Breakdown of Szukam kogoś, kto mówi po polsku.
kto
who
mówić
to speak
ktoś
somebody
po polsku
in Polish (of speaking, reading, understanding)
Questions & Answers about Szukam kogoś, kto mówi po polsku.
Why is it kogoś and not ktoś?
The verb szukać (to look for) always requires the noun or pronoun that follows it to take the Genitive case. Kogoś is the Genitive form of ktoś (someone).
Why do we use kto here instead of który to mean "who"?
When you refer back to an indefinite pronoun like ktoś (someone) or nikt (no one), you must use kto to connect the clauses. You would use który if you were referring back to a regular noun, such as in the phrase człowiek, który mówi po polsku (the man who speaks Polish).
Why doesn't the sentence just say "mówi polski"?
When expressing that someone speaks a certain language, Polish uses the preposition po followed by a special adverb form ending in -sku. It conceptually means speaking "in the Polish way." Therefore, you must use the set phrase mówi po polsku.
Is the comma before kto strictly necessary?
Yes, it is mandatory. Unlike in English, where commas before "who" are sometimes optional, Polish punctuation rules require you to always place a comma before relative pronouns (like kto, który, or co) that introduce a new clause.