mieć

The Verb Mieć

Level 1

The verb mieć is one of the most common Polish verbs. It is irregular because its stem changes from mieć to ma- in the present tense. It is used for possession, age, and many expressions where English uses 'to be'.

How It Works

1. Conjugation
Although the endings look like the -am, -asz pattern, the infinitive mieć is irregular because the 'ie' disappears in the present tense:

  • Ja mam (I have)
  • Ty masz (You have)
  • On/Ona/Ono ma (He/She/It has)
  • My mamy (We have)
  • Wy macie (You all have)
  • Oni/One mają (They have)

2. Past Tense Stem Changes
In the past tense, the stem changes between mia- and mie-. Most forms use mia- (e.g., miałem, miała), but the masculine-personal plural uses mie- (e.g., mieliśmy, mieli).

3. Future Tense and Imperative
To form the future, use future forms of być with the past tense form of mieć (e.g., będę miał, będziemy miały). The command form (imperative) is also irregular: miej (singular) and miejcie (plural).

4. Expressing Age
In Polish, you 'have' years. The noun for 'years' follows specific rules:

  • rok: Only for exactly 1 year (Mam jeden rok).
  • lata: For numbers ending in 2, 3, 4 (e.g., 2, 23, 104), excluding 12, 13, 14.
  • lat: For 5–21, and compound numbers ending in 0, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or the teens (11-19).

See Saying Age for more details.

5. Case Government
When you have something, the object is in the Accusative case. However, if you do not have something, the object must switch to the Genitive case.

6. Idiomatic Uses
Polish uses mieć in many phrases where English uses 'to be':

  • mieć rację — to be right
  • mieć nadzieję — to hope
  • mieć na imię — to be named
  • mieć ochotę na... — to feel like/want something

Examples (6)

  1. Mam nowego psa.

    I have a new dog.

    Word by Word: I-have new dog.

    Uses the 1st person singular 'mam' with the object in the Accusative case.

  2. Nie mam czasu.

    I don't have time.

    Word by Word: Not I-have time.

    Notice how 'czas' (time) changes to 'czasu' (Genitive) because of the negation 'nie'.

  3. Mieliśmy dużo szczęścia.

    We had a lot of luck.

    Word by Word: We-had much luck.

    Shows the masculine-personal plural past tense stem 'mieli-'.

  4. Ona ma dwadzieścia dwa lata.

    She is twenty-two years old.

    Word by Word: She has twenty two years.

    Compound numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4 (except 12, 13, 14) use 'lata'.

  5. Miej cierpliwość!

    Have patience!

    Word by Word: Have patience!

    Demonstrates the irregular imperative (command) form 'miej'.

  6. Będę miał nowy samochód.

    I will have a new car.

    Word by Word: I-will-be had new car.

    Shows the future tense using 'będę' with the past tense form of 'mieć'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'to be' (być) for age.

    Jestem dwadzieścia lat.
    Mam dwadzieścia lat.

    In Polish, age is something you 'have', not something you 'are'.

  • Forgetting the Genitive case after negation.

    Nie mam samochód.
    Nie mam samochodu.

    After 'nie mam', the object must change from Accusative to Genitive.

  • Incorrect 1st person singular form.

    Ja miem.
    Ja mam.

    Even though the infinitive is 'mieć', the 1st person singular is 'mam', not 'miem'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

miećLevel 1The Verb Mieć

Learn This First

Learn Present Tense before The Verb Mieć.

Words in This Pattern

mieć