Breakdown of Po południu sprawdzam kolory świateł na lotnisku.
na
at
po południu
in the afternoon
lotnisko
the airport
światło
the light
Questions & Answers about Po południu sprawdzam kolory świateł na lotnisku.
What does Po południu mean in this sentence?
Po południu literally means “after noon,” but idiomatically it’s used as “in the afternoon.” It’s a time expression telling us when the checking happens.
Why is the noun południe in the form południu?
After the preposition po (when talking about time), Polish uses the locative case. The locative of the neuter noun południe is formed by dropping the final -e and adding -u, giving południu.
Couldn’t we say po południe (without the -u)?
No—when po expresses “after” or “in” (time), it always takes the locative: po + locative. Leaving it as po południe would be ungrammatical.
Why is the verb sprawdzam used here, and not a different form?
Sprawdzam is 1st person singular present tense of the imperfective verb sprawdzać (“to check”). The imperfective aspect indicates an ongoing or habitual action (“I check” or “I’m checking”). If you said sprawdzę (perfective future), it would mean “I will check (once).”
In kolory świateł, why is kolory accusative plural and genitive plural?