Question 1

Why do we use w + Accusative (w kłótnię) instead of the Locative case for "in their argument"?

Accepted Answer

The preposition w takes the Locative when describing a static physical location. However, verbs of involvement, belief, or transformation—like angażować się (to get involved)—take the Accusative. Think of it as a dynamic "mental movement" into the situation, much like how physical motion (going into a room) also requires w + Accusative.

Question 2

What is the difference between angażować and angażować się?

Accepted Answer

Angażować without się means to involve, engage, or hire someone else (e.g., involving an expert). By adding the reflexive pronoun się, it becomes an action directed at the subject: you are involving yourself. So, angażować się w coś means "to get (oneself) involved in something".

Question 3

Why doesn't the pronoun ich (their) change its ending to match the Accusative case of kłótnię?

Accepted Answer

While 1st and 2nd person possessive pronouns (like mój or wasz) decline to agree with the noun's case, gender, and number, 3rd person possessives (jego, jej, and ich) are completely frozen. Because they are technically Genitive pronouns literally meaning "of him", "of her", and "of them", they never change their shape regardless of what happens to the noun they modify.

Question 4

Could we use the perfective verb zaangażować się here instead of angażować się?

Accepted Answer

Yes, both are grammatically fine after chcieć (to want), but the nuance shifts slightly. The imperfective angażować się used here focuses on the general process or state—like saying "we don't want to be a participant in it." Using the perfective zaangażować się would focus on the single, completed act of stepping into the argument.

Nie chcemy angażować się w ich kłótnię.

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