Breakdown of Złodziej przesiedział w więzieniu całą dekadę.
w
in / on (a day)
cały
whole, entire
dekada
the decade
złodziej
thief
więzienie
prison
przesiedzieć
to sit through
Questions & Answers about Złodziej przesiedział w więzieniu całą dekadę.
How does the prefix prze- change the meaning of the verb here?
The base verb siedzieć means to sit or to stay. Adding the prefix prze- creates the perfective verb przesiedzieć, which specifically means to spend a continuous block of time doing that action. It emphasizes that the thief endured or completed the entire duration mentioned.
Why is the time expression całą dekadę in the Accusative case?
Time expressions that describe duration, answering the question 'how long?', take the Accusative case. Perfective verbs with the aspectual prefix prze- almost always require an Accusative time expression to specify the exact length of time that was spent completing the action.
Does przesiedział mean he literally sat down for a decade?
No. While siedzieć literally means to sit, it is the standard colloquial verb in Polish for serving time in prison, similar to saying someone is 'doing time' inside. With the duration prefix, przesiedział w więzieniu simply means he spent that whole time locked up.
Why do we use the ending -u for w więzieniu?
The preposition w requires the Locative case when describing a static location where someone is currently located. The base word więzienie is a neuter noun ending in -enie. In the Locative case, neuter nouns with this ending change to -eniu, making it w więzieniu.
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