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Questions & Answers about Oni zapraszają nas na obiad.
What does Oni mean, and can it be omitted?
Oni means they (masculine or mixed-gender). In Polish the subject pronoun is often dropped because the verb ending already shows who’s acting. So Zapraszają nas na obiad is perfectly fine; adding Oni gives emphasis or clarity (“They are the ones inviting us for dinner”).
What is the infinitive of zapraszają, and what person, number, tense, and aspect is it?
The infinitive is zapraszać (“to invite”). Zapraszają is third person plural, present tense, imperfective aspect. Imperfective verbs describe ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions (so here it’s “they invite” or “they are inviting”).
Why is nas used here, and what case is it?
Nas means us and is the direct object of zapraszają. It’s in the accusative case, which is required by most transitive verbs to mark the person or thing being affected by the action.
Why do we use na with obiad, and what case does obiad take in na obiad?
To invite someone for a meal in Polish, you use the preposition na + accusative. Since obiad is masculine inanimate, its accusative form looks the same as the nominative—obiad. Hence na obiad = “for dinner” or “to dinner.”
What’s the difference between zapraszać and zaprosić?
Zapraszać is imperfective (focuses on the act/process of inviting), while zaprosić is perfective (focuses on the completed action of having invited). Use zapraszają when talking about inviting in general or happening right now; use zaprosili or zaproszą for completed/future single events.
How would you say They invited us to dinner in Polish?
Use perfective in the past:
Oni nas zaprosili na obiad.
Here zaprosili is third person plural past (masculine/mixed group).
How would you say They will invite us to dinner?
Use perfective future:
Oni nas zaproszą na obiad.
Zaproszą is third person plural future perfective.
Can we change the word order, for example Na obiad nas zapraszają oni? Does it sound natural?
Yes, Polish allows flexible word order for emphasis. The neutral sentence is Oni nas zapraszają na obiad. Putting Na obiad first highlights the meal, nas first highlights “us,” and oni last stresses “they.” Overusing unusual order can sound poetic or forced.
How do you ask Who invites us to dinner? and Who are they inviting to dinner? in Polish?
- “Who invites us to dinner?” → Kto nas zaprasza na obiad?
- “Who are they inviting to dinner?” → Kogo oni zapraszają na obiad?