Breakdown of Nie chcę znowu przekładać moich obowiązków.
nie
no / not
chcieć
to want
mój
my
obowiązek
duty
znowu
again
przekładać
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Nie chcę znowu przekładać moich obowiązków.
Why is moich obowiązków in the Genitive case here? Shouldn't przekładać take the Accusative?
Normally, przekładać does take the Accusative (moje obowiązki). However, the main verb in this sentence is negated (Nie chcę). In Polish, this negation reaches across the infinitive, forcing the object into the Genitive case (moich obowiązków). This is a great example of the Genitive of negation in action.
Doesn't przekładać mean "to translate"?
It can! Przekładać (imperfective) and przełożyć (perfective) have a few common meanings. Besides translating text, they frequently mean "to postpone" or "reschedule" (shifting an event to another time), as well as physically moving an object from one place to another.
How would I connect this to the current lesson to say "instead of doing them"?
You would add zamiast je robić (or perfective zamiast je zrobić) to the sentence. Notice that the pronoun je (them) is in the Accusative case. The negation from Nie chcę does not cross over into the zamiast clause, so the Genitive of negation rule does not apply to that part.
Could I use the perfective verb przełożyć instead of przekładać?
Yes, both work but they change the nuance slightly. Using the imperfective przekładać alongside znowu (again) highlights a frustrating, repeating habit ("I don't want to keep postponing"). If you used przełożyć, it would focus purely on the result of one specific act of rescheduling.
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