znaczy

Znaczy is the third-person singular present tense form of the Polish verb znaczyć, meaning "to mean" or "to signify." It is used to express the meaning of a word, phrase, or situation, or to indicate importance or consequence in a statement.

In everyday speech, the phrase "to znaczy" functions as an idiomatic connector meaning "that is to say" or "in other words." It often introduces clarification or restatement. For example, "Co to znaczy?" asks "What does this mean?" and "To znaczy, że nie przyjdę" translates as "That means I won’t come."

The verb znaczyć is related to the noun znaczenie, which means "meaning" or "significance," and to the adjective znaczący, meaning "significant." The common usage pattern pairs znaczyć with nouns or phrases to convey meaning, while the noun form can describe the importance of something within a given context.

Grammatical notes: znaczy is used with various subjects depending on the context, and its related forms cover different tenses and aspects (for example, znaczyłem for past tense in first-person singular). The expression "to znaczy" remains a standard device in Polish for introducing explanations, definitions, or paraphrases.

See also: znaczenie, znaczyć.