Learn Polish: Krosno się zepsuło, toteż tkacz nie może tkać. - The loom broke down, consequently the weaver cannot weave.

Toteż means 'therefore' or 'consequently,' but it is more formal and literary than więc or dlatego. It puts a strong, emphatic focus on the logical consequence of the first action. Because of its formal tone, you will see it more often in writing than in casual, everyday conversation.

Notice the similarity between tkacz (weaver) and tkać (to weave). Is the -acz suffix a common pattern?

Yes, the -acz suffix is frequently added to a verb stem to indicate the person performing that action, much like '-er' in English. You have likely seen this pattern in words you already know, such as biegacz (runner, from biegać) and gracz (player, from grać).

Why use the perfective verb zepsuło się here instead of the imperfective psuło się?

The perfective zepsuło się shows that the breakdown is a completed event with a resulting state: the loom is fully broken right now. If you used the imperfective psuło się, it would mean the loom 'was breaking down' or 'kept breaking down,' which weakens the direct cause-and-effect relationship required by toteż.

Is the comma before toteż mandatory here?