Breakdown of Następny autobus odjeżdża za pięć minut.
autobus
the bus
odjeżdżać
to leave
za pięć minut
in five minutes
następny
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Questions & Answers about Następny autobus odjeżdża za pięć minut.
What part of speech is następny and why is it declined that way?
Następny is an adjective modifying autobus. In Polish, adjectives agree with their nouns in gender, number and case. Here both następny and autobus are masculine, singular, nominative (subject form), so the adjective takes the nominative masculine singular ending -y.
Why is autobus in the nominative case?
Because autobus is the subject of the sentence—the thing doing the departing. Subjects in Polish take the nominative case when there is no governing preposition.
Why is odjeżdża in the present tense if the action is in the future?
Polish commonly uses the present tense of imperfective verbs for scheduled or timetabled events. Even though the departure happens in the future, the present tense odjeżdża (“is departing”) conveys that it’s a fixed, planned schedule.
What case and meaning does za pięć minut have here?
- Za with a time interval takes the accusative case to mean “after an interval.”
- Pięć (five) requires the genitive plural of minuta, so minut is genitive plural.
Together za pięć minut literally means “after five minutes” or more naturally “in five minutes” (i.e. five minutes from now).
Why is it pięć minut and not pięciu minut?
Polish cardinal numbers 5 and above govern the genitive plural. So after pięć you always use genitive plural minut. There is no form pięciu minut in this context.
How does using za differ from using w with time expressions?
- Za + accusative indicates “the time remaining until something starts”:
za pięć minut = five minutes from now - W + accusative can indicate “the time needed to complete something”:
w pięć minut = within five minutes / it takes five minutes (to do it)
Could I say Następny autobus odjedzie za pięć minut instead? What’s the nuance?
Yes. Odjedzie is the perfective future (“will depart”). Using odjeżdża (imperfective present) is more typical for timetables and announcements because it frames the departure as a scheduled, recurring type of event rather than a one-off.
How do you pronounce Następny autobus odjeżdża za pięć minut?
Approximate pronunciation guide (capital = stressed syllable):
na-STĘP-nih au-TO-bus od-JEŻ-dża za pyENĆ mee-NOOT
In IPA: [naˈstɛm.pnɨ auˈto.bus ɔdˈjɛʐ.d͡ʐa za pjɛɲt͡ɕ ˈmi.nut].