Breakdown of Jak tylko przyjdziesz, zjemy obiad.
obiad
dinner / lunch (midday meal)
zjeść
to eat (perfective)
przyjść
to come, to arrive
jak tylko
as soon as
Questions & Answers about Jak tylko przyjdziesz, zjemy obiad.
Why does the Polish sentence use the future tense przyjdziesz instead of the present tense like in English ('as soon as you come')?
In English, time clauses starting with words like 'when' or 'as soon as' use the present tense even if the action is in the future. Polish is much more strict about time! Since the coming will happen in the future, you must use the future tense przyjdziesz.
Why are both verbs (przyjdziesz and zjemy) in the perfective aspect?
Perfective verbs focus on the completion of an action. Using two perfective verbs here emphasizes a clear sequence: first you will completely finish the action of arriving (przyjdziesz), and immediately after that, we will eat (zjemy).
I know jak usually means 'how' and tylko means 'only'. Why do they mean 'as soon as' here?
When you put them together, jak tylko forms a fixed phrase meaning 'as soon as'. You cannot translate these words individually in this context.
Obiad is the direct object being eaten, so shouldn't its ending change for the accusative case?
It actually is in the accusative case here! Obiad is a masculine inanimate noun. For these nouns, the accusative form is exactly the same as the basic dictionary form (the nominative case). So it looks unchanged, but grammatically it has done its job and taken the accusative case.
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