Breakdown of Troska o środowisko to nasz obowiązek.
nasz
our
to
is (linking copula)
o
at (time)
środowisko
environment
obowiązek
duty
troska
care
Questions & Answers about Troska o środowisko to nasz obowiązek.
Why do we use o here with troska, and what case follows it?
The noun troska (care or concern) requires the preposition o followed by the accusative case. This is a form of noun government, where abstract nouns dictate the prepositions and cases that follow them. Because środowisko is a neuter noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative form here.
Does the noun troska share its preposition and case with a related verb?
Yes, it does. The related verb is troszczyć się (to care for or worry about), which also takes o plus the accusative case, as in troszczyć się o środowisko. It is very common in Polish for abstract nouns to share the exact same grammatical requirements as their base verbs.
Why does the sentence use to instead of jest for the word 'is'?
In Polish, when you equate one noun phrase with another (care is a duty), you often use the word to instead of the verb jest. Using to creates a strong, direct definition or a general statement, which sounds very natural for expressing a universal rule like this.
Why is nasz obowiązek in the nominative case instead of the instrumental?
This is a direct result of using the linking word to. When you use to to mean 'is', the noun that follows stays in the nominative case (nasz obowiązek). If you had used the verb jest instead, you would have needed the instrumental case, making it jest naszym obowiązkiem.
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