Breakdown of Nie mogła przejmować się ich obojętnością.
nie
no / not
móc
to be able to
ich
their (invariable possessive)
przejmować się
to care about (to worry)
obojętność
indifference
Questions & Answers about Nie mogła przejmować się ich obojętnością.
Why is obojętnością in the Instrumental case?
The reflexive verb przejmować się (to care about, to be bothered by) requires the object causing the emotion to be in the Instrumental case. This is a very common pattern for Polish verbs that express strong emotional attitudes or reactions.
How do you form the Instrumental case for a noun like obojętność?
Obojętność (indifference) is a feminine noun that ends in a consonant. To form the Instrumental singular for these nouns, you simply add -ią. Because the word ends in -ść, it becomes -ścią, giving us obojętnością.
Why use the imperfective przejmować się here instead of the perfective przejąć się?
Using the imperfective przejmować się focuses on her general, ongoing state of mind: she couldn't bring herself to care over a continuous period. The perfective przejąć się would imply a failure to react to a single, specific event (e.g., she couldn't bring herself to care about the news she just heard).
Why doesn't the pronoun ich (their) change to match the Instrumental case of obojętnością?
Unlike 1st and 2nd person possessive pronouns (like mój or twój), the 3rd person possessive pronouns (jego, jej, ich) are technically just the genitive forms of the personal pronouns. They are frozen and never change their endings to match the noun they describe, so it stays ich even in an Instrumental phrase.
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