utrudniaj

Utrudniaj is a form of the Polish verb utrudniać, meaning to hinder, impede, or make something more difficult. Specifically, utrudniaj is the second-person singular imperative, used to give a direct order or suggestion to someone informal: “Hinder this for me” or more naturally, “Utrudniaj mu dostęp do danych” (Keep hindering his access to the data). The verb utrudniać is imperfective, so the imperative utrudniaj denotes ongoing or repeated hindering rather than a single, completed act.

The imperfective nature of utrudniać contrasts with its perfective counterpart utrudnić, whose 2nd person singular imperative is utrudnij. Use utrudnić when referring to a single, completed act of hindering, and utrudniać when describing a habitual or ongoing tendency to make something more difficult. The forms of utrudniać in the present indicative include utrudniam (I hinder), utrudniasz (you hinder), utrudnia (he/she/it hinders).

Common contexts for utrudniaj include formal instructions, directives, or written commands in which the speaker addresses someone directly in an informal register. The negative form is nie utrudniaj, meaning “do not hinder.”

Etymologically, utrudniać derives from the root trud, meaning difficulty, with prefix u- that often yields a sense of causing or creating a state, combined with the typical Polish verb morphology for imperfective aspect.

Related terms include utrudnić (to hinder, to impede, perfective), utrudnienie (hindrance, obstruction), and synonymous expressions like skomplikować or utrudnić dostęp.