Breakdown of Podpisałem umowę o pracę na rok.
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
rok
year
podpisać
to sign
umowa o pracę
employment contract
Questions & Answers about Podpisałem umowę o pracę na rok.
Why is 'employment contract' translated as umowę o pracę?
In Polish, an employment contract is literally a 'contract about work'. The preposition o here means 'concerning' and is followed by the accusative case, changing the base word praca to pracę. This entire combination is the fixed everyday and legal term for this type of contract.
Why do we use na rok instead of przez rok for 'for a year'?
When expressing an intended or scheduled duration for something like a contract, a visa, or a planned trip, Polish uses na plus the accusative case. You would use przez to describe the actual time spent doing a continuous action, for example: I worked there for a year.
If na is followed by the accusative case, why doesn't the word rok change its ending?
The word rok (year) is a masculine inanimate noun. For singular masculine inanimate nouns in Polish, the accusative case form looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary form. So it stays as rok.
Does the verb podpisałem tell us anything about the person speaking?
Yes! The -łem ending on the past tense verb tells us two things: the action was done by the speaker (first person), and the speaker is male. A female speaker would change the ending and say podpisałam.