Złożyłem podanie, by otrzymać obywatelstwo.
I submitted the petition in order to receive citizenship.
Breakdown of Złożyłem podanie, by otrzymać obywatelstwo.
otrzymać
to receive
złożyć
to submit
obywatelstwo
citizenship
by
so that / in order to
podanie
petition
Questions & Answers about Złożyłem podanie, by otrzymać obywatelstwo.
Why use by in this sentence instead of the usual żeby?
Why does otrzymać stay in the infinitive here?
Because the subject of both parts of the sentence is exactly the same (I submitted it, and I will receive it). Just like with żeby, when the subject doesn't change between the main clause and the purpose clause, you simply follow by with an infinitive. If the subject changed, you would need to attach personal endings to by and use the past tense stem of the verb.
Does złożyć always mean to submit?
In administrative and legal contexts, yes. The verb złożyć literally means to fold or to put together, but the phrase złożyć podanie is the standard, fixed collocation in Polish for to file a petition or to submit an application.
Could I use the imperfective verb otrzymywać after by instead?
In this specific context, it would sound unnatural. You use the perfective otrzymać because the goal of submitting the petition is the successful, one-time completion of the action (finally getting the citizenship), rather than an ongoing or repeated process of receiving it.
What case is obywatelstwo in here?
It is in the accusative case, acting as the direct object of the verb otrzymać. Because obywatelstwo is a neuter noun ending in -o, its accusative form looks completely identical to its nominative (dictionary) form.
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