Polish Future Tense

Future Tense

In Polish language there ar two kinds of future tense: simple future tense and compound future tense.

Simple Future Tense

How to make simple future tense in Polish

Polish simple future tense is very easy to make: you just need to use the present tense of the verb and if needed to add in the sentence an adverb of time stating that the situation takes place in the future (e.g. tomorrow, in three years, next week etc.).

Here you are some examples:

• Tomorrow we will know the result. – Jutro poznamy wynik.
• In three years I will go away. – Wyjadę za trzy lata.

The only exception in Polish is the verb "być" (to be), which has its own simple future conjugation.

Simple Future of the verb "to be"

In Polish the verb to be - ad only this verb - has its own conjugation which is used alone to say "will be" or "/is/are going to be" and together with other verbs to make the compound future tense.

Here you are the conjugation:

ENGLISH	POLISH
I will be / am gong to be	Ja będę
you will be / are going to be	Ty będziesz
he-she-it will be / is going to be	On, ona, ono będzie
we will be / are going to be	My będziemy
you will be / are going to be	Wy będziecie
they will be / are going to be	Oni, one będą

When we use the simple future in Polish

Simple future expresses an action with perfective aspect, which means that the action/situation is something wit a conclusion, something with a beginning and an end:

• Tomorrow I will eat the whole cake. – Jutro zjem cały tort.
• Tomorrow we will finish to do our homework. – Później skończymy robić zdanie domowe.

Simple future in Polish expresses plannes actions, who uses it is quite sure that the situation will really happend (same as in English present progressive with future meaning or future with "to be going to"). However, we can often exchange the two kinds of future:

• Tomorrow I am going to the cinema – Jutro idę / pójdę do kina.
• Next week I am going to London. – W przyszłym tygodniu wyjeżdżam do Londynu.
• What are you doing tomorrow? – Co robisz jutro?
• Tonight I am going out with Anna. – Dziś wieczór wychodzę z Anną.

Compound future

When we use the compound future in Polish

We use compound future in Polish in those situations in which we want to express an action or a situation which will take place in the future without talking about its conclusion. We call it imperfective. Here you are some examples:

• In two years I will be working for Google. – Za dwa lata będę pracował dla Google.
• I will be living in Italy. – Będę mieszkał we Włoszech.
• I will train / I will be training a soccer team.– Będę trenował drużynę piłkarską.
• I will be eating. – Będę jadł.
• Will you be sleeping? – Będziesz spał jutro?
• They will be studying. – Będą się uczyć.

In all those cases there is no conclusion regarding the situations or the actiones, the aspect of the verb is imperfective: I don't know when I will finish to work for Google, when I will not live in Italy anymore, when I will retire and stop training my soccer team, when I will finish eating etc.

In Polish we use the compound future also in a second case, when we want to express something which is uncertain in the future:

• Next year you will have an increase. – W przyszłym roku będziecie mogli dostać podwyżkę.
• I think tomorrow it will rain / it is going to rain. – Według mnie jutro będzie padać.

Those actions or situations are not planned, they rather express conjectures or possibilities: the boss suggests the idea that next year there will be an increase in the salary (but is it true?), I try to forecast the weather (something which is always hard to do).

ATTENTION: There is not always a clear cut between planned actions and predictions. It often happens that both kinds of future are correct in the same sentence. Regarding actions which have a beginning and an end and actions which will be taking place in the future, the difference is often much clearer.

How to make in Polish the compounded future

The compound future in Polish is made in a way which is rather similar to the ENglish future "will + verb": we use the verb "to be" plus the semantic verb, e.g. I will be doing: będę robić.

Here you are the receipt to make the Polish compound future:

1 - the verb "to be" conjugated with its simple future form (będę, będziesz, będzie, będziemy, będziecie, będą) plus one of the following forms of the semantic verb:

2.1 the infinitive (the basic form of the verb which ends with -ć, e.g. pracować). This form is the less used by Polish people, however, as it is simpler and grammatically corect it is better to opt for this one in our daily conversations.

2.2 the third person of the past simple, which ends with -ł when it is masculine singular, -ła when it is feminine singular, -ło when it is neutral singular (e.g. pomagał (M.S.), pomagała (F.S.) and pomagało (N.S.)), it ends with -ły when it is feminine plural and in -li when it is masculine plural or mixed gender (e.g. pomagali (M.P.), pomagały (F.P.)). As this form is more complex, when we begin to study Polish it is enough to know it exists, as it is the most commonly used by Polish native speakers.

If we have groups made of male and feminine subjects we use the masculine form. Sorry for the feminists.

Here you are some examples with the verb "to work": "pracować":

Form with the infinitive (-ć):

ENGLISH	POLISH
I will work / I will be working	Ja będę pracować
you will work / will be working	Ty będziesz pracować
he - she - it will work / will be working	On, ona, ono będzie pracować
we will work / will be working	My będziemy pracować
you will work / will be working	Wy będziecie pracować
they will work / will be working	Oni, one będą pracować

Form using the third person of the simple past (it is different if the subject is masculine (♂), feminine (♀) o neutral (N):

ITALIANO	POLACCO
I will work / I will be working	Ja będę pracował ♂ Ja będę pracowała ♀
you will work / will be working	Ty będziesz pracował ♂ Ty będziesz pracowała ♀ Ty będziesz pracowało (N)
he - she - it will work / will be working	On będzie pracował ♂ Ona będzie pracowała ♀ Ono będzie pracowało (N)
we will work / will be working	My będziemy pracowali (♂) My będziemy pracowały (♀)
you will work / will be working	Wy będziecie pracowali (♂) Wy będziecie pracowały (♀)
they will work / will be working	Oni będą pracowali (♂) One będą pracowały (♀)