napotykasz

Napotykasz is the second-person singular present indicative form of the Polish imperfective verb napotykać, meaning "you encounter" or "you come across." It describes an action that is habitual, repeated, ongoing or in progress rather than completed. The word is used in everyday Polish in both literal and figurative senses, for example encountering people, obstacles, situations or patterns.

Pronunciation: /napɔˈtɨkaʂ/. Infinitive: napotykać. Perfective counterpart: napotkać (second-person future: napotkasz). Present tense conjugation (imperfective): napotykam, napotykasz, napotyka, napotykamy, napotykacie, napotykają.

Syntactic notes: napotykać can be used transitively (napotykać kogoś/coś) or with the preposition na (napotykać na coś), the latter emphasizing an unplanned meeting or obstacle. Common collocations include napotykać trudności (encounter difficulties) and napotykać opór (meet resistance). The verb registers as neutral and is common in both spoken and written Polish.

Etymology: napotykać derives from the root potykać with the prefix na-, reflecting a historical development in Slavic verbs where potykać relates to meeting or stumbling and na- adds a directional or intensifying element. Related forms include participles and imperative forms used according to aspect and tense.