Breakdown of Możemy pochodzić po mieście, a potem posiedzieć w kawiarni.
kawiarnia
cafe
a
and / whereas (contrast)
w
in / on (a day)
miasto
city
móc
to be able to
po
along, on (a surface)
potem
then (afterwards)
posiedzieć
to sit for a while
pochodzić
to walk around for a while
Questions & Answers about Możemy pochodzić po mieście, a potem posiedzieć w kawiarni.
Both pochodzić and posiedzieć use the prefix po-. How does this change their meaning?
This is the delimitative prefix. It attaches to imperfective verbs (like chodzić and siedzieć) to create a perfective verb that means performing an action for a limited, unspecified amount of time. Here, it turns chodzić into 'to walk around for a bit' and siedzieć into 'to sit for a while'.
Since chodzić is a verb of motion, does the po- prefix act differently here than it does on a regular verb like siedzieć?
The core idea is the same, but with verbs of motion, it specifically attaches to the indeterminate form (like chodzić, meaning walking generally or without a set destination). The resulting verb pochodzić perfectly captures the idea of wandering or strolling aimlessly for leisure, rather than walking from point A to point B.
We see po twice in the phrase pochodzić po mieście. Is this a coincidence?
It is very common, but the two instances of po have different jobs. The first po- is a prefix attached to the verb to show the action is done for a short while. The second po is a separate preposition meaning 'around' or 'all over', which tells us where the walking happens.
Why do both miasto and kawiarnia change to mieście and kawiarni in this sentence?
They are both in the locative case, but triggered by different prepositions. The preposition w takes the locative when describing a static location (sitting in the cafe). The preposition po also takes the locative when it means moving around or across the surface of a place (walking around the city).
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