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  What it means

  Literally “to give peace or quiet,” dać spokój means to leave something or someone alone, let it go, or drop the matter. Depending on context, it can be said to another person (“leave me alone,” “give it a rest”) or used reflexively for deciding to stop pursuing something. It covers telling someone to stop bothering you and telling 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, governed here by *dać*. In speech you can also conjugate it normally: *Daj spokój!* (Leave it alone! / Give it a rest!) has singular imperative *daj*. With a direct object, use *dać komuś spokój* (to leave someone in peace), where *komuś* is dative.

  Cultural context

  This is a very common phrase in everyday Polish conversation. *Daj spokój!* is the usual imperative and can sound like warm teasing or real annoyance. The full expression *dać sobie spokój z czymś* means to give up on something or stop bothering with it.

  Beginner

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