Breakdown of Moja firma prowadzi działalność zagraniczną.
mój
my
firma
company
zagraniczny
foreign (from another country)
prowadzić
to lead; to run (a business); to drive (a car)
działalność
activity (operations, business)
Questions & Answers about Moja firma prowadzi działalność zagraniczną.
Why do we use prowadzić here, and why is it the unidirectional form if running operations is a continuous, everyday habit?
Prowadzić literally means "to lead" or "to guide" in a single direction. In Polish, managing a business or operation is metaphorically seen as steering it forward along a path. Even though the activity is ongoing and repetitive, Polish strictly uses the unidirectional prowadzić for these abstract concepts, rather than a multidirectional equivalent.
Could I use a verb like biec or biegać to translate the English concept of "running" a business?
No, verbs like biec and biegać are strictly for physical running on foot. While English uses "run" broadly, Polish uses the metaphor of "leading" or "conducting" for businesses, projects, and operations. Therefore, prowadzić is the required verb here.
Why doesn't the direct object działalność get an -ę ending in the accusative case?
Działalność is indeed in the accusative case here, but it belongs to a special group of feminine nouns that end in a consonant (like all abstract nouns ending in the suffix -ość). For these nouns, the accusative form is exactly the same as the nominative form, so no ending is added.
If działalność doesn't change its ending, why does the adjective zagraniczną end in -ą?
Adjectives always follow standard declension rules for the gender and case of the noun they modify, regardless of the noun's own quirky ending. Because działalność is grammatically feminine and in the accusative case, the adjective zagraniczna must take the standard feminine accusative ending, becoming zagraniczną.
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