zaskakuje

Zaskakuje is a Polish verb in the present tense, meaning “it surprises” or “someone surprises.” It is the third-person singular form of the imperfective verb zaskakiwać, used to describe a general or ongoing act of surprising, rather than a single completed action. The related perfective verb zaskoczyć marks a single, completed surprise and, in the present tense, is used as the future form (zaskoczę, zaskoczysz, zaskoczy, zaskoczymy, zaskoczycie, zaskoczą).

The verb is transitive and commonly governs a direct object representing the person or thing surprised, for example: Ta decyzja zaskakuje mnie. or Ta decyzja mnie zaskakuje. A frequent impersonal construction is Zaskakuje mnie..., meaning “It surprises me that...”

Conjugation highlights in the imperfective aspect (zaskakiwać): ja zaskakuję, ty zaskakujesz, on/ona zaskakuje, my zaskakujemy, wy zaskakujecie, oni zaskakują. In the perfective counterpart (zaskoczyć), the present tense forms align with future meaning: ja zaskoczę, ty zaskoczysz, on zaskoczy, my zaskoczymy, wy zaskoczycie, oni zaskoczą.

Nuance and usage: zaskakuje expresses surprise in a general or ongoing sense and is common in everyday speech, journalism, and narrative. Synonyms include dziwić się, zaskakiwać in milder or more formal contexts. It is often used with clauses introduced by że or when describing surprising facts and outcomes.