• Listen

  What it means

  Literally “at the sight of,” this phrase describes a reaction triggered by seeing something. It is followed by a genitive noun: “Na widok krwi zemdlała” (She fainted at the sight of blood). It marks the cause of an involuntary or immediate reaction and is very common in narrative writing and everyday speech. The phrase is the standard Polish rendering of the English “at the sight of.”

  Vocabulary

  • widok — sight, view, the act of seeing
  • na — at (preposition governing accusative here)
  • na widok czegoś — at the sight of something

  Grammar note

  'Na widok' uses 'na' + accusative of 'widok' (masculine noun; accusative = widok). The noun following the whole phrase appears in the genitive: 'na widok krwi' (at the sight of blood), 'na widok matki' (at the sight of his/her mother). The phrase is invariable and always introduces a genitive complement.

  Cultural context

  Neutral in register, 'na widok' is equally at home in literary prose, journalism, and everyday conversation. It is not an idiom in the figurative sense — it is a fixed prepositional phrase used literally. Learners often struggle with the required genitive after it; remembering 'na widok + genitive' as a unit prevents errors.

  Beginner

Noticed a typo, a wrong translation, or anything that doesn't look right? We'd love to fix it — just let us know via the contact page. Thank you!