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Questions & Answers about Mój gość lubi herbatę.
What does Mój gość mean, and how is possession expressed in this sentence?
Mój gość translates to My guest. In Polish, possession is expressed directly by placing the possessive adjective mój (meaning my) before the noun gość (meaning guest). Note that Polish does not use articles, so the possessive adjective helps specify which guest is meant.
Why does herbatę end with -ę instead of simply herbata?
Herbatę is the accusative singular form of the noun herbata (tea). In Polish, when a feminine noun is used as the direct object of a sentence, it takes the accusative ending -ę. This change marks its role in the sentence as the object of the verb.
Which grammatical cases are used in the sentence, and what roles do they play?
The subject Mój gość is in the nominative case, as it represents who is performing the action. The object herbatę is in the accusative case, indicating that it is the direct object of the verb lubi. This case marking is key in Polish because it helps distinguish the roles of different words regardless of word order.
How does the adjective mój agree with the noun gość in this sentence?
The adjective mój is in its basic masculine singular form, matching the gender, number, and case of the noun gość. Since gość is a masculine singular noun in the nominative case, mój does not require any additional endings or modifications, ensuring proper agreement.
Is the word order in Mój gość lubi herbatę fixed in Polish, or can it be rearranged?
The word order in Polish is relatively flexible due to its case system. While Mój gość lubi herbatę follows the common subject-verb-object order—which is natural and clear—the language allows rearranging parts of the sentence to emphasize different elements. However, because the cases clearly indicate each word's role, rearrangement usually does not lead to confusion.