Word
Chcemy poszerzyć ten korytarz.
Meaning
We want to widen this corridor.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Chcemy poszerzyć ten korytarz.
ten
this (m)
chcieć
to want
korytarz
corridor
poszerzyć
to widen
Questions & Answers about Chcemy poszerzyć ten korytarz.
How exactly is the verb poszerzyć formed from the word for 'wide'?
It comes from the adjective szeroki (wide). First, you take its comparative form, szerszy (wider). Then, you use the stem szerz-, add the prefix po-, and attach the verb ending -yć. This creates a perfective verb literally meaning 'to make wider'.
Why does this verb use the prefix po- instead of z- or s- to show a change in state?
While z- and s- are often used to form verbs of changing state from comparatives (like zmniejszyć from mniejszy), the prefix po- is very common for verbs dealing with physical dimensions and expansion. Other examples include powiększyć (to enlarge) and pogrubić (to thicken). There is no strict rule, so you just have to memorize which prefix goes with which adjective.
What is the imperfective form of poszerzyć?
The imperfective is poszerzać. It is important to keep the prefix po- here because the base verb without the prefix, szerzyć, means 'to spread' or 'to propagate' (like spreading rumors or a disease), rather than physically widening an object.
Why didn't the phrase ten korytarz change its ending if it is the direct object?