Breakdown of Milioner kupił wyspę, zawarłszy już tę niezwykłą umowę.
ten
this (m)
kupić
to buy (perfective)
już
already / anymore (with negation)
wyspa
island
umowa
the contract
milioner
millionaire
niezwykły
unusual
zawrzeć
to conclude
Questions & Answers about Milioner kupił wyspę, zawarłszy już tę niezwykłą umowę.
What temporal clause does zawarłszy replace in this sentence?
It replaces a clause using po tym jak. You could rewrite the second half of this sentence as po tym, jak już zawarł tę niezwykłą umowę. The adverbial anterior participle zawarłszy (having concluded) makes the sentence shorter and more formal.
Why does this participle end in -łszy instead of -wszy?
The ending depends on the 3rd person masculine singular past tense of the verb. If there is a consonant immediately before the final ł (like the r in zawarł), we drop the ł and add -łszy to get zawarłszy. If there is a vowel before the ł (like in zrobił), we use the -wszy ending instead.
Could we use zawarłszy if the millionaire bought the island, but his business partner had concluded the agreement?
No. A strict rule for all Polish adverbial participles is that the subject of both actions must be exactly the same. Because we used zawarłszy, it is grammatically guaranteed that the millionaire himself is the one who made the agreement. If the subjects were different, you would have to use a po tym jak clause.
What is the base form of the verb for zawarłszy and why is it used with umowę?
The infinitive is zawrzeć. In Polish, zawrzeć umowę is the standard, fixed collocation for to conclude an agreement or to sign a contract. You cannot use generic verbs like zrobić (to do/make) for formal agreements.
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