Lesson 4

I have a dog and a cat

Use mieć to say what you have, ask about pets, and say a pet's name.

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Mam psa i kota

TopicPetsVerbmieć - to haveQuestionCzy ty masz psa?Name phrasema na imię

In this lesson, Adam and Ewa talk about pets. The main goal is to say I have, ask do you have...?, and answer with short natural sentences.

You will also see ma na imię, a phrase used to say what a person or animal is called. For now, learn mam psa, mam kota, and nie mam psa as ready-made chunks.

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mieć: mam, masz, ma

The verb “to have”

Mieć means to have. In this lesson, the useful forms are mam, masz, and ma.

Use mam for I have, masz for you have, and ma for he/she/it has. Imię means first name; in ma na imię, the part na imię adds the sense of by name. Together, ma na imię means has the name or is called.

Person	Form	Example from this lesson
ja	mam	Mam kota.
ty	masz	Czy ty masz psa?
he / she / it	ma	On ma na imię Azor.

Questions with czy

Czy ty masz...?

Czy opens a yes/no question. To answer, use mam for I have and nie mam for I do not have.

After mam and nie mam, the word that comes next can change form. In this lesson, pies appears as psa, and kot appears as kota.

Function	Polish	Meaning
Question	Czy ty masz psa?	Do you have a dog?
Positive answer	Mam kota.	I have a cat.
Negative answer	Nie mam psa.	I do not have a dog.
Useful forms	pies -> psa, kot -> kota	Forms used after mam and nie mam

mój and twój

my / your

Mój and twój are possessives: mój means my, and twój means your.

These are the masculine forms. In this lesson, pies and kot are the examples: mój pies, mój kot, and twój kot.

The form changes with the word. With feminine words, you will see forms like moja and twoja in later lessons.

Meaning	Polish	Example from the dialogue
my dog	mój pies	To jest mój pies.
my cat	mój kot	Mój kot ma na imię Klakier.
your cat	twój kot	Jak ma na imię twój kot?