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Breakdown of Długie spotkanie wymaga kawy.
kawa
the coffee
spotkanie
the meeting
długi
long
wymagać
to require
Questions & Answers about Długie spotkanie wymaga kawy.
Why is długie used instead of długi before spotkanie?
Because spotkanie (“meeting”) is a neuter noun in the nominative singular. In Polish, adjectives must agree with the noun’s gender, number, and case. Długi is the masculine form; the neuter nominative singular form is długie.
What case is spotkanie in, and why?
Spotkanie is in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the sentence—the “thing” that requires coffee.
What case is kawy, and why is it used here instead of kawa?
Kawy is the genitive singular of kawa (“coffee”). The verb wymagać (“to require”) governs the genitive case, so its object must appear in genitive: wymaga kawy.
What part of speech is wymaga, and how is it conjugated?
Wymaga is the third person singular, present tense form of the verb wymagać. It agrees with the singular subject spotkanie. If you change the subject to plural, you must use wymagają.
How would you say “long meetings require coffee” in Polish?
Make both subject and verb plural:
Długie spotkania wymagają kawy.
Can I replace wymaga with potrzebuje (“needs”)? What changes?
Yes. Potrzebować also takes the genitive. You can say:
Długie spotkanie potrzebuje kawy.
The nuance shifts from a formal “requires” to a softer “needs.”
Where is the stress in Długie spotkanie wymaga kawy?
Polish words typically stress the penultimate syllable:
• DŁU-gie
• spot-KA-nie
• wy-MA-ga
• KA-wy
Why isn’t there an English-style article (a or the) before spotkanie?
Polish does not use articles. Długie spotkanie can mean “a long meeting” or “the long meeting” depending on context, but you simply omit any article.
Is the word order fixed, or could I rearrange it for emphasis?
Polish allows some flexibility, but the neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object:
Długie spotkanie wymaga kawy.
You could move elements for stylistic emphasis—for example, Kawy wymaga długie spotkanie (emphasizing “coffee”)—but that sounds marked or poetic in everyday speech.
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