Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Polish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Spędzę dzień w bibliotece.
What does spędzę mean and what is its base verb?
spędzę is the first-person singular future tense of the perfective verb spędzić (to spend time). It literally means “I will spend” and indicates a completed action in the future.
Why is dzień in the accusative case here?
The verb spędzić takes a direct object in the accusative. Dzień (day) is masculine inanimate, so its accusative singular form is identical to the nominative: dzień.
Why is w bibliotece using the locative case?
The preposition w (in) requires the locative case when expressing location. The feminine noun biblioteka changes to bibliotece in the locative singular.
How do you pronounce the letter ę in spędzę?
In spędzę, ę is nasalized, similar to the “en” in French “en.” Phonetically, spędzę is [ˈspɛ̃dʐɛ], with a short nasal “e” sound.
What’s the difference between perfective spędzę and imperfective będę spędzać?
- Perfective spędzę (“I will spend”) implies a single, complete action.
- Imperfective będę spędzać (“I will be spending” or “I will spend (habitually)”) emphasizes an ongoing or repeated action without focusing on its completion.
Can you use przez to express duration instead of saying spędzę dzień?
Yes, przez + accusative expresses duration. For example:
- Przez cały dzień będę w bibliotece. (“I will be in the library for the whole day.”) But if you want the structure with spędzić, you normally say Spędzę dzień w bibliotece.
Why do we use w instead of na with biblioteka?
In Polish, w + locative is used for being inside buildings. While na appears with some facilities (e.g. na poczcie, “at the post office”), with biblioteka you always use w bibliotece.
Could you reorder the sentence, for example move dzień elsewhere?
Yes, Polish allows some flexibility for emphasis, though the standard order is Subject–Verb–Object:
- Spędzę dzień w bibliotece. You could say:
- Dzień spędzę w bibliotece. (emphasizes “the day”)
- W bibliotece spędzę dzień. (emphasizes “in the library”) All three are grammatically correct, but the nuance changes with word order.