Breakdown of Brudna szmata leży na kafelkach w przedpokoju.
w
in / on (a day)
na
on, at / to (motion toward) / for (a meal) / for (waiting for)
leżeć
to lie
brudny
dirty
Questions & Answers about Brudna szmata leży na kafelkach w przedpokoju.
Since this lesson is about dopiero co, how would I change this sentence to say "A dirty rag was JUST lying on the tiles..."?
Why is it na kafelkach instead of just na kafelki?
The preposition na takes the locative case here because it describes a static location (where something is lying), not motion towards a place. The locative plural ending for almost all nouns in Polish is -ach, so the nominative plural kafelki (tiles) becomes kafelkach.
Why does przedpokój change to przedpokoju, and where did the ó go?
The preposition w (in) also requires the locative case. Masculine nouns ending in a soft consonant like -j take the -u ending in the locative. When you add this ending, the ó shifts back to an o. You already know this pattern from its root word: pokój (room) becomes w pokoju.
Could I just use the verb jest (is) instead of leży (lies)?