Breakdown of Pełny etat to czterdzieści godzin w tygodniu.
w
in / on (a day)
to
is (linking copula)
czterdzieści
forty
tydzień
week
godzina
hour; o'clock
pełny etat
full-time (na pełny etat)
Questions & Answers about Pełny etat to czterdzieści godzin w tygodniu.
Why does this sentence use etat instead of praca for a full-time job?
Praca generally means work or job in a broad sense. Etat, however, specifically refers to a formal employment position or contract. The set phrase for full-time is pełny etat, while part-time (half-time) is pół etatu.
Why is the word to used here instead of jest for the word is?
When you are defining something by directly equating two nouns or noun phrases (Full-time = forty hours), Polish commonly uses to as the word is. If you used jest, the second part of the sentence would normally need to take the instrumental case, which is not used when expressing quantities with numbers like this.
Why is the word for hours godzin and not godziny?
In Polish, numbers five and higher (such as czterdzieści) require the noun that follows them to be in the genitive plural case. The genitive plural form of godzina (hour) is godzin.
How does w tygodniu translate to a week, and why does the root of the word change?
To express frequency like per week or a week, Polish uses the preposition w followed by the locative case. The basic word for week is tydzień, but it has an irregular stem that drops the letter i and changes the e to an o when case endings are added. This makes the locative form tygodniu.
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