zaczyna

Zaczyna is a Polish verb form meaning “begins” or “is starting.” It is the third-person singular present tense of the imperfective verb zaczynać, which denotes beginning or starting an action in a general or ongoing sense. The form is commonly used to describe actions that are in progress or habitual, such as “On zaczyna pracę” (He starts work) or “Ona zaczyna mówić” (She begins to speak).

In Polish, zaczynać is the imperfective counterpart to zacząć, the perfective verb meaning “to begin” in a completed or momentary sense. The imperfective form zaczyna (he/she/it begins) contrasts with the perfective future forms of zacząć, such as zacznę, zaczniesz, zacznie, which express a future completion rather than an ongoing process.

The root of zaczynać is zak prefix za- plus the root zaczyn-, a pattern that also yields the noun zaczyn. The noun zaczyn has two related meanings: it can mean a beginning or onset, and in cooking it denotes a dough starter or fermentation culture. This semantic link reflects the idea of something that initiates or gets an process going.

Common usages include describing initial phases, initiating events, or the start of a sequence. Phrases such as zaczyna od zera (starts from scratch) and zaczyna od podstaw (begins from the basics) are typical. The form can also appear in reflexive constructions like zaczyna się, meaning “it begins” or “it is starting,” as in “Zaczyna się robić zimno” (It’s starting to get cold).

See also: zaczynać, zacząć, zaczyn.