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Verbs that govern a different case than their Russian twin. The errors you are making right now without hearing them.
szukać
verb · imperfective, + gen.
- EN
- to look for
- RU
- искать
Szukam mieszkania blisko centrum.
I'm looking for a flat near the centre.
Genitive: szukam mieszkania, not mieszkanie. Russian искать takes the accusative, and this is the single most frequent case error a Russian speaker makes in Polish.
słuchać
verb · imperfective, + gen.
- EN
- to listen to
- RU
- слушать
Słucham muzyki w drodze do pracy.
I listen to music on the way to work.
Genitive again: słucham muzyki. Russian слушать takes the accusative — музыку.
używać
verb · imperfective, + gen.
- EN
- to use
- RU
- пользоваться
Nie używam już tego telefonu.
I don't use that phone any more.
Genitive. Russian пользоваться takes the instrumental, so neither the case nor the shape of the sentence carries over.
potrzebować
verb · imperfective, + gen.
- EN
- to need
- RU
- нуждаться, нужен
Potrzebuję twojej pomocy.
I need your help.
Genitive. Russian rebuilds the sentence instead — мне нужна помощь — so there is no case to copy across, only a habit to unlearn.
dziękować
verb · imperfective, + dat.
- EN
- to thank
- RU
- благодарить
Dziękuję ci za wszystko.
Thank you for everything.
Dative: dziękuję CI. Russian благодарить takes the accusative — благодарю тебя.
gratulować
verb · imperfective, + dat. + gen.
- EN
- to congratulate
- RU
- поздравлять
Gratuluję ci nowej pracy.
Congratulations on the new job.
Two cases at once: the person in the dative, the thing in the genitive. Russian uses the accusative plus с and the instrumental — nothing transfers.
czekać na
verb · imperfective, + acc.
- EN
- to wait for
- RU
- ждать
Czekam na ciebie od godziny.
I've been waiting for you for an hour.
Polish needs the preposition na. Russian ждать takes a bare object — жду тебя — and dropping na is the tell.
pytać o
verb · imperfective, + acc.
- EN
- to ask about
- RU
- спрашивать о
Pytał o ciebie ktoś z pracy.
Someone from work was asking about you.
o + accusative. Russian спрашивать о takes the prepositional — so the preposition survives the crossing and the case does not.
prosić o
verb · imperfective, + acc.
- EN
- to ask for, to request
- RU
- просить
Proszę o chwilę cierpliwości.
I'd ask for a moment's patience.
o + accusative, where Russian просить takes a bare object. Polish splits asking a question (pytać) from asking a favour (prosić) — and only one of them is how you order coffee.
dbać o
verb · imperfective, + acc.
- EN
- to look after, to care about
- RU
- заботиться о
Dbaj o siebie.
Look after yourself.
o + accusative. Russian заботиться о takes the prepositional. Dbaj o siebie is the standard goodbye to someone you actually like.
Drill these ten · earlier morning · later morning
Drill these ten