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Questions & Answers about Kelner dodaje cukier, ale ja nigdy nie piję słodkiej herbaty.
Why is cukier not changed in the sentence Kelner dodaje cukier? Shouldn't the direct object have a different ending?
In Polish, masculine inanimate nouns in the singular have the same form in the nominative and accusative cases. Since cukier (sugar) is a masculine inanimate noun and here functions as a direct object, its accusative form is identical to its nominative form: cukier.
Why is the phrase słodkiej herbaty used instead of słodka herbata after nie piję?
After a negated verb in Polish, the direct object usually takes the genitive case. Here, nie piję (“I don’t drink”) requires the genitive, so słodka herbata (nominative) becomes słodkiej herbaty (genitive feminine singular).
What role does the word ja play in ale ja nigdy nie piję? Can it be omitted?
Polish verb endings already indicate the person (here, 1st person singular), so ja (“I”) is grammatically redundant and can be omitted:
nigdy nie piję słodkiej herbaty.
It’s included only for emphasis or to contrast with the waiter’s action.
Why is there no pronoun before dodaje in the first clause?
Like most Slavic languages, Polish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending signals the subject. Dodaje is 3rd person singular (“he/she adds”), so you know it’s “the waiter” (Kelner) without saying on.
Could you rearrange the words, for example say Cukier dodaje kelner or Dodaje kelner cukier?
Polish word order is relatively flexible.
• Kelner dodaje cukier is the neutral Subject-Verb-Object order.
• Cukier dodaje kelner puts focus on cukier, stressing that it’s sugar (not something else) the waiter adds.
• Dodaje kelner cukier can highlight the action itself.
All are grammatically correct, but the neutral form is usually Subject-Verb-Object.
Why is ale used here instead of another conjunction like lecz or jednak?
Ale is the most common word for “but” in Polish, used in everyday speech to join contrasting statements.
Lecz is more formal or literary, and jednak means “however” with a slightly stronger contrast or surprise.
Why is the adverb nigdy placed before nie piję, and not after the verb?
The negative particle nie must attach directly to the verb: nie piję. Temporal adverbs like nigdy (“never”) usually go before nie: nigdy nie piję. Placing nie before nigdy (nie nigdy piję) is ungrammatical. You could also say nie piję nigdy, but nigdy nie piję is most natural.
Both dodaje and piję are imperfective forms. Why not use perfective verbs?
Imperfective aspect describes ongoing, repeated or habitual actions. Here you talk about a typical situation: the waiter keeps adding sugar, but you never drink sweet tea. Perfective verbs (like doda or wypiję) imply a single, completed action and would change the meaning to a one-time event.
Why does the adjective słodkiej end with -ej instead of -a?
Because słodkiej is in the genitive feminine singular, matching herbaty. Adjectives describing feminine nouns in the genitive singular take the ending -ej (soft stem), so słodka (nom.) → słodkiej (gen.).
