink), 'pisać' (to write), 'iść' (to go). The stem often differs from the infinitive (pić → pij-).

Conjugation II (-ę / -isz or -ysz): typical for verbs like 'mówić' (to speak), 'robić' (to do), 'lubić' (to like). The 2sg ends in -isz after a soft consonant and -ysz after sz/cz/ż/rz.

Conjugation III (-m / -sz): the smallest class but contains very high-frequency verbs: 'czytać' (to read), 'mieć' (to have), 'znać' (to know), 'rozumieć' (to understand), 'kochać' (to love).

Notice that Polish has no separate progressive form: 'czytam' covers both 'I read' and 'I am reading'. Remember that perfective verbs (e.g. 'napisać', 'przeczytać') cannot form a present tense; their present-looking conjugation is in fact a future (covered in the 'future' section).

• Piję kawę. — Drink-1sg coffee-ACC
  I drink coffee. / I am drinking coffee.
• Co piszesz? — What write-2sg
  What are you writing?
• Mówimy po polsku. — Speak-1pl in Polish
  We speak Polish.
• Czy lubisz herbatę? — Q like-2sg tea-ACC
  Do you like tea?
• Anna czyta gazetę. — Anna read-3sg newspaper-ACC
  Anna is reading the newspaper.
• Mają dwoje dzieci. — Have-3pl two children-GEN
  They have two children.

Want to + verb (chcieć + infinitive)

To say 'I want to do something' Polish uses the verb 'chcieć' (to want) followed directly by an infinitive. No preposition appears between them. 'Chcieć' belongs to Conjugation I but has a small vowel alternation in the stem (chc- in most forms, chc- throughout the present, but watch the past tense alternation chciał-/chcie-).

When the object of 'want' is a noun (not a verb), it normally goes in the accusative for positive sentences and switches to genitive under negation: 'Chcę kawę' (I want coffee) but 'Nie chcę kawy' (I don't want coffee). For something more abstract or partitive, the genitive is also common even in the positive: 'Chcę wody' (I want some water).

A softer, more polite alternative is the conditional 'chciałbym / chciałabym' (see its own section). For a third-person request, the construction 'chcieć, żeby + past-form clause' is used: 'Chcę, żebyś przyszedł' (I want you to come).

• Chcę pić. — Want-1sg drink-INF
  I want to drink. / I'm thirsty.
• Chcesz iść do kina? — Want-2sg go-INF to cinema-GEN
  Do you want to go to the cinema?
• Co chcesz robić jutro? — What want-2sg do-INF tomorrow
  What do you want to do tomorrow?
• Nie chcemy czekać. — Not want-1pl wait-INF
  We don't want to wait.
• Dzieci chcą spać. — Children want-3pl sleep-INF
  The children want to sleep.
• Chcę, żebyś przyszedł. — Want-1sg that-2sg come-PAST.M
  I want you (m.) to come.

Imperfective future (być + infinitive)

To talk about ongoing, repeated, or simply unfinished future actions, Polish uses a compound future built from the future of 'być' (to be) plus EITHER the bare infinitive OR the gendered past-tense participle. Both options mean the same thing; the participle version is slightly more common in speech and forces you to mark gender, while the infinitive version is neutral and a bit easier for learners.

A few rules:

· Use this construction ONLY with imperfective verbs. With a perfective verb you must instead use the perfective future (see next section), which looks like a present-tense conjugation. · You cannot mix: never say *'będę napisać'. The pairing 'być + infinitive' demands an imperfective infinitive. · The plural participle splits by virility: 'będziemy pisali' (group with men) vs 'będziemy pisały' (women only / mixed non-male / inanimate).

