Learn Polish: Wścibska sąsiadka podpytuje, jakby nic nie wiedziała. - The nosy neighbor fishes for information as if she knew nothing.

The prefix pod- often adds a sense of stealthiness, secrecy, or doing something to a small degree. While pytać simply means to ask, podpytywać (used here in the form podpytuje) means to ask subtly, indirectly, or to fish for information without making your true intentions obvious.

Why is the verb wiedziała in the past tense if the translation says as if she knew?

The word jakby (as if) triggers the conditional mood. In Polish, the conditional is formed by combining a particle ending in -by with the third-person past tense form of the verb. Because the -by is already securely attached to jak, the verb wiedziała just uses its standard past tense form to complete the structure, creating the meaning as if she knew.

Why do we use both nic and nie together here?

Polish requires negative concord, commonly known as a double negative. Whenever you use a negative word like nic (nothing) or nikt (nobody) in a clause, you must also negate the main verb with nie. Even though it feels redundant to English speakers, the structure literally translates to as if she didn't know nothing.

What is the origin of the adjective wścibska?