Breakdown of Nauczyciel rozdawał nam po trzy egzemplarze książki.
książka
book
my
we
nauczyciel
teacher
trzy
three
Questions & Answers about Nauczyciel rozdawał nam po trzy egzemplarze książki.
How does adding po change the meaning of this sentence?
The preposition po is used here in a distributive sense, meaning each or apiece. Without it, the sentence would mean the teacher handed out three copies in total. With po, it specifies that every single person in the group received three copies.
What case is trzy egzemplarze in, and why?
It is in the Accusative case. When po is used distributively with numbers 2 and above, the number and the noun that follows it take the Accusative case. This is an exception to be careful with, because the number 1 in this structure takes the Locative case instead (e.g., po jednym egzemplarzu).
Why do we use the singular książki here instead of the plural książek?
Książki is in the Genitive singular because it translates to copies of the book (referring to one specific title). If the teacher were handing out copies of various different books, we would use the Genitive plural książek.
Why use the imperfective verb rozdawał instead of the perfective rozdał?
The imperfective rozdawał focuses on the ongoing, background process of the teacher going around the room and handing out the books. If the speaker wanted to emphasize that the distribution was a completed, finished event, they would use the perfective form rozdał.