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Społeczeństwo szybko się starzeje.

Społeczeństwo szybko się starzeje.
The society is aging fast.
From Lesson 404:Partitive subjects (większość, część, połowa)·Polish

Breakdown of Społeczeństwo szybko się starzeje.

szybko
quickly
społeczeństwo
society
starzeć się
to age

Questions & Answers about Społeczeństwo szybko się starzeje.

Since this lesson is about partitive subjects like większość, does a collective noun like społeczeństwo follow the same agreement rules?
Not quite. While partitive subjects like większość (majority) or część (part) have tricky agreement rules because they combine with plural nouns, społeczeństwo is just a standard neuter singular noun. Even though it refers to a group of people, it always takes a strictly singular verb.
What is the root of the word społeczeństwo?
It comes from the adjective społeczny (social), which is related to words like wspólny (common) and spółka (company). The suffix -eństwo is commonly used to create abstract or collective neuter nouns, similar to państwo (state) or rodzeństwo (siblings).
Why is się placed before the verb instead of after it?
In Polish, the reflexive pronoun się prefers to 'hide' in the middle of a sentence and strongly avoids the very end. Placing it between the adverb szybko and the verb starzeje sounds much more natural than saying Społeczeństwo szybko starzeje się.
Is starzeć się imperfective or perfective here?
It is imperfective, reflecting an ongoing process (the society is currently aging). If you wanted to say that someone or something has already grown old or aged completely, you would use the perfective equivalent zestarzeć się.

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