Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Nauczyciel pracuje w szkole.
Why is there no the or a before nauczyciel in this sentence?
Polish does not use articles like the or a. Nouns simply stand alone, and whether you mean “a teacher” or “the teacher” is determined by context rather than a separate word.
Why is there no word for he (on) at the beginning of the sentence?
In Polish the verb ending already tells you who is performing the action. Pracuje has the 3rd person singular ending, so it means “he/she/it works.” Adding on (“he”) is redundant unless you want to emphasize or contrast.
What person, number, and tense is pracuje?
Pracuje is present tense, 3rd person singular of the verb pracować (“to work”). Its present-tense conjugation is:
- ja pracuję
- ty pracujesz
- on/ona/ono pracuje
So pracuje means “he/she/it works” or “is working.”
Why does szkoła change to szkole here?
Because after the preposition w (“in” or “at”), Polish uses the locative case. The nominative szkoła (“school”) becomes szkole in the locative singular to show location: w szkole = “in/at school.”
Could we say na szkole instead of w szkole?
No. To express working “in/at a school,” you must use w szkole. The preposition na with locative appears in other fixed expressions (e.g. na poczcie “at the post office,” na uczelni “at the university”) but not na szkole.
How do I turn Nauczyciel pracuje w szkole into a question meaning “Does the teacher work at school?”
Add Czy at the beginning for a yes/no question:
Czy nauczyciel pracuje w szkole?
You can also simply raise your intonation without czy:
Nauczyciel pracuje w szkole?
How would I make the sentence negative (“The teacher does not work at school”)?
Place nie before the verb:
Nauczyciel nie pracuje w szkole.