Breakdown of Nie mogli zachwycać się jego postawą, dopóki nie wyjaśnił skandalu.
nie
no / not
móc
to be able to
jego
his, its
wyjaśnić
to explain
dopóki
as long as / until
skandal
scandal
zachwycać się
to admire
postawa
attitude
Questions & Answers about Nie mogli zachwycać się jego postawą, dopóki nie wyjaśnił skandalu.
Why is postawą in the Instrumental case here?
The verb zachwycać się (to admire / to be delighted with) is a verb of strong emotion that requires its object to be in the Instrumental case. Since the base word is the feminine noun postawa (attitude), it takes the feminine Instrumental ending -ą, becoming postawą.
Why is there a second nie in the phrase dopóki nie wyjaśnił?
Why is skandalu in the Genitive case instead of the Accusative?
This is due to the Genitive of negation. The verb wyjaśnił (explained) normally takes a direct object in the Accusative case, but because it is preceded by nie, the object skandal must change to the Genitive form, skandalu.
Why doesn't the pronoun jego change its ending to match the Instrumental postawą?
The word jego (his) is the Genitive form of the pronoun on (he) and acts as an invariable possessive pronoun. Unlike adjectives, it never changes its form to match the case, gender, or number of the noun it describes.
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