Breakdown of Czy ta choroba sprawia, że pacjenci tyją i pocą się?
i
and
czy
[question particle]
ten
this (m)
że
that
pacjent
the patient (m)
choroba
illness
sprawiać
to cause / to make (impf)
tyć
to gain weight
pocić się
to sweat
Questions & Answers about Czy ta choroba sprawia, że pacjenci tyją i pocą się?
In English, we say 'cause patients to gain weight' using an infinitive. Why does Polish use że and the conjugated verbs tyją and pocą się?
Polish doesn't use the infinitive construction 'cause someone to do something' or 'make someone do something'. Instead, causative verbs like sprawiać require a subordinate clause introduced by że (that), followed by a fully conjugated verb. Literally, the Polish sentence says 'Does this disease cause that patients gain weight and sweat?'
Could I use robić instead of sprawiać to say the disease 'makes' them gain weight?
No, robić is mainly used for doing an activity or physically creating something. When 'make' means 'cause a state or result' or 'cause someone to do something', you must use sprawiać (imperfective) or sprawić (perfective).
Why is the imperfective verb sprawia used here instead of the perfective sprawi?
The imperfective sprawia is used because the question asks about a general, ongoing characteristic of the disease. If you were asking about a single, specific future consequence (like, 'Will catching this disease make the patient gain weight?'), you would use the perfective sprawi.
What is the infinitive of tyją, and how is it conjugated?
The infinitive is tyć (to gain weight). It belongs to a group of short verbs that take a -j- in their conjugation stem (similar to myć becoming myją). Therefore, oni tyją means 'they gain weight'. If you need it, its opposite is chudnąć (to lose weight).
The verbs are joined by i. Does the się at the end apply to both tyją and pocą?
No, się only belongs to pocić się (to sweat). The verb tyć is not reflexive. Even though the verbs share a subject and are joined by i, the reflexive pronoun strictly pairs with the specific verb that requires it.
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