Home › Lessons › Conditional mood
B1 · Intermediate · Lesson 19
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…
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:
What this lesson covered
The conditional mood lets you say “would” and “if,” and it's essential for being polite. Polish builds it from the past-tense stem plus the particle -by and a personal ending: chciałbym (I would like, said by a man), chciałabym (said by a woman), mógłbyś (could you). It's how you soften requests — czy mógłbyś mi pomóc? is far gentler than a bare command — and how you talk about hypotheticals, often with gdyby (“if”): gdybym miał czas, pomógłbym. This lesson gave you the pattern and the most useful ready-made forms, especially chciałbym / chciałabym for ordering and asking politely. Notice again that the ending shows the speaker's gender, just as in the past tense. Using the conditional for requests instantly makes your Polish sound more considerate and natural.