Breakdown of Przez moją nieostrożność przegapiłem ważną wiadomość.
mój
my
ważny
important
wiadomość
message / news
przez
because of
nieostrożność
carelessness
przegapić
to miss (an event, an opportunity)
Questions & Answers about Przez moją nieostrożność przegapiłem ważną wiadomość.
The translation says "Because of", so why do we use przez instead of z powodu?
In Polish, przez + Accusative is the most natural way to express fault, blame, or a negative cause. While z powodu (+ Genitive) also means "because of" or "due to" and would be grammatically correct here, przez specifically emphasizes that someone or something is to blame. (Remember never to use dzięki here, as that means "thanks to" and is strictly for positive outcomes).
Przez requires the Accusative case. Why does the noun nieostrożność look like it hasn't changed from the Nominative?
It actually is in the Accusative! Nieostrożność (carelessness) is a feminine noun, as are almost all abstract Polish nouns ending in -ość. A very helpful rule to remember is that feminine nouns ending in a consonant have the exact same form in the Accusative case as they do in the Nominative. You can tell the case has changed because the pronoun attached to it correctly takes the feminine Accusative ending, becoming moją.
Could I use the verb tęskniłem instead of przegapiłem to say "I missed"?
No, because they refer to completely different types of "missing". Tęsknić means to miss someone or something emotionally (like missing your family, your hometown, or the good old days). Przegapić is used when you fail to notice, catch, or attend something—like missing a bus, overlooking a deadline, or failing to see a message.
Why does the adjective ważną end in -ą if its noun wiadomość doesn't change its ending?
Because wiadomość is the direct object of the verb przegapiłem, the entire phrase "important message" must be in the Accusative case. Just like nieostrożność earlier in the sentence, wiadomość is a feminine noun ending in a consonant, so its noun form doesn't change. However, the adjective modifying it must still take the standard feminine Accusative ending, which is why ważna becomes ważną.
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