Breakdown of Jaka jest głębokość i pojemność tego basenu?
być
to be
i
and
ten
this (m)
basen
swimming pool (m)
jaki
what kind of, what ... like (asks for an adjective)
głębokość
depth
pojemność
capacity
Questions & Answers about Jaka jest głębokość i pojemność tego basenu?
Why does the sentence use the singular Jaka jest instead of the plural Jakie są when asking about two things?
In Polish, when a verb precedes a compound subject connected by i (and), it often agrees only with the closest noun. Since głębokość is singular, the verb becomes singular. While Jakie są głębokość i pojemność is also grammatically correct, the singular agreement used here is very common and natural.
Both głębokość and pojemność end in -ość. What does this suffix do?
The suffix -ość is used to create abstract nouns from adjectives, similar to '-ness' or '-ity' in English. It turns głęboki (deep) into głębokość (depth) and pojemny (spacious/capacious) into pojemność (capacity). Remember that all nouns ending in -ość are feminine.
Why is tego basenu in the genitive case instead of the nominative?
The genitive case is used here to indicate possession or a 'noun of noun' relationship. Just as in English you say 'the capacity OF this pool', Polish expresses this relationship by putting the second noun phrase (ten basen) into the genitive case (tego basenu).
I know basen means swimming pool, but can it mean a tank or container here?
Basen primarily means a swimming pool, but it can also refer to a harbor basin or a large pool-like structure. If you wanted to ask about an industrial tank or a standard liquid container, you would use zbiornik (reservoir/tank) or pojemnik (container) instead.
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