Breakdown of Budu se učit každý den, abych byl lepší student.
já
I
být
to be
den
the day
učit se
to learn
student
the student
každý
every
lepší
better
Questions & Answers about Budu se učit každý den, abych byl lepší student.
Why does the sentence use se with učit?
In Czech, učit se is the reflexive form of "to learn/study," emphasizing that you are learning something for yourself. The se is a reflexive pronoun that often appears in verbs describing an action directed at oneself.
Could I drop se and just say Budu učit každý den?
Not in this context. Budu učit would mean "I will teach," implying instructing someone else. Using Budu se učit makes it clear that you will be studying or learning yourself.
What does abych mean, and why does it appear instead of aby?
Abych is a form of aby tailored for the first person singular (já) in clauses that express purpose or intent. In Czech, aby changes slightly depending on who the subject is (abych, abys, aby, abychom, abyste, aby). Here, abych introduces a clause explaining the goal: "... so that I could be a better student."
How does byl function in this sentence, given it looks like a past tense form?
Although byl often looks like the past tense of být ("to be"), in this construction with abych it expresses a subjunctive-like mood in Czech. In other words, it indicates a desired or hypothetical state: "... so that I could be a better student."
Why do we say lepší student and not lepšího studenta?
Lepší student remains in the nominative case (not in the accusative or something else) because it's the complement to byl ("to be"). After verbs like být, we typically use the nominative case to describe the subject's identity, so we say lepší student rather than lepšího studenta.
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