Breakdown of Podczas gali wypada powiedzieć komplement gospodarzowi.
powiedzieć
to say (perfective)
podczas
during
gospodarz
host
wypadać
it is appropriate / proper (impersonal verb)
gala
gala
komplement
compliment
Questions & Answers about Podczas gali wypada powiedzieć komplement gospodarzowi.
Why does the verb wypada look like a standard third-person verb if there is no subject like 'he' or 'she' here?
In this context, wypada is an impersonal verb. It translates to the fixed phrase 'it is proper' or 'it is appropriate' rather than its literal meaning ('it falls out'). Because it is impersonal, it never takes a direct subject and is instead directly followed by an infinitive, which here is powiedzieć.
In English we 'pay' or 'give' a compliment. Why does Polish use powiedzieć (to say)?
Languages often pair different verbs with nouns to create standard phrases. In Polish, you literally 'say' a compliment. The natural, fixed expression for praising someone is powiedzieć komplement (perfective) or mówić komplementy (imperfective).
What case is gospodarzowi and why is it used here?
It is in the dative case. The verb powiedzieć requires the dative case for the person you are directing your words to. Because gospodarz (host) is a masculine noun, it takes the standard masculine dative ending -owi.
Why does the word gala change to gali in this sentence?
The preposition podczas (during) always requires the noun that follows it to be in the genitive case. Since gala is a feminine noun, its genitive form drops the -a and adds -i, making it gali.
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