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Ten nieśmiały chłopiec nie rozmawia z nikim.

Ten nieśmiały chłopiec nie rozmawia z nikim.
This shy boy does not talk to anyone.
From Lesson 409:Spelling rules for negation (nie)·Polish

Breakdown of Ten nieśmiały chłopiec nie rozmawia z nikim.

nie
no / not
ten
this (m)
rozmawiać
to talk
chłopiec
boy
z
with
nikt
nobody
nieśmiały
shy

Questions & Answers about Ten nieśmiały chłopiec nie rozmawia z nikim.

Why is nie written together with śmiały in nieśmiały, but separately from rozmawia in nie rozmawia?
The word nieśmiały (shy) is an adjective. In Polish, the negative particle nie is written as one word with adjectives. However, nie is always written as a separate word before verbs, which is why we must write nie rozmawia.
Why does the sentence use z nikim (with nobody) instead of a word for anybody? Doesn't that make a double negative?
Yes, it literally translates to 'does not talk with nobody'. Polish requires a double negative. When you have a negated verb like nie rozmawia, negative pronouns like nikt (nobody) must be used instead of positive ones like ktoś (somebody) or ktokolwiek (anybody).
Why is the form nikim used after the preposition z instead of just nikt?
The verb rozmawiać (to talk) takes the preposition z (with), which requires the following noun or pronoun to be in the instrumental case. The instrumental form of the nominative pronoun nikt (nobody) is nikim.
Is the adjective nieśmiały related to any other common Polish words?
Yes, it is related to the verb śmieć (to dare). The positive adjective śmiały means bold, brave, or daring. By adding the prefix nie- directly to the adjective, it becomes nieśmiały, meaning lacking in boldness, or shy.

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