RWAĆ – Tearing, rending, ripping

The root (*)rwa- is found in words which generally denote tearing, ripping, pulling away or otherwise forceful separation of one thing from another. In most cases, -rwa- is the perfective root, while the imperfective counterpart is –rywa-. Note, however, an important exception is the word rwać itself, which is imperfective (niedokonany). I have not been able to find a clear perfective (dokonany) counterpart, but it seems like this function is taken up by one or more of the other words in this semantic field.

rwać – tear, rip, run (stocking); dash, rush forth; with się, tear; rwać (się) do + GEN, to strive eagerly toward

dorwać / dorywać – get, catch, find, flush out (of hiding); with się do + GEN, to break or tear through to; get to (after effort)

naderwać / nadrywać – to tear slightly, strain (muscle)

oberwać / obrywać – tear off, peel off, pick (fruit); to get shot/hit/beaten up

oderwać / odrywać – tear off, tear up, break away; od + GEN, break away/off from; oderwać kogoś od czegoś- distract (or, wean) someone from something

poderwać / podrywać  - lift violently; hit on, pick up (i.e., for sex)

porwać / porywać – abduct, kidnap; grab, snatch

przerwać / przerywać – stop, interrupt, break (something in progress); przerwać milczenie, to break the silence; przerwać ciążę, to terminate a pregnancy

rozerwać / rozrywać – tear up/apart, break apart (rozrywać na strzępy, to tear to pieces); with się, amuse, divert, entertain (ref. rozrywka, entertainment)

urwać / urywać – sever, break off, tear off; with się, be severed/broken off; urwać mu głowę, to rip his head off

wyrwać / wyrywać – tear out, tear away, extract; with się, get away, extract oneself from; wyrwać się z matni, lit. ‘to free oneself from a snare/trap,’ to get out of an impasse/dead-end situation.

zarwać / zarywać – break through; stay up late; blow off (appointment); get/court (e.g. a girl); with się, collapse under the weight of something

zerwać / zrywać – break up (relationship); get out (prison); break/rip/tear up; with się, move, start or begin suddenly/violently.

Many of these terms are flexible, and have other meanings in certain contexts not described here. One thing to note is that the common verbs trwać (to continue, last, endure, go on) and przetrwać (to survive) do not appear to be related to this root.

According to Wiktionary, these latter words derive from Proto-Slavic *trajati meaning ‘to last, continue,’ derived from an older Indo-European root meaning ‘to cross.’ Rwać and its derivatives, however, descend from Proto-Slavic rŭvati, meaning ‘to tear.’