Breakdown of Dajte nam po jednu porciju kobasica, molim vas.
jedan
one
vas
you (accusative/genitive)
dati
to give
nam
to us
moliti
to ask for, to request / please
po
each, apiece (distributive)
porcija
portion
kobasica
sausage
Questions & Answers about Dajte nam po jednu porciju kobasica, molim vas.
Why are jednu and porciju in the accusative case after po?
In this lesson's structure, the preposition po means "each" to express equal distribution. When used with the number one (jedan), both the number and its noun take the accusative case. That is why we use the feminine accusative jednu porciju instead of the nominative jedna porcija.
Wait, isn't kobasica the singular nominative form? Why is it used here?
It looks exactly like the singular nominative in writing, but here it is actually the genitive plural! After a noun expressing quantity like porcija (portion), we use the genitive case to say a portion of something. For many regular feminine nouns ending in -a, the genitive plural ends in a long -a, making it look identical to the dictionary form.
Why do we use nam instead of nas for "us"?
The verb dati (to give) requires the dative case for the receiver of the action (the indirect object). Nam is the short dative form of mi (we), meaning "to us". If you used the accusative nas, it would mean you are asking someone to physically hand you over to someone else!
What does the ending of Dajte tell us about who is being spoken to?
Dajte is the imperative (command) form for either the formal singular "you" or the plural "you". Because this sentence includes molim vas, we know the speaker is either politely addressing one person (like a waiter) or speaking to multiple staff members.
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