Muszę uzasadnić odpowiedź.

must

Breakdown of Muszę uzasadnić odpowiedź.

• odpowiedź: the answer
• uzasadnić: to justify

Questions & Answers about Muszę uzasadnić odpowiedź.

What does muszę mean grammatically?

Muszę is the 1st person singular present tense form of musieć (to have to / must).

So:

• muszę = I have to / I must
• musisz = you have to
• musi = he/she/it has to

In Polish, the subject pronoun ja (I) is usually omitted, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. So Muszę by itself already means I must / I have to.

Why is there no word for I in the sentence?

Polish often leaves out subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form.

• Muszę uzasadnić odpowiedź.
• literally: Must-I justify the answer/answer

Because muszę clearly means I must, adding ja is usually unnecessary.

You can say Ja muszę uzasadnić odpowiedź, but that sounds more emphatic, like:

• I have to justify the answer
• It’s me who has to justify it

So the version without ja is the most neutral and natural.

Why is uzasadnić in the infinitive?