Breakdown of Zakończywszy trudny projekt, zespół uzyskał nagrodę oraz szerokie uznanie.
projekt
project
szeroki
wide, broad
trudny
difficult
zespół
team / band (music group)
nagroda
reward
oraz
and, as well as (formal, written)
uzyskać
to obtain
zakończyć
to end
uznanie
recognition
Questions & Answers about Zakończywszy trudny projekt, zespół uzyskał nagrodę oraz szerokie uznanie.
What exactly is the form zakończywszy and how does it relate to the regular past tense?
Zakończywszy is the adverbial anterior participle, meaning 'having finished'. It is built from the perfective verb zakończyć. Because the past tense stem ends in a vowel (zakończy-), the suffix -wszy is added. If the stem ended in a consonant, it would take -łszy instead.
Can I rewrite this sentence without the participle, using a standard time clause?
Yes! This sentence is a syntactic reduction. You can expand it back to its standard form using po tym jak (after): Po tym jak zespół zakończył trudny projekt, uzyskał nagrodę oraz szerokie uznanie. The participle version we see here sounds much more formal and literary.
If the manager gave them the award, could I say 'Zakończywszy trudny projekt, menedżer dał zespołowi nagrodę'?
No, that would be a grammatically incorrect 'dangling participle'. In Polish, the implied subject of an anterior participle like zakończywszy must be the exact same as the subject of the main clause. Here, zespół is the subject of both actions: finishing the project and obtaining the award.
Why does the sentence use oraz instead of the simpler word i?
Oraz means 'and' or 'as well as', but it carries a slightly more formal and emphatic tone than a simple i. It fits perfectly here because participles like zakończywszy belong to a formal, written style. It also nicely groups the two distinct rewards: the tangible nagrodę and the abstract szerokie uznanie.
Does the participle zakończywszy change the case of its object compared to the regular verb zakończyć?
No, verbs retain their original case requirements when turned into adverbial participles. Since zakończyć takes a direct object in the accusative case, the participle zakończywszy also requires the accusative, which is why we see the masculine inanimate noun phrase trudny projekt here.
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