Breakdown of Ten rów jest szerszy, więc jest zbyt niebezpieczny, żeby go przeskoczyć.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
go
him / it
żeby
so that, in order to
więc
so, therefore
szeroki
wide, broad
niebezpieczny
dangerous
zbyt
too / excessively
rów
ditch
przeskoczyć
to jump over
Questions & Answers about Ten rów jest szerszy, więc jest zbyt niebezpieczny, żeby go przeskoczyć.
Why do we use żeby here instead of just the infinitive like in the English 'too dangerous to jump'?
In Polish, you cannot link 'too [adjective]' directly to an infinitive. To express that something has too much of a quality for an action to happen, you must use a result clause with żeby (or aby). It literally translates closer to 'too dangerous in order to jump over it.' The structure is always zbyt or za + [adjective/adverb] + żeby + [infinitive or subject + verb].
Why is there a go in żeby go przeskoczyć when the English translation just says 'to jump over'?
In English, 'to jump over' can leave the object implied when it is already the topic of the sentence. Polish transitive verbs usually require you to state the object, even if it was mentioned earlier. Here, go (it) refers back to ten rów (this ditch, which is a masculine noun). Without go, the sentence would feel incomplete, like saying 'too dangerous to jump over [blank]'.
How does the prefix prze- change the meaning of the verb skoczyć in this sentence?
The base verb skoczyć means 'to jump.' Adding the prefix prze- often brings the sense of going across, through, or over a physical space. So przeskoczyć specifically means 'to jump over' or 'to leap across.' It is a perfective verb, focusing on the successful completion of crossing the ditch.
The dictionary word for 'wide' is szeroki. How does it become szerszy ('wider') here?
Adjectives ending in -oki or -eki often drop that entire ending before adding the comparative suffix. For szeroki, you drop the -oki to get the root szer-, and then add the masculine comparative suffix -szy. This is a common pattern you will also see in words like głęboki (deep) becoming głębszy (deeper).
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