Questions & Answers about Nie wiem, czego ona chce.
Why is it czego and not co?
Czego is the genitive form of co. In this sentence, that is the normal standard choice after chcieć in an indirect question like czego ona chce.
English uses the same word, what, no matter what role it has. Polish changes the form of the pronoun depending on case, so what can become co, czego, and other forms depending on the grammar.
You may sometimes hear co ona chce in casual speech, but czego ona chce is the safer and more standard form for a learner.
What case is czego?
It is genitive.
The basic form is co. When it changes to genitive, it becomes czego.
A useful comparison is:
- Co to jest? = What is this?
- Czego ona chce? = What does she want?
So one important thing to notice here is that Polish question words decline just like nouns and pronouns do.
Why is the verb chce and not chceć?