Breakdown of Profesorowie myślą, że orkiestra jest kierowana przez tego dyrygenta.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
myśleć
to think
że
that
profesor
professor
kierować
to direct
przez
by (agent of a passive verb)
orkiestra
orchestra
dyrygent
conductor
Questions & Answers about Profesorowie myślą, że orkiestra jest kierowana przez tego dyrygenta.
In the active voice, the verb kierować takes the Instrumental case. Why is orkiestra in the Nominative case here?
Even though kierować requires the Instrumental case for its object in the active voice (like on kieruje orkiestrą), the passive voice promotes that object to the subject of the sentence. Since subjects are always in the Nominative case, it becomes orkiestra.
Why does the passive participle kierowana end in -a?
Passive participles behave exactly like adjectives. Because the new subject of the clause, orkiestra, is a feminine singular noun, the participle kierowany must take the feminine singular ending -a, becoming kierowana.
What case is tego dyrygenta, and why is it used after przez?
It is in the Accusative case. When expressing who performs the action in a passive sentence, Polish uses the preposition przez meaning by, followed by the Accusative case. Because dyrygent is a masculine animate noun, its Accusative form looks identical to its Genitive form: tego dyrygenta.
Why does the plural subject use the form profesorowie instead of profesory?
The Nominative plural ending -owie is specifically used for masculine personal nouns that denote respected titles, professions, or family relations. Since a professor is a prestigious title, profesor takes the -owie ending rather than a standard masculine personal ending.
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