• Jutro będę pracować. — Tomorrow will-be-1sg work-INF
  Tomorrow I'll be working.
• Będziemy oglądać film. — Will-be-1pl watch-INF film-ACC
  We're going to watch a film.
• Będę czytała tę książkę cały tydzień. — Will-be-1sg read-PAST.F that-ACC book-ACC whole week-ACC
  I (f.) will be reading that book all week.
• Czy będziesz w domu wieczorem? — Q will-be-2sg in house-LOC evening-INSTR
  Will you be at home in the evening?
• Dzieci nie będą spały w nocy. — Children not will-be-3pl slept-NONMASCPL in night-LOC
  The children won't be sleeping at night.
• Będą uczyć się polskiego. — Will-be-3pl learn-INF REFL Polish-GEN
  They will be learning Polish.

Perfective future (= present form of a perfective verb)

Perfective verbs have NO real present tense. The endings that look like present-tense endings on a perfective verb actually express a SIMPLE FUTURE, viewed as a single completed event. This is one of the most surprising features of Polish for English speakers: the same conjugation pattern means 'I do' when attached to an imperfective verb and 'I will do (and finish)' when attached to its perfective partner.

Full paradigm for 'napisać' (perf. of 'pisać'):

Use the perfective future when you focus on the result, the deadline, or the completion of one specific action ('I'll write it by Friday'). Use the imperfective future (być + infinitive) when you focus on the process, the duration, or repetition ('I'll be writing all afternoon').

• Napiszę do ciebie jutro. — Write-PFV-1sg.FUT to you-GEN tomorrow
  I'll write to you tomorrow.
• Przeczytasz tę książkę w weekend. — Read-PFV-2sg.FUT that-ACC book-ACC in weekend-ACC
  You'll read that book over the weekend.
• Kupię chleb po pracy. — Buy-PFV-1sg.FUT bread-ACC after work-LOC
  I'll buy bread after work.
• Zrobimy to razem. — Do-PFV-1pl.FUT it-ACC together
  We'll do it together.
• Powiem ci wszystko. — Say-PFV-1sg.FUT you-DAT everything-ACC
  I'll tell you everything.
• Czy przyjdziesz na kolację? — Q come-PFV-2sg.FUT to dinner-ACC
  Will you come to dinner?

Perfect / perfective past (-ł past with a perfective verb)

Polish does not have a separate 'have + participle' perfect tense like English or German. Instead, the perfective past covers what English splits between 'I did' and 'I have done'. The morphology is the regular past-tense ending built on the past stem (drop infinitive -ć, add -ł plus gender/number/person endings), but applied to a PERFECTIVE verb so the meaning is 'completed, finished, with a result'.

Compare:

Full paradigm for 'napisać' (perfective past):

Choose the perfective when the action reached its endpoint and that completion is what you want to highlight. Use the imperfective when the focus is the process, repetition, or duration, even in the past.

• Już zjadłem śniadanie. — Already eat-PFV-PAST-1sg.M breakfast-ACC
  I (m.) have already eaten breakfast.
• Anna napisała list do mamy. — Anna write-PFV-PAST-3sg.F letter-ACC to mom-GEN
  Anna wrote / has written a letter to her mom.
• Kupiliśmy nowy samochód. — Buy-PFV-PAST-1pl.MASCPERS new-ACC car-ACC
  We've bought a new car.
• Czy przeczytałeś tę książkę? — Q read-PFV-PAST-2sg.M that-ACC book-ACC
  Have you (m.) read that book?
• Zrobiłam wszystko. — Do-PFV-PAST-1sg.F everything-ACC
  I (f.) have done everything.
• Goście już przyszli. — Guests already come-PFV-PAST-3pl.MASCPERS
  The guests have already arrived.

Would like + verb (chciałbym / chciałabym + infinitive)

The polite, softened version of 'chcę' (I want) is built from the past-tense participle of 'chcieć' plus a conditional clitic '-by-' plus the personal ending. The result is gender-marked, just like the past tense: men say 'chciałbym', women say 'chciałabym'. It corresponds to English 'I would like to'.

