Questions & Answers about Odkąd pracuję w biurze, piję kawę codziennie.
Why is pracuję (and piję) in the present tense when it refers to an action that started in the past?
Polish uses the present tense to describe actions or states that began in the past and continue up to the moment of speaking. In English you might use the present perfect (I have been working), but in Polish you simply say pracuję. The same goes for piję kawę codziennie—the present tense plus an adverb of frequency expresses a habitual action that’s still true now.
What is the function of odkąd, and how does it differ from od, od kiedy, or just kiedy?
odkąd is a conjunction meaning “since” when introducing a subordinate time clause with a verb.
- Od
- noun (e.g. od poniedziałku) is used when you have a noun rather than a verb.
- Od kiedy is mainly used in questions: Od kiedy pracujesz w biurze? (“Since when have you been working in the office?”)
- Kiedy simply means “when,” not “since.”
Why is there a comma after Odkąd pracuję w biurze?
In Polish, a subordinate clause introduced by conjunctions like odkąd must be separated by a comma from the main clause. Whenever you start with a time clause (odkąd, gdy, chociaż itp.), put a comma before the main clause.
Why is biurze in the locative case (instead of ) and in the accusative?