Question 1

How is the participle odniósłszy formed from the verb odnieść?

Accepted Answer

To form the adverbial anterior participle (meaning "having done something"), we start with a perfective verb. For verbs where the third-person masculine past tense ends in a consonant, like odniósł (he achieved), we add the suffix -szy. So, odniósł + -szy gives us odniósłszy. If the past tense ended in a vowel, like zrobił, we would drop the -ł and add -wszy (zrobiwszy).

Question 2

How would I say this sentence using a standard time clause instead of the participle odniósłszy?

Accepted Answer

You would use the conjunction po tym, jak (after) followed by the standard past tense. The sentence would become: Generał objął władzę, dopiero po tym, jak odniósł ostateczne zwycięstwo. The participle form used in the original sentence makes it sound much more formal and literary.

Question 3

Could I use odniósłszy if the person who achieved victory was different from the general?

Accepted Answer

No. A strict rule for using this type of participle is that both actions—the one in the main clause (objął) and the one in the participle clause (odniósłszy)—must be performed by the exact same subject. Here, the general is the one doing both.

Question 4

Why is dopiero used here for "only" instead of tylko?

Accepted Answer

dopiero is used when "only" refers to time, implying "not until" or "as late as". Because the victory had to happen before taking power, it is a matter of timing. tylko is used for limiting quantity or choices, such as saying "I have only one apple."

Question 5

Is the comma before dopiero mandatory here?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Polish, phrases containing an adverbial participle (like odniósłszy) must always be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. Since dopiero introduces this participle phrase, the comma goes right before it.

Generał objął władzę, dopiero odniósłszy ostateczne zwycięstwo.

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