The construction takes a bare infinitive: 'Chciałbym kupić bilet' (I'd like to buy a ticket). With a noun, the noun takes accusative in the positive and genitive under negation, just like with 'chcę'.

This form is the standard polite request in restaurants, shops, and offices. It is significantly softer than 'chcę', which can sound blunt or even rude in service situations. A very common short version uses the noun alone after 'poprosić' or directly: 'Poproszę kawę' (a coffee, please) is equally polite.

• Chciałbym kawę z mlekiem. — Would-want-1sg.M coffee-ACC with milk-INSTR
  I'd like a coffee with milk.
• Chciałabym zarezerwować stolik. — Would-want-1sg.F reserve-INF table-ACC
  I (f.) would like to reserve a table.
• Chcielibyśmy zapłacić. — Would-want-1pl.MASCPERS pay-INF
  We would like to pay.
• Czy chciałbyś pójść z nami? — Q would-want-2sg.M go-PFV-INF with us-INSTR
  Would you (m.) like to come with us?
• Anna chciałaby zostać dłużej. — Anna would-want-3sg.F stay-PFV-INF longer
  Anna would like to stay longer.
• Nie chciałbym przeszkadzać. — Not would-want-1sg.M disturb-INF
  I (m.) wouldn't like to disturb you.

Progressive (present + 'teraz' / 'właśnie')

Polish has no dedicated progressive tense. The plain present (or past) form does double duty: 'piszę' means both 'I write' and 'I am writing'. When you specifically want to highlight that an action is happening right now, you add an adverb: 'teraz' (now), 'właśnie' (just, right now), 'w tej chwili' (at this moment), 'akurat' (just then).

Notes:

· This construction works with imperfective verbs only; the imperfective already encodes 'process', and 'teraz' or 'właśnie' simply pins it to the current moment. · Don't try to invent a 'być + gerund' structure on the German or English model. *'Jestem pisać' is ungrammatical. · For past 'I was doing X when Y happened', use the imperfective past for the background action and the perfective past for the interrupting event: 'Czytałem, kiedy zadzwonił telefon' (I was reading when the phone rang).

• Teraz piszę e-mail. — Now write-1sg e-mail-ACC
  I'm writing an email right now.
• Właśnie gotuję obiad. — Just-now cook-1sg lunch-ACC
  I'm cooking lunch right now.
• Co robisz w tej chwili? — What do-2sg in this-LOC moment-LOC
  What are you doing at the moment?
• Dzieci akurat oglądają bajkę. — Children just-then watch-3pl cartoon-ACC
  The children are just watching a cartoon.
• Nie mogę teraz rozmawiać, pracuję. — Not can-1sg now talk-INF, work-1sg
  I can't talk now, I'm working.
• Czytałem, kiedy zadzwonił telefon. — Read-IMPF-PAST-1sg.M, when ring-PFV-PAST-3sg.M phone-NOM
  I was reading when the phone rang.

Can / be able to + verb (móc + infinitive)

'Móc' means 'can, to be able, may'. It is a Conjugation I verb with stem alternation between mog- (1sg, 3pl) and moż- (other forms). It is followed directly by an infinitive, no preposition.

'Móc' covers three English senses:

1. Ability: 'Mogę nieść te torby' (I can carry these bags). 2. Permission / possibility: 'Czy mogę wejść?' (May I come in?). 3. Request, softened with conditional: 'Czy mógłbyś / mogłabyś...?' (Could you...?).

Distinguish 'móc' from 'umieć' (to know how to, to have learned a skill) and from 'potrafić' (to be capable of, often after training): 'Umiem pływać' (I know how to swim, I learned), 'Mogę pływać' (I'm allowed / able to swim right now). For 'I can't help it' / 'I have no choice', a common idiom is 'nie mogę nic poradzić'.

Negated 'móc' takes a bare infinitive: 'Nie mogę przyjść' (I can't come). Under negation, the direct object of the infinitive may shift to genitive if the infinitive's verb requires it; 'móc' itself doesn't change the object case.

