Breakdown of Symbioza daje zwierzętom nie tylko pożywienie, lecz także schronienie.
zwierzę
animal
dawać
to give (imperfective)
nie tylko
not only (nie tylko..., ale także...)
także
also, too (written; a także = as well as)
lecz
but
symbioza
the symbiosis
pożywienie
the food
schronienie
the shelter
Questions & Answers about Symbioza daje zwierzętom nie tylko pożywienie, lecz także schronienie.
Can I use ale także instead of lecz także in this sentence?
Why does zwierzę become zwierzętom here?
The verb dawać (to give) takes the dative case for the recipient. Neuter nouns ending in -ę (like zwierzę) use an expanded stem with an inserted -t- in the plural. Adding the standard dative plural ending -om gives us zwierzętom.
Is it a coincidence that both pożywienie and schronienie end in -nie?
Not at all! They are both verbal nouns, which means they are nouns formed directly from verbs. Pożywienie comes from pożywić (to feed or nourish), and schronienie comes from schronić się (to take shelter). They behave just like regular neuter nouns.
Do the words following nie tylko and lecz także need to be in the same grammatical case?
Yes, this conjunction structure requires parallelism. Because both food and shelter are the direct objects being given by the symbiosis, both pożywienie and schronienie must be in the accusative case here.
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