Breakdown of Gdy awaria się skończy, kolorowy przycisk znów będzie świecił na zielono.
na
to
gdy
when
zielony
green
świecić
to shine
kolorowy
colorful
przycisk
the button
awaria
the breakdown
skończyć się
to end
znów
again
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Questions & Answers about Gdy awaria się skończy, kolorowy przycisk znów będzie świecił na zielono.
Why is gdy used instead of kiedy, and are they interchangeable?
Both gdy and kiedy translate to “when.” In many contexts they’re interchangeable.
- gdy often appears in written or more formal styles and tends to send the verb toward the end of the clause.
- kiedy is perfectly fine here too: Kiedy awaria się skończy, kolorowy przycisk znów będzie świecił na zielono.
What role does się play in skończy się?
The się is a reflexive pronoun. It turns skończyć (“to finish something”) into skończyć się (“to end,” “to come to an end”) so that the action happens to the subject itself (the malfunction ends on its own).
Why is the verb skończy in the perfective aspect here?
Perfective verbs denote completed actions or single events. Since we speak of the malfunction actually ending at a specific future moment, skończyć się (perfective) is used. If you used the imperfective kończyć się, you’d get będzie się kończyć, which emphasizes the ongoing process of ending, not its completion.
Why does the verb skończy appear at the end of the subordinate clause?
In Polish, subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like gdy, że, or jeśli often place the verb toward the end. The usual order here is: [Conjunction] + [Subject] + [Reflexive pronoun] + [Verb].
Why does the second clause use będzie świecił instead of a single-word future?
Świecić is an imperfective verb (an ongoing action: “to shine”). Its future tense is formed analytically as będzie + świecił (“will be shining”). A single-word perfective future like zaświeci would focus on the moment it turns on (“will light up”) rather than the continuous state of shining.
What’s the difference between świecił and zaświecił?
- Świecił (imperfective) means “was shining” or, in the future, “will be shining.” It stresses the ongoing action or continuous state.
- Zaświecił (perfective) means “lit up” or “started shining,” a one-time event marking the moment the light comes on.
Why is it na zielono and not zielony?
To describe the color of a light or how something shines, Polish uses świecić na [color]. Here na + zielono (an adverbial form) means “in green.” You can’t say świeci zielony, because zielony is an adjective that needs a noun to modify.
What is the grammatical function of zielono in na zielono?
Zielono here is not a noun or adjective in a case—it’s an adverbial (neuter adjective ending in -o) used after na to express manner or color (“in green”). It doesn’t change form and simply tells us how the button will shine.
Why is the phrase kolorowy przycisk and not przycisk kolorowy?
The normal word order for descriptive phrases in Polish is adjective + noun (kolorowy przycisk = “colored button”). You could reverse it (przycisk kolorowy) for poetic effect or emphasis, but that’s less common in everyday speech.
Why is znów used here, and could you replace it with znowu?
Both znów and znowu mean “again.” They are interchangeable in this sentence:
- ...przycisk znów będzie świecił...
- ...przycisk znowu będzie świecił...
Znów is slightly more frequent in written or formal styles, while znowu feels a bit more conversational.