Family Celebrations: Grammar (AQA GCSE Polish): Revision Note

• In the topic of family celebrations, you will often need to talk about how things used to be or what events were like in the past

• You will also need to talk about giving and receiving gifts - for this it helps to know dative pronouns

• Look at these grammar points in more detail

Past tense (perfective vs imperfective aspect)

• The past tense (czas przeszły) is used to talk about things that happened in the past, including states, situations and repeated/ongoing actions.

• The past tense is therefore particularly useful for describing past experiences, school, family, holidays, celebrations and everyday life.

Past tense of być – to be

• In Polish, the past tense changes according to gender:

  • Byłem – I was (male). Kiedy byłem młodszy, lubiłem piłkę nożną.
    When I was younger, I liked football.

  • Byłam – I was (female). Kiedy byłam młodsza, lubiłam muzykę.
    When I was younger, I liked music.

Past tense of mieć – to have

• In Polish, the past tense is used to talk about actions and situations that happened in the past. An important feature of Polish is aspect: verbs can be imperfective or perfective

• It is useful to recognise the difference because it helps you describe what was happening, what you used to do, and what you completed

Imperfective aspect – niedokonany

• The imperfective aspect is used when we focus on:

  • an action that was happening

  • an action that used to happen

  • repeated or habitual actions

  • an action without focusing on its completion

Examples

Kiedy byłem młodszy, często grałem w gry.
When I was younger, I often played games.

• The focus is on a habit, not on one completed game.

Perfective aspect – dokonany

• The perfective aspect is used when we focus on an action that was completed or happened as a definite event.

Examples

• The important point is that the action was completed.

  • Wczoraj przeczytałem książkę.
    Yesterday I read/finished a book.

• Perfective verbs generally do not have a present-tense meaning.

  • czytam - I am reading / I read

  • przeczytam - I will read / I will finish reading

• So przeczytam looks like a present-tense form, but it normally refers to the future because przeczytać is perfective.

Dative pronouns

• The dative case (celownik) is used mainly to show who something is given, said, sent or done to

• A dative pronoun replaces a noun that is the indirect object of a sentence - that is, the person that something is done to or for

• Many key verbs in this topic take a dative object: you give someone a gift, you send someone a card, you wish someone something

• At Foundation tier, you need to know the singular dative pronouns

Singular dative pronouns

• These are the forms you will use most frequently in everyday Polish: mi ,ci , mu , jej

  • Wysyłam ci wiadomość. I am sending you a message

  • Kupiłem mu nowy telefon. I bought him a new phone

  • Pokazuję jej moje zdjęcia. I am showing her my photos

• The longer forms are often used for emphasis or contrast: mnie, tobie, niemu, nim

  • Dam ten prezent tobie. I will give this present to you

  • Kupiłem prezent właśnie jemu. I bought a present specifically for him