Breakdown of Wczoraj malarz pomalował moje mieszkanie.
mój
my
wczoraj
yesterday
mieszkanie
flat, apartment
pomalować
to paint (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Wczoraj malarz pomalował moje mieszkanie.
How does the word malarz connect to the verb for 'to paint'?
The root verb is malować (to paint). To create a noun for the person doing the action, Polish drops the -ować ending to get the root mal-, and adds the suffix -arz. The -arz suffix is one of the most common ways to form professions in Polish, similar to the '-er' ending in English (as seen in piekarz for baker or pisarz for writer).
Why do we use the perfective verb pomalował here instead of malował?
The prefix po- makes the verb perfective, meaning the action was fully completed. Using pomalował tells us the painter actually finished painting the apartment yesterday. If we used the imperfective malował, it would mean he spent time painting it yesterday, but the job might still be unfinished.
Since this lesson is about word formation, is mieszkanie also a derived word?
Yes, though you probably learned it as basic vocabulary early on! Mieszkanie (apartment) is actually a verbal noun formed from the verb mieszkać (to live or reside) by adding the -nie suffix. It originally meant 'a residing' or 'a living', which evolved to mean the physical place where you live.
Why didn't moje mieszkanie change its form, given it's the direct object receiving the action?