• Mogę ci pomóc? — Can-1sg you-DAT help-PFV-INF
  Can I help you?
• Czy mogę wejść? — Q can-1sg enter-PFV-INF
  May I come in?
• Nie możemy dziś przyjść. — Not can-1pl today come-PFV-INF
  We can't come today.
• Możesz mówić wolniej? — Can-2sg speak-INF slower
  Can you speak more slowly?
• Dzieci mogą oglądać telewizję godzinę. — Children can-3pl watch-INF television-ACC hour-ACC
  The children can watch television for an hour.
• Czy mógłbyś otworzyć okno? — Q could-2sg.M open-PFV-INF window-ACC
  Could you (m.) open the window?

Aspect pairs in practice

The 'aspect' section above introduced the imperfective vs perfective distinction. Here is a practical reference of high-frequency pairs and how to choose between them.

Quick rules of thumb:

· Process, duration, repetition, habit, background, simultaneity → imperfective. · Single completed event, result, change of state, sequence of actions one after another, deadline → perfective. · In the present only imperfectives appear. Perfective 'present' forms are actually futures. · In the future, imperfective uses 'być' + infinitive (or participle), perfective uses the simple present-looking form. · In the past, both aspects are conjugated the same way (the -ł past); the verb's lexical aspect alone tells you process vs result. · Negation tilts toward imperfective: 'Nie pisałem listu' (I wasn't writing a letter / I haven't written a letter) is more idiomatic than the perfective with negation, although 'Nie napisałem listu' (I didn't manage to write the letter) is fine when failure to complete is the point. · Many learners over-use the imperfective. When recounting a sequence of finished events in a story, perfectives are usually the right choice.

• Codziennie piję kawę, ale dzisiaj jeszcze nie wypiłem. — Every-day drink-IPFV-1sg coffee-ACC, but today yet not drink-PFV-PAST-1sg.M
  Every day I drink coffee, but today I haven't drunk any yet.
• Wczoraj cały wieczór czytałam, ale nie przeczytałam książki. — Yesterday whole evening-ACC read-IPFV-PAST-1sg.F, but not read-PFV-PAST-1sg.F book-GEN
  Yesterday I (f.) was reading all evening, but I didn't finish the book.
• Kiedy gotowałem obiad, zadzwonił telefon. — When cook-IPFV-PAST-1sg.M lunch-ACC, ring-PFV-PAST-3sg.M phone-NOM
  While I (m.) was cooking lunch, the phone rang.
• Zrobię to jutro. — Do-PFV-1sg.FUT it-ACC tomorrow
  I'll get it done tomorrow.
• Będę robił to przez cały weekend. — Will-be-1sg.M do-PAST.M it-ACC through whole weekend-ACC
  I'll be working on it all weekend.
• Powiedziała, że często pisze do rodziców. — Say-PFV-PAST-3sg.F that often write-IPFV-3sg to parents-GEN
  She said that she often writes to her parents.

Negation

Negate a verb by placing 'nie' directly before it; the two are pronounced as a single unit. Polish uses double (or multiple) negation as standard: 'nikt nic nie wie' = 'nobody knows anything' (literally 'nobody nothing not knows'). A crucial rule: when a transitive verb is negated, its direct object switches from accusative to genitive ('mam czas' → 'nie mam czasu'). For 'there isn't / there aren't', use 'nie ma' (singular form, third person) followed by a genitive noun: 'nie ma chleba' = 'there's no bread'. The positive counterpart 'jest / są' takes the nominative.

• Nie wiem. — Not know-I
  I don't know.
• Nie mam czasu. — Not have-I time-GEN
  I don't have time.
• Nie ma chleba. — Not has bread-GEN
  There's no bread.

