Questions & Answers about Chłopiec kichnął pięć razy.
Why use the perfective kichnął if he sneezed five times? Doesn't repetition require the imperfective kichał?
This is a great nuance of Polish aspect! While the imperfective is used for habitual or unbounded repetition, you can use a perfective verb (especially a "single flash" semelfactive verb ending in -nąć) with a specific number if you view the whole event as a single, completed package. Chłopiec kichnął pięć razy means he did a quick, bounded sequence of five sneezes and finished. Using the imperfective kichał pięć razy is also grammatically possible, but it would sound more like a drawn-out process rather than a quick, completed event.
What is the imperfective pair for kichnąć, and how was this perfective form created?
The imperfective verb is kichać (to sneeze). To create the perfective form for a single, instantaneous action (a semelfactive verb), we take the stem, drop the -a-, and add the suffix -nąć. This gives us kichnąć (to sneeze once).
Why is there an -ą- in kichnął, but if the subject were a girl it would be kichnęła?
Verbs ending in -nąć undergo a vowel shift in the past tense. The nasal vowel -ą- appears before the masculine singular past tense marker -ł (e.g., on kichnął). However, before any past tense marker that contains a vowel—like the feminine -ła, neuter -ło, or plural -li / -ły—the -ą- softens to an -ę- (e.g., ona kichnęła, one kichnęły).
Why is the word for "times" razy? Doesn't the number pięć require the genitive plural case?
It actually is in the genitive plural! The noun raz (time/once) has an irregular genitive plural form. Instead of the expected razów, the genitive plural is simply razy. Because the number pięć forces the following noun into the genitive plural, you use this irregular form to get pięć razy.
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