Breakdown of Boimy się, żeby woda w akwarium nie była mętna.
być
to be
nie
no / not
woda
water
w
in / on (a day)
żeby
so that, in order to
bać się
to be afraid
akwarium
aquarium
mętny
cloudy
Questions & Answers about Boimy się, żeby woda w akwarium nie była mętna.
Why is there a nie before była if we are afraid the water WILL be cloudy, not that it won't be?
This is a classic example of pleonastic (extra) negation. After verbs of fearing like bać się, Polish often uses żeby nie to express what you are afraid might happen. Even though it translates to "might be cloudy", the literal structure acts a bit like the old English "lest it be". The nie doesn't actually negate the cloudiness here.
Why is the past tense była used here when we are worrying about the future state of the water?
The conjunction żeby always requires the verb that follows it to take the past tense form (the L-participle). Even though you are expressing a fear about the future, you must use była, not the future tense będzie, because it is forced by the word żeby.
Can I just use że instead of żeby nie for this sentence?
Yes, you can. You could say Boimy się, że woda w akwarium będzie mętna. Using że plus the future tense is very common and perfectly correct. The żeby nie structure is simply an alternative, slightly more emphatic way to express apprehension.
Why doesn't the word akwarium have a Locative case ending after the preposition w?
Nouns of Latin origin that end in -um, such as akwarium, muzeum, or centrum, are indeclinable in the singular. Their form doesn't change no matter what case is required by the preposition. They only take regular case endings in the plural (for example, w akwariach).
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