The other way round. You are shown the perfective — the form for an action seen through to its end — and you produce the imperfective, the one for something in progress, repeated, or simply named.
Say the imperfective out loud, then check.
Going this way looks simpler and is not. Stripping a prefix works for about half of these, but the rest need a syllable put back into the stem, and there is nothing in the perfective that tells you which.
The forgiving group. Take the prefix off and you have the imperfective — though you still have to know it was a prefix and not part of the verb.
| Perfective | Imperfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| wypić | pić | to drink |
| zjeść | jeść | to eat |
| przeczytać | czytać | to read |
| napisać | pisać | to write |
| zrobić | robić | to do, to make |
| nauczyć się | uczyć się | to learn, to study |
| zrozumieć | rozumieć | to understand |
| posprzątać | sprzątać | to tidy up |
| ugotować | gotować | to cook |
| porozmawiać | rozmawiać | to talk, to converse |
| zadzwonić | dzwonić | to phone |
| zapłacić | płacić | to pay |
| podziękować | dziękować | to thank |
| poprosić | prosić | to ask for |
| zapytać | pytać | to ask a question |
| posłuchać | słuchać | to listen |
| poczekać | czekać | to wait |
| zatańczyć | tańczyć | to dance |
| zaśpiewać | śpiewać | to sing |
| zbudować | budować | to build |
| skończyć | kończyć | to finish |
| pobawić się | bawić się | to play |
| pojechać | jechać | to go (by vehicle) |
| pójść | iść | to go (on foot) |
The hard direction. These imperfectives are built by lengthening the stem, often with -ywa-, -owa- or an added -a-, and the perfective gives you no clue which one it wants.
| Perfective | Imperfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| zacząć | zaczynać | to begin |
| spotkać się | spotykać się | to meet |
| wyrzucić | wyrzucać | to throw out |
| ułożyć | układać | to arrange, to put in order |
| kupić | kupować | to buy |
| wstać | wstawać | to get up |
| wrócić | wracać | to come back |
| otworzyć | otwierać | to open |
| zamknąć | zamykać | to close |
| dać | dawać | to give |
| dostać | dostawać | to receive |
| pokazać | pokazywać | to show |
| odpowiedzieć | odpowiadać | to answer |
| pomóc | pomagać | to help |
| wybrać | wybierać | to choose |
| sprzedać | sprzedawać | to sell |
| zamówić | zamawiać | to order |
| zapomnieć | zapominać | to forget |
Unchanged by the direction: there is no route from powiedzieć back to mówić except knowing the pair.
| Perfective | Imperfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| powiedzieć | mówić | to speak, to say |
| obejrzeć | oglądać | to watch |
| wziąć | brać | to take |
| zobaczyć | widzieć | to see |
Watch Your Language is an iPhone and Apple Watch app for vocabulary. Aspect pairs are exactly the kind of thing it is built for: two entries that have to be met together, often enough, which it does by putting them in a widget on your Lock Screen and watch face:
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch