Polish/Conditional mood

The conditional mood (tryb przypuszczający) in Polish language is used to describe: Actions that would happen under certain conditions. Kupiłbym ten samochód, gdybym miał pieniądze. - I would buy that car if I had money. Wishes, desires, and dreams. Chciałbym odwiedzić Polskę. - I would like to visit Poland. Polite requests and suggestions. Czy mógłbyś mi pomóc? - Could you help me? Hypothetical situations. Gdybym był ptakiem, latałbym po świecie. - If I were a bird, I would fly around the world. The conditional mood answers questions such as what would happen? (co by się stało?) and what would someone do? (co by zrobił?). Formation The conditional mood is formed by combining: The past tense form of a verb. The particle by (or its attached forms: bym, byś, by, byśmy, byście, by). Verb: czytać (to read) PersonMasculineFeminineEnglishIczytałbymczytałabymI would readyou (singular)czytałbyśczytałabyśyou would readheczytałby—he would readshe—czytałabyshe would readweczytalibyśmyczytałybyśmywe would readyou (plural)czytalibyścieczytałybyścieyou would readthey (masculine or mixed gender)czytaliby—they would readthey (feminine)—czytałybythey would read Verb: robić (to do, to make) PersonMasculineFeminineEnglishIrobiłbymrobiłabymI would doyou (singular)robiłbyśrobiłabyśyou would doherobiłby—he would doshe—robiłabyshe would dowerobilibyśmyrobiłybyśmywe would doyou (plural)robilibyścierobiłybyścieyou would dothey (masculine or mixed gender)robiliby—they would dothey (feminine)—robiłybythey would do Conditional Endings PersonParticleExampleI-bymzrobiłbymyou (singular)-byśzrobiłbyśhe / she / it-byzrobiłby, zrobiłabywe-byśmyzrobilibyśmyyou (plural)-byściezrobilibyściethey-byzrobiliby, zrobiłyby Common Expressions PolishEnglishchciałbym / chciałabymI would likemógłbym / mogłabymI couldpowinienbym / powinnamI shouldzrobiłbym toI would do itgdybym wiedziałif I knew Conditional Clauses The conjunction gdyby ("if") is commonly used with the conditional mood. Gdybym miał więcej czasu, czytałbym więcej książek. - If I had more time, I would read more books. Gdyby padało, zostałbym w domu. - If it rained, I would stay at home. Co byś zrobił na moim miejscu? - What would you do in my place? Notes The conditional mood is based on past-tense forms. The particle by may appear separately in some sentences: Ja bym poszedł. - I would go. Ty byś to zrobił. - You would do it. The forms must agree with the speaker's gender in the singular and with grammatical gender in the plural. The conditional mood is frequently used to make requests sound more polite.