Breakdown of Kiedy nadchodzi lato, bardzo się ociepla.
bardzo
very
kiedy
when
lato
summer
nadchodzić
to approach
ocieplać się
to get warmer
Questions & Answers about Kiedy nadchodzi lato, bardzo się ociepla.
How could we rewrite this sentence to use the current lesson's conjunction, w miarę jak?
You could say W miarę jak nadchodzi lato, bardzo się ociepla. This changes the meaning slightly from 'When summer comes' to a more gradual 'As summer approaches, it gets warm.' Because w miarę jak emphasizes a proportional, ongoing process, it pairs perfectly with the continuous (imperfective) verbs nadchodzi and ociepla się that are already in this sentence.
Why use nadchodzi here instead of a more basic verb for 'comes' like przychodzi?
Nadchodzi (from the prefix nad- + chodzić) specifically describes something that is drawing near or looming on the horizon in time. It is the most natural verb to use for approaching seasons, weather events like a storm, or upcoming holidays. Przychodzi just means a general 'arrives' or 'comes physically' and is less natural for the changing of seasons.
Why do we need się in bardzo się ociepla?
The base verb ocieplać is transitive and means 'to warm [something] up,' like insulating a house or heating a room. By adding the reflexive pronoun się, it becomes an impersonal process happening on its own: 'it gets warm.' Polish frequently uses reflexive verbs to describe changes in the weather or environment where there is no specific person doing the action.
Both verbs here are imperfective. What would the sentence mean if we used the perfective equivalents, nadejdzie and ociepli się?
Using imperfective verbs makes this a statement of general truth: 'Whenever summer approaches, it gets warm.' If you used the perfective verbs (Kiedy nadejdzie lato, bardzo się ociepli), it would shift from a general rule to a specific future event: 'When [this upcoming] summer arrives, it will get very warm.'
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