Breakdown of Jezioro, które chcemy zobaczyć, jest słynne z czystej wody.
być
to be
woda
the water
my
we
chcieć
to want
z
from
zobaczyć
to see
które
that
jezioro
the lake
słynny
famous
czysty
clean
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Questions & Answers about Jezioro, które chcemy zobaczyć, jest słynne z czystej wody.
Why is które used instead of który in “Jezioro, które chcemy zobaczyć, jest słynne z czystej wody”?
Because jezioro is a neuter noun in Polish. The relative pronoun must agree in gender, number and case with its antecedent. The neuter form of który in both nominative and accusative singular is które.
What case is które in, and how do we know?
Here które functions as the direct object of zobaczyć, so it’s in the accusative. In neuter, nominative and accusative forms coincide, which is why które looks like nominative but actually serves as accusative.
Why are there commas around the relative clause “które chcemy zobaczyć”?
Polish uses commas to set off non-restrictive (parenthetical) information. If the speaker assumes you already know which lake, the clause merely adds extra detail, hence the commas. If it were a defining (restrictive) clause—“the lake that we want to see, not any other”—you would drop the commas: Jezioro które chcemy zobaczyć jest słynne z czystej wody.
Why does słynne end with -e?
Adjectives in Polish agree with their noun’s gender, number and case. Jezioro is neuter singular nominative, so słynny takes the neuter nominative ending -e, yielding słynne.
What’s the grammatical reason for czystej wody being in the genitive?
The preposition z meaning “because of” or “for” when giving a cause takes the genitive. Thus czysta woda (nominative) becomes czystej wody (feminine singular genitive), with both adjective and noun in genitive.
Why is the perfective infinitive zobaczyć used after chcemy instead of the imperfective widzieć?
Chcieć + perfective infinitive expresses a desire to complete an action (to catch sight of it once). Using the imperfective widzieć would imply an ongoing or habitual action, which isn’t the intended meaning here.
Why isn’t there a że before chcemy zobaczyć (e.g. “które że chcemy zobaczyć”)?
Relative clauses in Polish introduced by który/które never take the conjunction że. You attach the verb directly after the pronoun: które chcemy zobaczyć, not które że chcemy zobaczyć.
Could we rewrite the sentence as “Jezioro, które chcemy zobaczyć, słynie z czystej wody”?
Yes. That replaces jest słynne (to be famous) with the verb słynie (it is famous/renowned). Both are grammatically correct; słynie focuses on the ongoing fame, while jest słynne states a descriptive fact.