Breakdown of Mieszkamy w pobliżu dworca.
mieszkać
to live
dworzec
train station (m)
w pobliżu
nearby; near (+ Genitive)
Questions & Answers about Mieszkamy w pobliżu dworca.
Why do we use the Genitive case for the station (dworca) here?
The phrase w pobliżu translates to 'in the vicinity of' or simply 'near'. In Polish, this phrase acts like a preposition and always requires the noun that follows it to take the Genitive case.
What is the dictionary form of dworca and why did it lose a letter?
The basic Nominative form is dworzec (station). When we add the Genitive ending -a, the e in the final syllable disappears, making it dworca instead of 'dworzeca'. This is a very common Polish spelling rule called the 'fleeting e', which drops out of the root to make words easier to pronounce when grammatical endings are added.
Is pobliżu an adjective or a noun in this sentence?
It is actually a noun in the Locative case! The base dictionary form is the neuter noun pobliże, meaning 'vicinity' or 'neighborhood'. Because it follows the preposition w (in), it takes the Locative ending -u.
Could I just say Mieszkamy blisko dworca?
Yes, absolutely. Blisko and w pobliżu are virtually interchangeable in this context, and both require the Genitive case for the following noun. W pobliżu just sounds slightly more formal, similar to saying 'in the vicinity of' rather than 'close to'.
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