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  What it means

  Literally “to give peace/quiet,” dać spokój means to leave something or someone alone, to let it go, or to drop the matter. Depending on context it can be directed at another person (“leave me alone,” “give it a rest”) or used reflexively to mean deciding to stop pursuing something. It covers situations ranging from telling someone to stop bothering you to advising yourself to stop worrying about a problem.

  Vocabulary

  • dać — to give (perfective)
  • spokój — peace, quiet, calm (accusative: spokój)

  Grammar note

  *Dać* is the perfective infinitive of *dawać* (to give). *Spokój* is a masculine noun in the accusative case here, governed by *dać*. In speech you can conjugate it normally: *Daj spokój!* (Leave it alone! / Give it a rest!) — *daj* is the imperative singular of *dać*. With a direct object the structure is *dać komuś spokój* (to leave someone in peace), where *komuś* is dative.

  Cultural context

  This is an extremely common phrase in everyday Polish conversation. *Daj spokój!* is the most frequent imperative form and can range from affectionate teasing to genuine exasperation. The full expression *dać sobie spokój z czymś* means to give up on something or stop bothering with it.

  Beginner

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