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Verbal nouns Posted by on Apr 1, 2011 in Grammar

Today I wanted to talk about verbal nouns. Pretty easy subject, however it could be a little tricky.

A verbal noun is a noun derived from a verb which still retains many of the properties of the verb, including aspect. Both czytanie and przeczytanie are usually translated as ‘reading’, the first referring to the action, the second to the accomplishment.

Some verbs rarely form the verbal noun but, instead, use an independent noun. For example, obawa (fear) is the de facto verbal noun of bać się (be afraid) or obawiać się (fear).

Verbal nouns decline like neuter nouns:

N. -nie/-enie/-cie  Mówienie prawdy jest ważne.

A. -nie/-enie/-cie  Lubię czytanie.

G. -nia/-enia/-cia  Tu nie ma nic do jedzenia.

I. -niem/-eniem/-ciem  Interesuję się czytaniem.

D./L. -niu/-eniu/-ciu

Use of verbal nouns in Polish:

a) In the do + Gen purpose construction

where English often uses infinitive clauses:

Polecić coś do czytania recommend something to read

Co tu jest do jedzenia? What is there to eat?

Nie mam nic do powiedzenia . I have nothing to say.

where English uses compounds or morphology:

proszek do prania  detergent

proszek do pieczenia  baking powder

maszyna do pisania  typewriter

b) Often with a Genitive Noun

pisanie książki  the writing of the book

mówienie prawdy   telling the truth

ukończenie szkoły   completion of school

c) Otherwise like English gerunds (-ing form of the verb used as a noun)

Nie lubię czekania. I don’t like waiting.

Takie myślenie jest błędne. Such thinking is erroneous.

Robienie na drutach jest nudne. Knitting is boring.

Pływanie po jedzeniu jest niezdrowe. Swimming after eating is unhealthy.

d) Some have become regular nouns with basic (non-derived) meanings:

mieszkanie apartment

pytanie question

jedzenie food

picie drink

życie life

uczucie feeling/emotion

Please let me know if you have questions in comments below.

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)

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About the Author: Kasia

My name is Kasia Scontsas. I grew near Lublin, Poland and moved to Warsaw to study International Business. I have passion for languages: any languages! Currently I live in New Hampshire. I enjoy skiing, kayaking, biking and paddle boarding. My husband speaks a little Polish, but our daughters are fluent in it! I wanted to make sure that they can communicate with their Polish relatives in our native language. Teaching them Polish since they were born was the best thing I could have given them! I have been writing about learning Polish language and culture for Transparent Language’s Polish Blog since 2010.


Comments:

  1. Gabriel:

    Excellent post! Verbal nouns were one of the concepts that I had some trouble to understand. Thank God you’re explaining them in a nice way! 😀

  2. Kevin G.:

    Yes, that is a very clear explanation, thank you!

    Two questions, though. When you list three sets of endings like this, what are they referring to?
    -nie/-enie/-cie

    Also, I just learned today that similarity between the famous word “potrzebie” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potrzebie) and the Polish verb “potrzebowac” isn’t just coincidental. But I gather that the “potrzeba” referred to in the wikipedia article is actually an independent noun, not a verbal noun, is that correct?

  3. Kasia:

    The endings are reffering to different endings for different nouns (nothing specific, just wanted to give an example). And “potrzeba” is an independent noun not a verbal noun.

  4. Ania:

    Dzień dobry Kasiu,

    piszę pracę magisterską dotyczącą tłumaczenia rzeczowników odczasownikowych na język angielski i trudności jakiej sprawiają one polskim tłumaczom.
    Czy mogłabym wykorzystać Twoje wyjaśnienie w swojej pracy?
    Chciałabym też spytać z jakich źródeł korzystałaś przygotowując ten wpis?

    Dziękuję i pozdrawiam,

    Ania