Breakdown of Po koncercie szukam tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki w słowniku.
Questions & Answers about Po koncercie szukam tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki w słowniku.
The preposition po (meaning after in this context) always takes the locative case when it refers to time or place.
- Nominative: koncert (a concert)
- Locative: koncercie
So with po you must say:
- po koncercie – after the concert
- po pracy – after work
- po obiedzie – after lunch
Po + nominative is simply ungrammatical in standard Polish in this meaning, so po koncert is wrong.
In Polish the verb ending already shows the person:
- szukam = I (1st person singular) am looking for
Because of that, subject pronouns (ja, ty, on, ona…) are normally omitted, unless you want to:
- emphasize contrast: Ja szukam tłumaczenia, a on słucha muzyki.
I am looking for the translation, and he is listening to music. - avoid ambiguity in a complicated sentence.
So both are correct:
- Szukam tłumaczenia… – neutral, most natural
- Ja szukam tłumaczenia… – with emphasis on I
The verb szukać (to look for) in standard Polish governs the genitive case, not the accusative.
- Nominative: tłumaczenie (a translation)
- Genitive: tłumaczenia
Because of the verb:
- szukam kogo? czego? – I am looking for whom / what? (genitive)
So:
- szukam tłumaczenia – correct (genitive)
- szukam tłumaczenie – incorrect in standard Polish
Other verbs that also take genitive in a similar way:
potrzebować (to need), używać (to use), słuchać (to listen to).
There are actually two different reasons for genitive here, stacked together:
Because of the verb szukać
- szukam tłumaczenia – genitive required by szukać
Because of the noun–noun relationship “translation of the text”
- tłumaczenie tekstu – translation of the text (here tekstu is in genitive)
So in the full phrase:
- szukam tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki
we have a chain of genitives:
- tłumaczenia – genitive after szukam
- tekstu – genitive after tłumaczenie (translation of what?)
- piosenki – genitive after tekst (text of what?)
They each have their own justification.
Word by word:
tłumaczenia
- Base form (nominative): tłumaczenie (neuter)
- Here: genitive singular
- Reason: required by the verb szukać
tekstu
- Base form: tekst (masculine inanimate)
- Here: genitive singular
- Reason: “translation of the text” → noun governed by another noun
piosenki
- Base form: piosenka (feminine)
- Here: genitive singular
- Reason: “text of the song” → again, noun governed by another noun
So the structure is:
- (szukam) [tłumaczenia] [tekstu] [piosenki]
I am looking for the translation of the text of the song.
Yes, you can, and it’s very natural:
- Po koncercie szukam tłumaczenia piosenki w słowniku.
After the concert I look for a translation of the song in the dictionary.
Differences in nuance:
- tłumaczenie piosenki – usually means the song as a whole, especially the lyrics, and possibly how it works as a song.
- tłumaczenie tekstu piosenki – more literally translation of the text/lyrics of the song, slightly more technical/formal.
In everyday speech, tłumaczenie piosenki is often enough.
Polish word order is quite flexible, but not all orders sound natural.
Most natural options here include:
- Po koncercie szukam tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki w słowniku.
- Szukam tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki w słowniku po koncercie.
Placing po koncercie between the verb and its direct complement is possible but feels awkward:
- Szukam po koncercie tłumaczenia… – grammatical, but sounds marked / unusual.
Default, neutral word order is:
- Time expression: Po koncercie
- Verb: szukam
- Object: tłumaczenia tekstu piosenki
- Place: w słowniku
The preposition w (in) can take:
- locative – for static location (where?)
- accusative – for movement into (where to?)
Here, it’s a static location: in the dictionary, so we use locative:
- Nominative: słownik (dictionary)
- Locative: słowniku
Examples:
- w słowniku – in the dictionary (locative)
- w domu – at home (locative)
- wchodzę w las – I am going into the forest (accusative)
In this sentence, w słownik would be incorrect.
Polish szukać is imperfective, and in this sentence szukam usually corresponds to “I am looking for” (ongoing or habitual):
- Po koncercie szukam… – After the concert, I (usually) look for / I (then) look for…
If you want to emphasize a single, completed search in the future, you can use the perfective verb poszukać:
- Po koncercie poszukam tłumaczenia…
After the concert, I’ll (try to) look for a translation.
Key difference:
- szukać – process, ongoing, repeated, or habitual
- poszukać – a single attempt, viewed as a complete action
No, they mean different things:
- szukam tłumaczenia – I am looking for a translation (I don’t have it yet; I’m searching).
- patrzę na tłumaczenie – I am looking at the translation (I already have it in front of me; I’m reading/observing it).
So in the original sentence, where the person is trying to find something in the dictionary, szukam is the correct verb.
Polish often uses present tense to talk about:
Scheduled future events or routines:
- Jutro idę do kina. – I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.
- Po koncercie szukam tłumaczenia… – After the concert I (then) look for the translation…
Habitual actions:
- The sentence can also mean “After concerts, I usually look for a translation…”
If you want to be very clearly future and single-time, you could say:
- Po koncercie będę szukać tłumaczenia… – I will be looking for a translation after the concert.
- Po koncercie poszukam tłumaczenia… – I’ll look for a translation after the concert (and probably find it).