Breakdown of Nie przebiegnę tego maratonu, nawet jeśli mi zapłacisz.
nie
no / not
ten
this (m)
mi
to me
zapłacić
to pay (perfective)
jeśli
if
przebiec
to run across
nawet
even
maraton
marathon
Questions & Answers about Nie przebiegnę tego maratonu, nawet jeśli mi zapłacisz.
Why do we use nawet jeśli here instead of nawet gdyby?
We use nawet jeśli because the condition is treated as a real possibility in the future, which is why it is followed by the regular future tense verb zapłacisz (indicative mood). If you wanted to make it purely hypothetical ('even if you were to pay me'), you would use nawet gdyby plus the conditional mood: nawet gdybyś mi zapłacił.
Why is it tego maratonu rather than ten maraton?
This is the genitive of negation in action. The verb przebiec normally takes a direct object in the accusative case (ten maraton). However, because the verb is negated by nie, the object must change to the genitive case, becoming tego maratonu.
What is the difference between saying nie przebiegnę and nie będę biec?
Przebiegnę is a perfective verb that emphasizes completing an action—in this case, running the entire distance of the marathon from start to finish. Nie będę biec uses the imperfective verb biec, which just refers to the ongoing activity of running, without focusing on crossing the finish line.
Can I place the word mi at the end, as in nawet jeśli zapłacisz mi?
You could, but it sounds slightly unnatural. Short, unstressed pronouns like mi are usually placed before the verb rather than at the very end of a sentence or clause, unless you want to heavily emphasize who is receiving the action.
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