Conditional mood

Say 'would' and 'if' with the particle -by.

The conditional hangs -by, plus a personal ending, onto the past-tense form. The same -by drives 'if' clauses with gdyby, and Polish usually pairs the two: an if-clause and a would-clause both carry -by.

Person	ending	chcieć → would like
ja	-bym	chciałbym / chciałabym
ty	-byś	chciałbyś / chciałabyś
on / ona	-by	chciałby / chciałaby
my	-byśmy	chcielibyśmy

•Take the past form, attach -by + the ending.
•gdyby = 'if': Gdybym miał czas…

Chciałbym kawę.

I would like a coffee.

Gdybym miał czas, pojechałbym.

If I had time, I would go.

Co byś zrobił?

What would you do?

Czy mógłbyś mi pomóc?

Could you help me?

Chciałabym to zobaczyć.

I (f.) would like to see it.

🧠 Tactic — Lock in Chciałbym / Chciałabym ('I would like') first — it's the politest way to ask for anything, and you'll use it daily.

⚠️ Watch out — Both halves take -by: Gdybym miał czas, poszedłbym — the 'if' verb and the 'would' verb each carry it.

Quick check

Gdybym miał czas, ____ do kina.

The 'would' result uses -by: poszedłbym.

Polite 'I would like…':

Chciałbym is the conditional of chcieć.

'What would you do?' Co ____ zrobił?

-byś is the conditional 'you' ending.

Practice

Now produce the answers yourself — type them, choose the form, or build the sentence.

(ja, m.) ___ kawę. ('I would like' — chcieć)

Gdybym miał czas, ___ do kina.

the 'would' result takes -by.

Polite 'I would like':

Say: What would you do?

Build the sentence — tap the words in order:

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