Breakdown of Od razu wiedziałem, że to on.
to
this
on
he / it (m)
wiedzieć
to know
że
that
od razu
right away, at once
Questions & Answers about Od razu wiedziałem, że to on.
Why is there no past tense verb like był (was) in że to on?
In Polish, the main verb wiedziałem (I knew) already sets the past tense context. You can say że to był on, but it is very common and natural to drop the verb to be and just say że to on (literally: that it he). Polish doesn't force you to shift tenses in the second part of the sentence exactly like English does.
Why do we use wiedziałem here instead of a form of znać (to know)?
The verb wiedzieć is used for knowing facts, and it is almost always the verb you use before że (that). Znać is used for being familiar with people or places directly. Even though on (he) is a person, you are talking about knowing the fact that it was him, so wiedziałem is correct.
What does od razu literally mean?
The phrase od razu means at once or right away. Literally, od means from and razu is a form of raz (time, as in one time). It translates roughly to from the first time.
Why is the pronoun on in the basic nominative case here?
When using the word to to mean it is or this is followed by a pronoun, you keep that pronoun in the nominative case (the basic dictionary form). If you used a regular verb like był without to, you would need the instrumental case, but the to structure allows you to use the basic form.
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