Breakdown of W miarę jak rośliny rosną, potrzebują więcej wody.
woda
water
roślina
plant
potrzebować
to need
więcej
more
rosnąć
to grow
w miarę jak
as / in proportion as
Questions & Answers about W miarę jak rośliny rosną, potrzebują więcej wody.
Why use w miarę jak here instead of just kiedy (when)?
The phrase w miarę jak specifically emphasizes a proportional, gradual change. Using kiedy would just mean 'when plants grow,' which loses the nuance that the need for water increases step-by-step alongside their growth.
Why is the verb rosną imperfective? Could I use a perfective verb with w miarę jak?
You need the imperfective verb rosną because w miarę jak focuses on an ongoing, continuous process. A perfective verb implies a fully completed action, which contradicts the gradual, evolving meaning of this conjunction.
Why is it więcej wody in the genitive case instead of the accusative więcej wodę?
In Polish, quantifiers like więcej (more), dużo (a lot), and mało (a little) force the noun following them to take the genitive case. Therefore, the basic word woda changes to the genitive wody.
Why isn't there a word for 'they' before potrzebują?
Polish drops subject pronouns when the subject is already obvious from the context and the verb ending. Since rośliny (plants) is the subject of the first part of the sentence, the third-person plural ending of potrzebują clearly refers back to them. Adding the pronoun one here would sound unnatural.
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