Breakdown of W piątek nie będzie nauczyciela w szkole.
być
to be
nie
no / not
nauczyciel
teacher
w
in / on (a day)
szkoła
school
piątek
Friday
Questions & Answers about W piątek nie będzie nauczyciela w szkole.
Why is "nauczyciela" in the genitive case here instead of the nominative "nauczyciel"?
When stating that someone or something "is not" or "will not be" in a location, Polish uses the genitive case for the subject instead of the nominative. Because of the negated verb nie będzie (will not be), the dictionary form nauczyciel changes to the genitive nauczyciela.
Is it natural to put the verb before the subject, like "nie będzie nauczyciela"?
Yes! In sentences expressing absence or lack, it is very common and natural in Polish to put the negated verb (nie będzie) before the noun (nauczyciela). You could put the noun first (nauczyciela nie będzie), but that would put special focus on the teacher, sounding a bit like "As for the teacher, he won't be there."
For "on Friday", why do we say "W piątek"? What case is this?
Days of the week use the preposition w (or we) plus the accusative case to mean "on a specific day". Because piątek is a masculine inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its basic dictionary (nominative) form.
Why does the letter "ł" in "szkoła" change to an "l" in "w szkole"?
The preposition w (when meaning "in" or "at" a location) requires the locative case. For feminine nouns ending in -a, the ending changes to -e. However, the Polish locative case also forces hard consonants at the end of the root to soften. The hard ł in szkoła must soften to an l before the -e ending can be added.
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