Breakdown of Nie spodziewaliśmy się tego, że popyt będzie coraz większy.
to
this
być
to be
nie
no / not
że
that
Questions & Answers about Nie spodziewaliśmy się tego, że popyt będzie coraz większy.
Why do we need the word 'tego' right before 'że'?
In Polish, verbs govern specific cases. The verb spodziewać się (to expect) requires the genitive case. When you follow it with a clause starting with że (that), Polish grammar bridges the gap using a dummy pronoun in the required case. Here, that pronoun is the genitive tego. While native speakers sometimes skip it in fast speech, tego, że is the standard, correct way to connect them.
'Popyt' means 'demand'. Can I use this word to talk about my boss's demands?
No, popyt is strictly an economic term referring to market demand (the desire of consumers to buy something). If you are talking about a requirement or a firm demand made by a person, you would use wymaganie (requirement) or żądanie (a strict demand).
How does 'coraz' work to create the meaning 'bigger and bigger'?
The word coraz indicates a progressive, ongoing change over time. It must always be followed by an adjective or adverb in its comparative form. So, coraz plus the comparative większy (bigger) translates naturally to 'increasingly big' or 'bigger and bigger'.
Why is 'spodziewaliśmy się' in the imperfective aspect? Does it have a perfective pair?
Spodziewać się is an imperfective verb that describes an ongoing state of mind, and it does not have a direct perfective equivalent. In Polish, mental states like expecting or hoping are usually treated as continuous processes, so you will almost always see them in the imperfective aspect, even when talking about a completed past timeframe.