Zginam kolano powoli.

slowly

Breakdown of Zginam kolano powoli.

• kolano: the knee
• zginać: to bend

Questions & Answers about Zginam kolano powoli.

What does zginam mean here, and what is its dictionary form?

Zginam means I bend or I am bending.

Its dictionary form is zginać, which is the imperfective verb to bend. In this sentence, zginam is:

• 1st person singular
• present tense
• so it literally means I bend / I am bending

Because Polish present-tense forms already show the person, you do not need a separate word for I.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

Polish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb ending.

In zginam, the ending -am already tells you the subject is I. So:

• Zginam kolano powoli. = I bend my/the knee slowly.
• Ja zginam kolano powoli. also works, but ja adds emphasis, like I am bending the knee.

This is very normal in Polish.

Why is it kolano and not some different form?

Here kolano is the direct object of the verb zginam, so it is in the accusative case.

However, kolano is a neuter singular noun, and for many neuter nouns the nominative and accusative forms are the same. So:

• nominative: kolano
• accusative: kolano

That is why the form does not visibly change.