Questions & Answers about W moim kraju mówi się, że każda tradycja ma swój powód.
Mówi się is an impersonal construction. Literally it’s something like “it is spoken”, but in natural English it corresponds to:
- “people say”
- “it is said”
- “they say”
Polish often uses 3rd person singular + się to talk about general actions where the subject is “people in general” or “one”:
- W Polsce je się dużo zup. – People eat a lot of soups in Poland.
- Tutaj pracuje się ciężko. – People work hard here / You work hard here.
So instead of saying Ludzie w moim kraju mówią, że…, Polish prefers W moim kraju mówi się, że…, which sounds more natural and impersonal.
Because w (“in”) normally requires the locative case when it describes location (where something is), not motion (where something is going).
- kraj (nominative, dictionary form) → kraju (locative singular)
- mój (my, masc. nominative) → moim (masc. locative)
So:
- w kraju = in (the) country (locative)
- w moim kraju = in my country (both word and adjective in locative)
If you used w mój kraj, that would be wrong here. For motion a country you’d use with genitive: