Breakdown of Nawet deszcz nie przeszkadza nam spacerować po parku.
Questions & Answers about Nawet deszcz nie przeszkadza nam spacerować po parku.
What does nawet mean here, and why is it at the beginning?
Nawet means even.
At the start of the sentence, it emphasizes the surprising part:
- Nawet deszcz... = Even the rain...
It tells you that rain is something you might expect to be a problem, but in this case it is not.
Polish word order is flexible, so nawet can sometimes appear in other positions, but here sentence-initial position sounds natural and gives strong emphasis.
Why is it deszcz, not some other form like deszczu?
Deszcz is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.
- deszcz = rain
- deszcz nie przeszkadza = the rain does not bother / prevent
Even though the sentence contains nie, that does not change the subject into another case. The subject stays in the nominative.
Why is it nam and not my?
Because the verb przeszkadzać normally takes the dative case for the person affected.
- my = we
- nam = to us / us (dative form)
So:
- deszcz nie przeszkadza nam = the rain does not bother us / does not prevent us
This is a very common pattern:
- przeszkadzać komuś = to bother / interfere with someone
- komuś means the person is in the dative
How does the verb przeszkadzać work in Polish?
A very useful pattern is:
- przeszkadzać komuś w czymś = to hinder someone in something
- przeszkadzać komuś coś robić = to hinder someone from doing something
In this sentence you have the second pattern:
- przeszkadza nam spacerować = prevents us from walking / stops us from walking
So the structure is:
- deszcz — subject
- nie przeszkadza — does not hinder
- nam — us
- spacerować — to walk / stroll
- po parku — around the park
Why is spacerować in the infinitive?
Because after przeszkadzać you can use an infinitive to describe the action that is being hindered.
- przeszkadza nam spacerować = it prevents us from walking
- literally: it hinders us to walk
This is normal in Polish. English usually prefers from walking, but Polish often uses the infinitive directly.
You could also express the idea with a noun form:
- nie przeszkadza nam w spacerowaniu po parku
That is also correct, but the version with the infinitive is very natural.
What does po parku mean exactly, and why is it not w parku?
Po parku means around the park or through the park.
The preposition po with the locative case often suggests movement over or around an area:
- spacerować po parku = to walk around the park
By contrast:
- w parku = in the park
So:
- spacerować w parku = to walk in the park
- spacerować po parku = to stroll around the park
Both can be possible depending on what you want to emphasize, but po parku often gives a stronger sense of moving around within the park.
Why is it parku?
Because po requires the locative case here.
The noun park changes like this:
- nominative: park
- locative: parku
So:
- po parku = around the park
This is a common preposition-case combination to remember:
- po + locative
Why is the verb przeszkadza and not przeszkodzi?
Because przeszkadzać is imperfective, while przeszkodzić is perfective.
- przeszkadzać = to be bothering / to hinder
- przeszkodzić = to hinder successfully, to get in the way once, to stop
In this sentence, the speaker is describing a general present situation:
- Even the rain doesn’t stop us from walking in the park
For general or ongoing present meaning, Polish normally uses the imperfective verb:
- przeszkadza
The perfective przeszkodzi would usually refer to the future:
- Deszcz nam nie przeszkodzi spacerować po parku = The rain will not stop us from walking in the park
Can the word order be changed?
Yes, Polish word order is fairly flexible, but changing it changes the focus or emphasis.
The original:
- Nawet deszcz nie przeszkadza nam spacerować po parku.
This strongly emphasizes even the rain.
Other possible orders include:
- Deszcz nawet nie przeszkadza nam spacerować po parku.
- Nam nawet deszcz nie przeszkadza spacerować po parku.
These are grammatical, but they sound different in emphasis. For learners, the original sentence is a very natural and clear version.
Is spacerować closer to walk, stroll, or take a walk?
It can match all of those depending on context.
- spacerować often means to walk for pleasure
- it is often closer to stroll or take a walk
- in simpler translations, it is often just walk
So spacerować po parku is something like:
- walk around the park
- stroll through the park
- take a walk in the park
All are reasonable depending on style and context.
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