Verbs of Composition
When describing what a system or device is made of, Polish uses the verb składać się (to consist) paired with the preposition z (out of / from) and the Genitive case.
| to consist of | składać się z |
| The new system consists of three components. | Nowy system składa się z trzech komponentów. |
| The database consists of two parts. | Baza danych składa się z dwóch części. |
Verbs of Utility and Origin
The z + Genitive construction also expresses where you are drawing a resource from. You will see it constantly with two essential verbs for technical descriptions: korzystać z (to use / make use of) and czerpać z (to draw from).
Unlike the direct verb używać (to use), korzystać z implies benefiting from a system, tapping into a service, or taking advantage of a tool.
| This system uses a built-in module. | Ten system korzysta z wbudowanego modułu. |
| I use this server twice a month. | Korzystam z tego serwera dwa razy w miesiącu. |
Similarly, czerpać z is used when extracting data, power, or information from a source.
| This module draws information from the database. | Ten moduł czerpie informacje z bazy danych. |
| The power supply draws electricity from the network. | Zasilacz czerpie prąd z sieci. |
Expressing Dependency
When explaining how system components interact, you will often need to describe what a process relies on. The verb zależeć (to depend) pairs with the preposition od (on / from). Just like z, the preposition od always requires the noun that follows it to be in the Genitive case.
| The functioning of the module depends on the database. | Funkcjonowanie modułu zależy od bazy danych. |