Polski — Subjectless sentences

Many Polish sentences have no grammatical subject. Weather verbs like pada stand alone, and states are often expressed with a dative person, as in boli mnie głowa.

How it works

✓ Rule

Weather verbs are used in the 3rd person singular with no subject: pada (it's raining), grzmi (it's thundering), wieje (it's windy). For physical and mental states, the person appears in the dative, and the verb stays impersonal: boli mnie głowa (my head hurts), jest mi zimno (I'm cold), brakuje mi czasu (I don't have enough time).

Examples

Weather verbs and dative-experiencer states
Polish	Meaning
Pada.	It's raining / snowing.
Grzmi i wieje.	It's thundering and windy.
Boli mnie głowa.	My head hurts.
Jest mi zimno.	I'm cold.
Jest mi przykro.	I'm sorry / I feel bad.
Brakuje mi czasu.	I don't have enough time.
Chce mi się spać.	I feel sleepy.

Good to know

⚠ Note

Don't insert the pronoun ja here: say jest mi zimno, not "ja jestem zimno". The dative form (mi, mnie) already marks who experiences the state. In the past and future the verb agrees with the neuter: było mi zimno, będzie mi zimno.