Questions & Answers about Wieczorem idziemy z kolegą do teatru.
Why is Wieczorem placed at the beginning of the sentence? Could it appear elsewhere?
In Polish, word order is quite flexible. Starting with Wieczorem (an adverbial noun meaning “in the evening”) sets the time context right away. You could also say Idziemy wieczorem z kolegą do teatru, and it would mean the same. Moving wieczorem changes emphasis but not the basic meaning.
Why do we use idziemy instead of pójdziemy?
Idziemy is the imperfective present tense of iść (“to go”) and literally means “we are going” or “we go.” In Polish, imperfective verbs describe ongoing, habitual, or planned actions. Here it implies a prearranged plan for the near future.
Pójdziemy is perfective future (“we will go”) and would stress the moment of going rather than the process. Using idziemy sounds more natural for saying “we’re going (there) in the evening.”
Why is it z kolegą and not z kolega?
The preposition z (“with” or “from”) requires the instrumental case. The instrumental singular form of kolega (masculine animate) is kolegą, with the ending -ą. So z kolegą literally means “with (a) colleague/friend.”
Why is it do teatru and not do teatr or na teatr?