Breakdown of Zanim usiądziemy do kolacji, wyjmę sztućce z szuflady i postawię wodę na stole.
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I
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woda
the water
Questions & Answers about Zanim usiądziemy do kolacji, wyjmę sztućce z szuflady i postawię wodę na stole.
What does zanim mean here, and why is there a comma after the first clause?
Zanim means before and introduces a subordinate clause.
So the structure is:
- Zanim usiądziemy do kolacji = before we sit down to dinner
- wyjmę sztućce... = I will take out the cutlery...
Polish uses a comma to separate this kind of subordinate clause from the main clause, just as English often does.
Why is it usiądziemy and not something like siedzimy?
Usiądziemy comes from usiąść, which means to sit down or to take a seat. It describes a completed action: the moment when we sit down.
By contrast:
- siedzieć = to be sitting
- siedzimy = we are sitting
So zanim usiądziemy do kolacji means before we sit down to dinner, not before we are sitting.
Why is usiądziemy a future form, even though it does not use będziemy?
Because usiąść is a perfective verb. In Polish, perfective verbs do not have a true present tense. Their present-looking forms usually refer to the future.
So:
- usiądziemy = we will sit down
- wyjmę = I will take out
- postawię = I will place / set
This is very normal in Polish. With perfective verbs, the simple form often gives a future meaning.