Breakdown of Jej ojciec ma sześćdziesiąt lat i jest pesymistą.
być
to be
i
and
mieć
to have
ojciec
father
rok
year
jej
her (possessive)
sześćdziesiąt
sixty
pesymista
pessimist
Questions & Answers about Jej ojciec ma sześćdziesiąt lat i jest pesymistą.
Why does the masculine noun pesymista take the ending -ą in jest pesymistą?
When using the verb być (to be) to define someone's identity, character, or profession, we use the Instrumental case. Even though pesymista is a masculine noun, its dictionary form ends in -a. In the singular, masculine nouns ending in -a decline exactly like feminine nouns, which is why it takes the feminine Instrumental ending -ą instead of the standard masculine -em.
Could we use the lesson's focus word podczas gdy (whereas) instead of i (and) in this sentence?
Not naturally in this exact sentence. The contrastive conjunction podczas gdy is used to contrast two different subjects or opposing ideas (for example: Jej ojciec jest pesymistą, podczas gdy ona jest optymistką - Her father is a pessimist, whereas she is an optimist). Here, the word i (and) simply lists two independent, non-contrasting facts about the exact same person.
As a quick refresher: why do we use lat here instead of lata?
When expressing age with the verb mieć (to have), the word for "years" changes depending on the number. For numbers ending in 2, 3, or 4 (like 22 or 54), we use lata. However, for numbers ending in 5 and above, as well as all round tens like sześćdziesiąt (sixty), we must use the Genitive plural form, which is lat.
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