Learn Hardcore Polish: Musimy mieć długopis, aby zapisać nowe słówko w zeszycie. - We must have a pen to write down the new word in the notebook.

Aby is a conjunction meaning “in order to”, used to express purpose. It’s similar to żeby, but aby is slightly more formal and can be followed directly by an infinitive (here zapisać). Żeby often appears with a finite verb or in colloquial speech.

Why is the verb zapisać in its perfective form rather than the imperfective zapisywać?

Zapisać is the perfective infinitive meaning “to write down (once, to completion)”. It fits here because you need a pen to complete the action of recording a new word. Zapisywać (imperfective) would indicate an ongoing or habitual writing process, which isn’t the intended meaning.

Why do we say nowe słówko instead of nowe słowo?

Słówko is the diminutive form of słowo (“word”). Learners often use słówko to refer to an individual vocabulary item, making it more natural in a study context. It’s common in language-learning situations.

Why is nowe słówko in the accusative case, and how do we recognize it?

In Polish, direct objects take the accusative case. Słówko is neuter, so its nominative and accusative forms are identical (both słówko). The adjective nowe also remains the same in the neuter accusative.

Why do we say w zeszycie and not w zeszyt?

The preposition w meaning “in” requires the locative case. The locative singular of zeszyt (“notebook”) is zeszycie, so we say w zeszycie to mean “in the notebook.”

Why are there no articles like a or the before długopis?

Polish does not have articles. Context and word endings carry the meaning that English articles would provide. Here długopis simply means “(a) pen.”

Why does the sentence use musimy mieć instead of just musimy?

Musimy means “we must,” but you need to specify what you must do or have. Musimy mieć literally means “we must have” (a pen). Without mieć (“to have”), the sentence would be incomplete.

Why is the subject pronoun my omitted in musimy?

Polish verbs are inflected for person and number. Musimy already indicates “we” (first person plural), so the pronoun my is optional and usually dropped unless for emphasis.