Breakdown of To właśnie ten laureat zasłużył na to wyróżnienie.
to
this
ten
this (m)
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
właśnie
just, exactly; just now
laureat
laureate
zasłużyć
to deserve
wyróżnienie
distinction
Questions & Answers about To właśnie ten laureat zasłużył na to wyróżnienie.
There are two instances of to in this sentence. Do they serve the same function?
No, they are completely different! The first To is part of the emphatic phrase To właśnie (It is precisely...). It acts as a fixed, invariable particle to highlight the subject. The second to in na to wyróżnienie is a standard demonstrative pronoun (meaning "this") that modifies the neuter noun wyróżnienie.
The English translation says "It is precisely this laureate who deserved...". Why isn't there a Polish word for "who" (like który) in the sentence?
In English, we use a complex sentence (It is X who did Y) to add emphasis, which requires a relative pronoun like "who". Polish makes this much simpler: it keeps the single-clause structure (ten laureat zasłużył) and just puts the emphatic particle To właśnie right in front of the element being highlighted. Adding który here would make the sentence ungrammatical.
Since laureat is a masculine noun, why doesn't the starting emphatic particle change to Ten właśnie?
Why do we use the preposition na before to wyróżnienie?
The verb zasłużyć (to deserve) requires the preposition na followed by the Accusative case (zasłużyć na coś). While English just says "deserve something" without a preposition, Polish requires na to connect the verb to its object.
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