Word
W ten sposób nauczyłem się polskiego.
Meaning
This is how I learned Polish.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of W ten sposób nauczyłem się polskiego.
polski
Polish
nauczyć się
to learn (perfective of uczyć się)
w ten sposób
in this way, like this
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Questions & Answers about W ten sposób nauczyłem się polskiego.
Why is the word for Polish in the genitive case (polskiego) instead of the accusative?
The verb nauczyć się (and its imperfective partner uczyć się) always takes the genitive case for the thing being learned. Even though the language is the direct object of the action, you must use polskiego instead of polski.
Does w ten sposób literally mean "this is how"?
What is the difference between nauczyłem się and uczyłem się in this context?
Nauczyłem się is a perfective verb, which focuses on the completed result. It implies you successfully learned the language and now know it. If you used the imperfective uczyłem się, it would mean "I was learning" or "I studied," which focuses on the process and doesn't necessarily mean you reached your goal.
Could I just say nauczyłem polskiego without the word się?
No, the word się is required here. Without it, the base verb nauczyć means "to teach" someone else. When you add the reflexive pronoun się (which literally gives the feeling of teaching yourself), the meaning changes to "to learn."