Word
Ten wykładowca uczy studentów matematyki.
Meaning
This lecturer teaches students mathematics.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ten wykładowca uczy studentów matematyki.
ten
this (m)
student
student (m)
matematyka
mathematics
uczyć
to teach (uczyć kogoś czegoś)
Questions & Answers about Ten wykładowca uczy studentów matematyki.
Why is matematyki in the Genitive case instead of the Accusative?
The verb uczyć (to teach) has a double-object structure: you teach someone in the Accusative case, but the subject you are teaching takes the Genitive case. Therefore, mathematics becomes matematyki.
What case is studentów here?
It is in the Accusative case. While masculine personal nouns have identical Accusative and Genitive plural forms, the modern rule for uczyć is to use the Accusative for the person being taught. If the students were all female, you would see the clear Accusative plural form studentki.
Why use wykładowca here instead of nauczyciel?
Wykładowca translates specifically to a university lecturer or college instructor, coming from the word wykład (a lecture). Nauczyciel is reserved for primary or secondary school teachers.
Why does wykładowca take the masculine word ten if it ends in an -a?
Even though it ends in -a, wykładowca is a masculine personal noun. Just like mężczyzna (man) or kierowca (driver), it takes masculine pronouns and adjectives like ten, but it follows a feminine-like declension pattern in the singular.