Questions

Yes/no questions are formed by putting the particle 'czy' at the start of an otherwise normal statement; in casual speech 'czy' is often omitted and only rising intonation marks the question. Wh-questions begin with a question word: co (what), kto (who), gdzie (where), kiedy (when), dlaczego (why), jak (how), ile (how many/much), który/która/które (which). The question word is followed by the verb, with the subject (if expressed) coming after. Question words decline like other pronouns or adjectives: 'kogo' = whom (acc/gen), 'komu' = to whom (dat).

• Czy mówisz po polsku? — Q speak-you in Polish
  Do you speak Polish?
• Gdzie mieszkasz? — Where live-you
  Where do you live?
• Dlaczego płaczesz? — Why cry-you
  Why are you crying?

Plural

Plural endings depend on gender and, for masculine nouns, on animacy. Feminine and neuter plurals are simpler: feminines in -a usually take -y or -i (kobieta → kobiety, książka → książki); neuters in -o or -e take -a (okno → okna, morze → morza). Masculine plural splits: masculine-personal (groups containing at least one male human) uses -i or -y with consonant changes (student → studenci, Polak → Polacy); masculine non-personal (animals + objects) and all feminines/neuters use a common 'non-virile' plural for verb and adjective agreement. This animacy split also affects adjectives, demonstratives, and the past tense ending.

• studenci czytają — students-MASCPERS read
  the (male/mixed) students read
• studentki czytają — female-students read
  the female students read
• psy biegają — dogs run
  dogs run / the dogs run

Adjective agreement

Adjectives agree with their noun in gender, number, and case. The nominative singular endings are -y/-i for masculine (dobry, tani), -a for feminine (dobra), -e for neuter (dobre). In the plural, masculine-personal takes -i or -y with softening (dobrzy studenci), while everything else takes -e (dobre książki, dobre psy, dobre dzieci). When the noun changes case, the adjective changes too, following its own parallel set of endings (e.g. nowego studenta - genitive masc. sing.). Adjectives normally come before the noun; classificatory adjectives that form a fixed term may follow (język polski = the Polish language).

• dobry student — good-M student
  a good (male) student
• dobra książka — good-F book
  a good book
• dobre dzieci — good-NONMASCPL children
  good children

The verb 'to be' (być)

'Być' is irregular but essential. Present: jestem, jesteś, jest, jesteśmy, jesteście, są. Unlike Russian, Polish does NOT drop the copula in the present: you must say 'Jestem studentem', never 'Jestem student' or 'Ja student'. When 'być' links a subject to a noun that identifies a category or profession, that noun goes in the INSTRUMENTAL case: 'Jestem nauczycielem' (I am a teacher). But when linking with 'to' (this/it) as subject, the noun stays nominative: 'To jest stół' (This is a table). Past tense uses the gendered past forms (byłem/byłam, etc.); future uses będę/będziesz/będzie...

• Jestem studentem. — Am-I student-INSTR.M
  I am a (male) student.
• Jesteśmy w domu. — Are-we in house-LOC
  We are at home.
• To jest moja siostra. — This is my sister-NOM
  This is my sister.

Diacritics

Polish uses nine special letters: ą, ę, ć, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż. Quick reading guide: ą is a nasal 'on' (as in French 'bon'); ę is a nasal 'en' but usually loses nasality at the end of a word; ć is a soft 'ch' (like the 'tch' in 'kitchen', but lighter); ł is pronounced like English 'w' (mleko sounds like 'mweko'); ń is 'ny' as in 'canyon'; ó sounds identical to 'u' ('oo' in 'food'); ś is a soft 'sh'; ź is a soft 'zh'; ż (and the digraph 'rz') is a harder 'zh' as in 'measure'. The digraphs 'sz', 'cz', 'dż', 'dz', 'dź', 'ch' also matter; 'ch' = 'h'.

• łóżko — bed
  bed — pronounced roughly 'WOOZH-ko'
• dziękuję — thank-I
  thank you — roughly 'jen-KOO-yeh'
• część — part
  part — roughly 'chenshch'