Breakdown of Zamiast ciągle przekładać to spotkanie, powinniśmy je odwołać.
to
this
spotkanie
meeting (n)
je
them / it (neuter)
powinien
should, ought to
zamiast
instead of
odwołać
to cancel
ciągle
constantly, continually
przekładać
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Zamiast ciągle przekładać to spotkanie, powinniśmy je odwołać.
In English we say 'instead of postponing' (using an -ing verb). Why does Polish use the infinitive przekładać here?
In Polish, the preposition zamiast (instead of) is followed directly by an infinitive to express an alternative action. Unlike English, which requires a gerund (an -ing word acting as a noun) after prepositions, Polish simply uses the basic dictionary form of the verb when the subject of both actions is the same.
Why do we use the imperfective verb przekładać (to postpone) in the first half, but the perfective verb odwołać (to cancel) in the second?
This perfectly illustrates how verbal aspect works in context. Ciągle przekładać refers to a repeated, ongoing habit (constantly postponing), so it requires the imperfective aspect. Odwołać, however, represents a single, finalized action (canceling it once and for all), which calls for the perfective aspect.
Why is the pronoun je used for 'it' instead of go or to?
The pronoun refers back to spotkanie (meeting), which is a neuter noun. The verb odwołać requires a direct object in the accusative case. For neuter nouns, the third-person accusative pronoun is je. While you might hear native speakers occasionally use to as a generic 'it' in casual speech, je is the grammatically precise choice for referring to a specific neuter noun.
How is the word powinniśmy formed in this sentence?
It comes from the modal word powinien (should) in its masculine personal plural form, powinni. The suffix -śmy is the past tense first-person plural marker indicating 'we'. Polish attaches this personal ending directly to the modal word, forming powinniśmy (we should).
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