Breakdown of Jeśli przegramy ten mecz, nie będziemy mieć szansy na medal w tym turnieju.
być
to be
mieć
to have
w
in
nie
not
Questions & Answers about Jeśli przegramy ten mecz, nie będziemy mieć szansy na medal w tym turnieju.
Why is it Jeśli przegramy... and not something like Jeśli przegraliśmy...?
Because this sentence talks about a future possibility: if we lose.
- przegramy = we will lose
- przegraliśmy = we lost
In Polish, after jeśli when you mean a future condition, you normally use a future form, unlike English, which usually uses the present: If we lose...
So Polish says:
- Jeśli przegramy ten mecz... = If we lose / If we are going to lose this match...
Even though English uses present after if, Polish often uses the future here.
What exactly does przegramy mean grammatically?
Przegramy is:
- 1st person plural = we
- future tense
- from the verb przegrać = to lose
So przegramy literally means we will lose.
This verb is perfective, which is why its simple form can refer to the future. In Polish, perfective verbs do not have a normal present tense in the same way imperfective verbs do; forms like przegram / przegramy usually have future meaning.
Why is it nie będziemy mieć? Why not just one verb?