Polish past tense, confusion - łem, łeś, łam, łaś, ła etc. / przeczytasz

morning all , basically i understand roughly that łem łeś łam łaś ł ła etc or used on the end of words to show it as past tense so i think przycytałem means that i read a book . Or grałaś is she played i think . Excuse spelling mistakes in on phone and not 100% with spelling . But there is a phrae on rosetta that is something lke "czy przycytałasz? i get czy , but the ending of the other " asz " i don't understand as what i have read on past tense does not explain this ending . I understand it as a present tense ending ( as YOU READ ) . but with the Przy ? I do not understand . Cytasz ok przyczytałasz No ? I am realy sorry for all spelling mistakes , but im sure you can make out the root of what i am trying to ask , thanks

It's completely wrong word in Polish. Maybe it is "czy przeczytałaś?" instead - double check please, not a single word in past sense has the ending "asz" in Polish.

It could be also "Czy przeczytasz", it would refer to the future: will you read?

Good point

Sorry it was me that posted off my phone, my speeling was off the correct is like xxxyyy said " przeczytasz " the sentence is " przeczytasz te ksiazke ? " . but i do not not understand the word as it has PRZE in front ? czytasz i get , Przeczytalem i kind of get ( i think it means that you were reading ) like yester day i was reading would be somthing like wzcojai przeczytalem . why not just czytasz te ksiazke ? what does it all mean please ? does putting Prze in front of present tense verbs make something im not aware about. thanks for all help

przeczytać = read through, read and finish, read to the end from cover to cover.
czytać = to read in general, be reading.

Co czytasz? - What are you reading?

Czy przeczytasz "Wojnę i pokój" do piątku? - Will you read (and finish) "War and peace" by Friday.

Polish verbs use prefixes where English would use adverbs or prepositions.

The prefixes already exist in the inifinitive (base form of the very). Example:
poczytać - to read a little, read a bit, off and on.
Jutro poczytam sobie Pismo Święte = Tomrorow I will read the Bible a bit. (not from cover to cover).

doczytać= read up to a certain page; Na jutro musimy doczytać do strony 190. - For tomorrow (eg a school assignment) we are supposed to read up to page 190.

wyczytać = to read off (a list of names, etc.); Dyrektor wyczytał nazwiska wyróżnionych - The director read off the honourable mentioins

odczytać = to be able to deciphre; Nie mogę odczytać jego bazgrołów.- I can't make out his scribbling.

naczytać się = to read one's fill; Dziś się już naczytałem - I've read as much as I can take today.

oczytać się: to acquire knowledge by reading; the adj. oczytany = well-read (person)

Note this interesting verb: porykiwać (derived from ryczeć - to low, roar, bellow).
Lew pożerał antylopę i porykiwał z zadowolenia. - The lion devoured the antelope and gave off a roar of satisfaction every now and then.

adding a prepositional prefix like 'prze' to a verb in the present tense makes it a verb in the future tense (in the perfective aspect ie. the action will be completed in the future) - there are no perfective verbs in the present tense( as there are no completed/finished actions in the now)

czytam książkę - I read a book.
przeczytam tę książkę do jutra - I will have finshed this book by tomorrow.
Jutro będę czytał gazety. I will be reading newpapers tomorrow. - this is the imperfective form of future tense

This is fascinating and completely new to me , i didnt know you could attach those prefixes to verbs and change the whole meaning .

I will look into this , can you explain one last little thing . there are imperfective and perfective forms of each verb yes? and the imperfective is czytac / czytam czyta etc , but i read that the perfective form is used to descrive a finshed state like " i have read a book " instead of czytam ksiazke ( reading a book . so woudnt you use the perfective form of czytac instead of przeczytasz ?

Thank you for your excellent detailed answer polonius

przeczytać is the perfective counterpart of czytać

haha , doh ! thanks

There are perfective and imperfective aspects of MOST, but not all verbs. Whether a verb is perfective or imperfectvie is already known (at least to a native speaker) in the infinitive. There is no perfective form of czytać, it is always imperfective. It is the prefix that makes an imperfective verb perfective.

However, a prefix does not always indicate the perfective aspect. Eg zabić (perfective), zabijać (imperfective) to kill. Bić alone means to hit or strike, adding the za- changes its meaning to kill.

Sorry for all this grammatcial mumbo-jumbo, but it's no exaggeration that Polish is a complicated and difficult tongue for non-natives.