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Questions & Answers about Skręć w prawo przy sklepie.
What form is the verb skręć in, and why is it used here?
skręć is the second-person singular imperative of skręcić (to turn). It’s used to give a direct command or instruction to one person: “turn.”
Why is it w prawo instead of na prawo?
To indicate direction Polish normally uses w + accusative. Here prawo is neuter, so its accusative form is identical to the nominative (prawo). na prawo can appear colloquially or in phrases like na prawo od (“to the right of”), but for movement “turn to the right” the standard is skręć w prawo.
What case follows przy, and why is sklepie used instead of sklep?
przy requires the locative case. The locative of sklep (shop) is sklepie, hence przy sklepie means “by/near the shop.”
Could you use obok instead of przy in this sentence?
Yes. obok also means “next to” and takes the genitive case: obok sklepu. So you can say Skręć w prawo obok sklepu, with a slightly stronger sense of “right beside” rather than just “near.”
Does word order matter here? Can I say Przy sklepie skręć w prawo?
Word order is relatively flexible in Polish. Przy sklepie skręć w prawo or Skręć przy sklepie w prawo are both understandable. However, the most neutral order is Skręć w prawo przy sklepie, placing the prepositional phrase at the end.
What case is prawo in after w, and why doesn’t it change form?
prawo is in the accusative case after w to express direction. Since prawo is a neuter noun whose nominative and accusative singular forms are identical, it stays prawo.
Why isn’t there a word for “the” before sklepie?
Polish does not have definite or indefinite articles like the or a/an. Nouns stand alone without articles.
How would you say “Turn left by the shop” in Polish?
You simply swap prawo for lewo: Skręć w lewo przy sklepie. The structure remains the same.
Can this sentence be used when speaking to more than one person? If not, how would you address a group?
skręć is singular imperative (you, one person). For a group you use the plural imperative skręćcie: Skręćcie w prawo przy sklepie.