THE PAST - I lived in Warsaw
The past tense in any language is critical for telling people about yourself or getting to know others better. Luckily the Polish past tense is relatively easy to think out.
- I lived in Warsaw - Mieszkałem w Warszawie
In almost all verbs if we want to express the past in the 'I form' we need to aim for this 'łem' ending.
For 'I form' verbs ending 'am' in the present tense this is as simple as replacing the 'm' ending with 'łem'.
Take your time and have a think about how you would say these in the past tense. Click the play button to see how close you got:
- Szukam -
- Pamiętam -
Some verbs need the help of that 'softening i' we have come across many times before but there is always a 'łem' ending:
- I had - Miałem
The Feminine Past
OK, it's not quite that simple. If you are female you need to aim for a 'łam' ending.
- I lived in Warsaw (Female speaking) - Mieszkałam w Warszawie
Yes, it's that 'a' that is always associated with feminine. So how would you say, if you were female:
- I was looking for -
- I remembered -
- I had -
- One year ago - Rok temu
Note in the Polish we don't say 'one' because 'rok' is how we say 'year' so there is no need to say how many.
So how would you say, if you were male:
- One year ago I lived in Warsaw -
- One year ago I lived in Kraków -
- One year ago I lived in Lublin -
- One year ago I had a house in Lublin -
- One year ago I was looking for a house in Lublin -
Now think out the phrases above again but saying them as if you were female.
Present and Past Tense
Sort these 'I forms' into present and past tense. There are verbs here that we haven't covered yet but you should be able to guess them from the endings.
Drag and drop all the dark blue boxes to their correct locations
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Match the various 'I forms' to the gender of the person speaking
Tap on each pair to make them disappear.
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Think out the Polish
Practice the sentences from the lesson.
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I lived in Warsaw (male) | |
I lived in Warsaw (female) | |
One year ago I lived in Warsaw | (male)
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One year ago I lived in Kraków | (male)
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One year ago I lived in Lublin | (male)
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One year ago I had a house in Lublin | (male)
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One year ago I was looking for a house in Lublin | (male)
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One year ago I was looking for work in Lublin | (male)
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One year ago I lived in Warsaw | (female)
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One year ago I lived in Kraków | (female)
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One year ago I lived in Lublin | (female)
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One year ago I had a house in Lublin | (female)
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One year ago I was looking for a house in Lublin | (female)
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One year ago I was looking for work in Lublin | (female)
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Refresher
Revise earlier words and phrases to keep them fresh! Match the Polish and Engish below
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Past tense
Tick all the verbs which are in the past tense
Tick all of the boxes you believe are correct