Breakdown of Ona wychowuje bliźnięta i zabrania im skakać po siedzeniach.
i
and
ona
she / it (f)
one
they (non-masculine personal)
po
along, on (a surface)
zabraniać
to forbid
skakać
to jump
siedzenie
seat (physical object)
bliźnięta
twins
wychowywać
to raise (children)
Questions & Answers about Ona wychowuje bliźnięta i zabrania im skakać po siedzeniach.
Since this lesson is about collective numerals, how would I add a number here, like saying she raises "two twins" or "three twins"?
Because bliźnięta (twins) belongs to the category of neuter nouns describing young humans or animals, it requires collective numerals when counting. You would use the numeral as the direct object, followed by the noun in the genitive plural: Ona wychowuje dwoje bliźniąt (she raises a pair of twins) or troje bliźniąt (three twins).
What is the singular form of bliźnięta, and is it common?
The strict singular is the neuter noun bliźnię (a twin). However, this word sounds very formal or literary. In everyday speech, Poles usually use the standard gendered nouns bliźniak (a male twin) or bliźniaczka (a female twin) for a single person. The plural bliźnięta remains extremely common for a mixed or unspecified pair, though.
Why is the dative pronoun im used after zabrania instead of the accusative ich?
The verb zabraniać (to forbid) and its perfective counterpart zabronić require the person receiving the prohibition to be in the dative case. It helps to think of it as communicating a ban or refusing permission to someone.
Why does po take the locative plural siedzeniach in this sentence?
When the preposition po is paired with verbs of motion like skakać (to jump), chodzić (to walk), or biegać (to run), it requires the locative case to describe scattered movement all over or around on a surface. If you used the accusative case instead, po would mean you are going somewhere in order to fetch something.
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