Breakdown of Czy dodajesz mleko do herbaty, czy wolisz ją gorzką?
herbata
the tea
do
to
wolić
to prefer
czy
question marker
mleko
the milk
dodawać
to add
ją
her
gorzki
bitter
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Questions & Answers about Czy dodajesz mleko do herbaty, czy wolisz ją gorzką?
Why are there two instances of the word czy in this sentence?
Polish often uses czy … czy … to mean “either … or ….” Each czy marks one part of the alternative. Here it’s literally “Do you add milk to tea, or do you prefer it bitter?” The first czy introduces the first option, the second czy introduces the second.
Why is dodajesz used instead of a past- or perfective form like dodałeś or dodasz?
Dodajesz is the present tense, imperfective, second-person singular form of dodawać (“to add”). Imperfective verbs express ongoing actions or habits. Here you’re asking about a regular or current habit: “Do you (habitually/now) add milk?”
Why is herbata in the form herbaty after do?
The preposition do always takes the genitive case in Polish. Herbata (nominative) becomes herbaty (genitive) to show “to tea.” Hence do herbaty = “to the tea.”
Why is mleko not changed in form—why isn’t it mleka or something else?
Mleko is the direct object of dodajesz and remains in the nominative–accusative form for neuter nouns. For neuter singular nouns, nominative and accusative are identical, so mleko stays as it is.
What is the role and case of ją in wolisz ją gorzką?
Ją is the third-person feminine singular accusative pronoun (“it/her”). It refers back to herbata (tea), which is feminine. So wolisz ją = “you prefer it.”
Why is the adjective gorzką ending in -ą?
Gorzką is the feminine singular accusative form of gorzki (“bitter”). In the construction wolisz ją gorzką, both the object (ją) and its descriptive adjective (gorzką) take the accusative, because you’re saying “you prefer it [to be] bitter.”
Is the pronoun ją mandatory? Could you just say czy wolisz gorzką?
You can certainly say Czy wolisz gorzką? and it will be understood (“Do you prefer [it] bitter?”). Including ją simply makes the reference to the tea explicit. Omitting it is more colloquial.
Why is the word order wolisz ją gorzką and not wolisz gorzką ją?
Polish word order is relatively flexible, but the most neutral ordering for a verb + object + complement is wolisz (verb) + ją (object pronoun) + gorzką (object complement). Swapping them would sound marked or poetic.