Breakdown of Odkąd pracuję w biurze, piję kawę codziennie.
ja
I
kawa
the coffee
w
in
codziennie
every day
pracować
to work
biuro
the office
pić
to drink
odkąd
since
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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 biuro) and kawę in the accusative?
- biurze: The preposition w (in) requires the locative case when indicating location. The base noun biuro changes to biurze.
- kawę: The verb pić (to drink) takes a direct object in the accusative. The base noun kawa changes to kawę to show it’s the thing being drunk.
Can codziennie appear elsewhere in the sentence, and does its position affect the emphasis?
Yes. Adverbs of frequency are quite mobile. For example:
- Odkąd pracuję w biurze, piję kawę codziennie. (neutral statement)
- Odkąd pracuję w biurze, codziennie piję kawę. (emphasizes the daily habit)
- Codziennie piję kawę odkąd pracuję w biurze. (less common ordering but still correct)
The core meaning stays the same; only the focus shifts slightly.
What are some alternatives to codziennie for “every day” in Polish?
You can also say:
- każdego dnia (using każdego
- genitive)
- co dzień (colloquial)
Both expressions mean “every day” and can replace codziennie without changing the sense of the sentence.
Why is the imperfective verb pić used here instead of the perfective wypić?
The imperfective aspect (pić) expresses a habitual, repeated, or ongoing action. Since you’re saying that you drink coffee every day as a routine, you need imperfective. The perfective wypić would focus on a single completed event (e.g. “I drank/finished one coffee”), not a repeated daily habit.