Word
Zaczął pracować w zeszłym roku.
Meaning
He started working last year.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Zaczął pracować w zeszłym roku.
Why does this sentence use the perfective verb zaczął alongside the imperfective verb pracować?
Verbs about starting, continuing, or finishing an action must always be followed by an imperfective infinitive. The act of starting was a single, completed event, so we use the perfective zaczął. However, the actual working was an ongoing process, so it requires the imperfective pracować.
Could I use the imperfective zaczynał instead of zaczął here?
You usually wouldn't in this context. Zaczynał implies he was in the process of starting, or that he started multiple times. Because starting a job is viewed as a single, completed event on a timeline, the perfective zaczął is the natural choice.
Why do we need the preposition w here when English just says 'last year'?
In Polish, to express that something happened 'last year' or 'next year', you must use the preposition w (in) plus the Locative case. While English drops the preposition, Polish literally says 'in the past year'.
What case is zeszłym roku and why does rok end in -u?