Questions & Answers about Po kolacji muszę umyć talerze.
Why is it po kolacji and not po kolacja? What is happening to the noun kolacja here?
In po kolacji, the noun kolacja is in the locative case.
In Polish, the preposition po has several meanings and can take different cases, but:
- When po means “after (in time)”, it is followed by the locative.
- Kolacja (dinner/supper) is a feminine noun.
- Nominative (dictionary form): kolacja
- Locative (singular): kolacji
So:
- po kolacji = after dinner (locative)
- *po kolacja is ungrammatical here because it leaves the noun in nominative instead of changing it to locative.
Other examples with po + locative (time):
- po pracy – after work
- po szkole – after school
- po spotkaniu – after the meeting
What does muszę mean, and why is there no word like “to” between muszę and umyć?