Breakdown of Nie mogę ugryźć tego jabłka, tym bardziej że bolą mnie zęby.
ja
I
nie
no / not
ten
this (m)
jabłko
apple
móc
to be able to
boleć
to hurt, to ache
ząb
tooth (pl. zęby)
tym bardziej, że
especially since
ugryźć
to take a bite
Questions & Answers about Nie mogę ugryźć tego jabłka, tym bardziej że bolą mnie zęby.
What is the exact function of tym bardziej że in this sentence, and why is the comma where it is?
The phrase tym bardziej że adds a strong, reinforcing reason to what was just said, translating well to 'especially since' or 'all the more so because'. Notice that the comma comes before the entire phrase, not directly before że, which is the standard punctuation rule for this compound conjunction in Polish.
Why is tego jabłka in the Genitive case? I thought only the directly negated verb triggers the Genitive.
The Genitive of negation stretches across the whole verb phrase. Even though the action you are performing on the apple is ugryźć (which normally takes the Accusative), the main finite verb mogę is negated (nie mogę). Because of this negation at the start of the chain, the direct object of the attached infinitive must be in the Genitive case (tego jabłka).
Why use the perfective ugryźć rather than the imperfective gryźć?
ugryźć focuses on the completion of a single action: taking a bite. If you used the imperfective gryźć, it would imply an ongoing action, meaning 'I cannot chew this apple' or 'I cannot be biting this apple'. Since you are talking about the inability to successfully take a bite out of it, the perfective is the right choice.
Why doesn't the Polish sentence use a word for 'my' in bolą mnie zęby?
In Polish, pain is usually expressed with the hurting body part as the subject (here, zęby in the Nominative) acting on the person experiencing the pain (here, mnie in the Accusative). So instead of 'my teeth hurt', the phrasing is literally 'the teeth are hurting me'. Adding moje (my) would be understood but sounds slightly less natural than simply saying they hurt 'me'.
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