Breakdown of Nie obchodzi mnie, co on myśli.
on
he / it (m)
nie
no / not
co
what
myśleć
to think
mnie
me
obchodzić
to concern, to matter to (nie obchodzi mnie to)
Questions & Answers about Nie obchodzi mnie, co on myśli.
Why is 'I don't care' translated as Nie obchodzi mnie instead of starting with ja?
In Polish, expressing that you don't care about something is often constructed backwards compared to English. The phrase literally translates to 'It does not concern me.' The 'it' is implied by the third-person singular verb obchodzi, and you are the object of the sentence, mnie.
Why do we use mnie here instead of mi?
The verb obchodzić (to concern) takes a direct object, which usually requires the accusative case. Because the sentence is negative, the direct object switches to the genitive case due to a rule called the genitive of negation. For the pronoun ja, both the accusative and genitive forms are mnie. You would use mi for the dative case (meaning 'to me'), which does not fit the grammar of this verb.
Is obchodzi related to the verb chodzić (to walk)?
Yes! The verb obchodzić is formed from the prefix ob- (around) and chodzić (to walk). While its literal meaning is 'to walk around' or 'to bypass,' it is highly common in everyday Polish to mean 'to concern' or 'to matter to.' You can think of nie obchodzi mnie as the issue simply walking around you without actually touching or affecting you.
Why is there a comma before co?
Polish punctuation rules are much stricter than English ones. You must almost always place a comma before connecting words like co, że, or kto when they link two different clauses (in this case, linking the main phrase with what he is thinking).
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