Word
Przy kasie miałam tylko duży banknot, więc kasjerka zapytała, czy mam monetę.
Meaning
At the checkout I had only a large banknote, so the cashier asked whether I had a coin.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Przy kasie miałam tylko duży banknot, więc kasjerka zapytała, czy mam monetę.
ja
I
mieć
to have
więc
so
zapytać
to ask
Questions & Answers about Przy kasie miałam tylko duży banknot, więc kasjerka zapytała, czy mam monetę.
Why is it przy kasie? What case is kasie?
Przy usually takes the locative case when it means by / at / near.
- kasa = checkout, cash register
- przy kasie = at the checkout / by the cash register
So:
- nominative: kasa
- locative: kasie
That is why you see przy kasie, not przy kasa.
In this sentence, przy kasie means something like at the checkout rather than literally next to the cash register.
Why is it miałam and not miałem?
The form miałam is the past tense, 1st person singular, feminine form of mieć (to have).
So:
- miałem = I had (spoken by a man)
- miałam = I had (spoken by a woman)
The sentence tells us that the speaker is female.
This gender distinction appears in Polish past tense verbs, which is often surprising for English speakers because English does not do this:
- I had = same for everyone in English
- miałem / miałam = depends on the speaker’s gender in Polish
Why is it duży banknot and not some other ending, like or ?