Questions and negation
A1 Pytania i przeczenia 7 / 52
In short
Asking and denying are the first things you need in a real conversation. Polish makes both easy: for “who / what / where” you use a small set of question words, for a plain yes/no question you can add czy at the front (or just raise your voice), and to say “not” you put one little word - nie - right before the verb. No helper verb like English “do” is ever needed.
The rule
Question words (interrogative pronouns)
An information question starts with a question word, usually at the very beginning of the sentence. Word order after it stays natural - you do NOT invert the subject and verb the way English does:
- Gdzie mieszkasz? = Where do you live? (literally “Where you-live?”)
- Co to jest? = What is this?
The core A1 set: kto (who), co (what), gdzie (where), kiedy (when), jak (how), dlaczego (why). Two of these - kto and co - are pronouns and change their form for case (see the table below); the rest are invariable adverbs.
Yes/no questions with czy and with intonation
For a question that expects yes or no, put the particle czy at the front of the statement and leave everything else unchanged:
- Statement: Mówisz po polsku. (You speak Polish.) -> Question: Czy mówisz po polsku? (Do you speak Polish?)
In everyday speech you can drop czy and just use rising intonation - the words stay in statement order and only your voice goes up:
- Mówisz po polsku? = You speak Polish? / Do you speak Polish?
Both are correct. czy is a touch more careful and is the safe choice in writing; bare intonation is more casual. Note that czy here is never translated - there is no Polish word for the English “do/does” of questions.
Negation with nie
To make any verb negative, place nie directly in front of it. Nothing else moves:
- Rozumiem. (I understand.) -> Nie rozumiem. (I do not understand.)
- On tu mieszka. (He lives here.) -> On tu nie mieszka. (He does not live here.)
The same nie is also the word for no as a full answer: Nie, dziękuję. (No, thank you.) Do not confuse it with the reflexive się or with anything else - one word does all the negating.
Genitive after a negated verb. A very Polish rule: when you negate a verb that in the positive takes the accusative (the direct object), the object switches to the genitive case:
- Mam czas. (I have time - accusative) -> Nie mam czasu. (I do not have time - genitive)
- Znam ten adres. -> Nie znam tego adresu. (I do not know this address.)
nie ma = there is not. The frozen phrase nie ma (+ genitive) is the negative of “there is / there are” and of “to have”: Nie ma mleka. (There is no milk.) You will meet the case rules in full in Lessons 9 and 15; just recognise the pattern for now.
Forms & patterns
Core A1 question words:
| Polish | English | Type |
|---|---|---|
| kto | who | pronoun (declines) |
| co | what | pronoun (declines) |
| gdzie | where (location) | adverb |
| kiedy | when | adverb |
| jak | how | adverb |
| dlaczego | why | adverb |
| ile | how many / how much | quantifier |
| który | which | adjective (agrees) |
Declension of the pronouns kto and co (you meet these cases across later lessons):
| Case | kto (who) | co (what) |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | kto | co |
| Genitive | kogo | czego |
| Dative | komu | czemu |
| Accusative | kogo | co |
| Instrumental | kim | czym |
| Locative | (o) kim | (o) czym |
Yes/no question - the same statement, three registers:
| Form | Polish | Register |
|---|---|---|
| Statement | Masz czas. | neutral (You have time.) |
| czy question | Czy masz czas? | careful / written |
| Intonation only | Masz czas? | casual spoken |
Negation of the present tense of mieszkać (to live), affirmative vs negative - only nie is added:
| Person | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| ja | mieszkam | nie mieszkam |
| ty | mieszkasz | nie mieszkasz |
| on/ona/ono | mieszka | nie mieszka |
| my | mieszkamy | nie mieszkamy |
| wy | mieszkacie | nie mieszkacie |
| oni/one | mieszkają | nie mieszkają |
Accusative object -> genitive after negation:
| Affirmative (accusative) | Negative (genitive) |
|---|---|
| Mam samochód. | Nie mam samochodu. |
| Znam tę piosenkę. | Nie znam tej piosenki. |
| Widzę psa. | Nie widzę psa. |
| Lubię kawę. | Nie lubię kawy. |
Examples
| Polski | English |
|---|---|
| Kto to jest? | Who is this? |
| Co robisz? | What are you doing? |
| Gdzie jest dworzec? | Where is the station? |
| Kiedy masz czas? | When do you have time? |
| Dlaczego się uczysz polskiego? | Why are you learning Polish? |
| Jak masz na imię? | What is your name? (lit. How do you have for a name?) |
| Czy mówisz po angielsku? | Do you speak English? |
| Masz rodzeństwo? | Do you have siblings? |
| Nie rozumiem, przepraszam. | I do not understand, sorry. |
| Nie mam czasu dzisiaj. | I do not have time today. |
| Nie ma tu nikogo. | There is nobody here. |
Common mistakes
- Do ty mówisz po polsku? -> Czy mówisz po polsku? - Polish has no “do/does”; use czy or just intonation.
- Gdzie ty mieszkasz jest? -> Gdzie mieszkasz? - after a question word keep normal order; do not add an extra verb or invert.
- Mam nie czas. -> Nie mam czasu. - nie goes right before the verb, and a negated object turns genitive.
- Nie mam czas. -> Nie mam czasu. - after a negated verb the accusative object becomes genitive (czas -> czasu).
- Co jest ten człowiek? -> Kto to jest? - use kto for people, co only for things.
- Nie ma mleko. -> Nie ma mleka. - nie ma is always followed by the genitive (mleko -> mleka).
Tips
- Of the core question words, only kto and co bend: learn kto/kogo/komu/kim and co/czego/czemu/czym as little chants - gdzie, kiedy, jak and dlaczego never change. (który agrees like an adjective, and ile has its own forms.)
- The quickest question of all is intonation: say the statement and lift your voice at the end. Add czy when you want to sound tidier or are writing.
- One word negates everything: put nie immediately before the verb, with no “do”, no auxiliary, nothing else.
- Watch the object: the moment a verb goes negative, its accusative object flips to genitive. “Mam kawę” -> “Nie mam kawy”.
- nie (no / not) and się (reflexive marker) are different words - do not swap them.
- Remember the pair nie ma = “there isn’t / there aren’t” (+ genitive); it is also how you say “X doesn’t have”.