Breakdown of On musi rozwiązać ten problem.
on
he
musieć
to have to
ten
this
problem
the problem
rozwiązać
to solve
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about On musi rozwiązać ten problem.
What does On mean, and why is it capitalized here?
On is the third-person singular pronoun meaning he. It's capitalized because it's the first word of the sentence. In any other position you'd write on.
What is the role of musi in this sentence?
Musi is the third-person singular present tense of the modal verb musieć, meaning must or have to. It expresses that he is obliged or required to do something.
Why does musi come before the main verb rozwiązać?
In Polish, modal verbs are conjugated and placed before an infinitive, which carries the main action. Therefore we say musi rozwiązać, not rozwiązać musi.
Why is rozwiązać used instead of rozwiązywać?
Rozwiązać is the perfective infinitive, indicating a completed action of solving to its end. Rozwiązywać is the imperfective infinitive and would suggest an ongoing or repeated process, which does not fit when you mean must solve the problem fully.
What case is ten problem in and why?
Ten problem is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of rozwiązać. Since problem is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form is the same as the nominative, so ten remains ten.
Why isn't there any preposition before ten problem?
Transitive verbs like rozwiązać take direct objects without a preposition in Polish. Therefore ten problem follows the verb directly.
Can you drop the pronoun On in Polish? If so, why?
Yes, Polish often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending alone (in this case -i in musi) indicates the subject. So Musi rozwiązać ten problem still means He must solve this problem.
How would you turn this sentence into a negative one?
You place nie before the main verb, and after negation the direct object usually shifts to the genitive case. So you get On nie musi rozwiązać tego problemu for He doesn’t have to solve this problem.
How do you form a yes/no question from this sentence?
You can add czy at the beginning: Czy on musi rozwiązać ten problem? or simply use rising intonation in speech: On musi rozwiązać ten problem?.