Breakdown of W Wigilię cała rodzina je razem kolację.
razem
together
jeść
to eat
w
in / on (a day)
rodzina
the family
Questions & Answers about W Wigilię cała rodzina je razem kolację.
Why is Wigilię in the accusative case after the preposition w rather than the locative case?
Time expressions with the preposition w take the accusative case when referring to specific days or events, exactly like days of the week (for example, w poniedziałek). The locative case is typically used with this preposition for months or years, or for being physically inside something.
Since a family consists of many people, why is the singular verb je used instead of the plural jedzą?
Polish collective nouns like rodzina (family) or grupa (group) are treated as grammatically singular. The verb must agree with the grammatical number of the noun itself, not the amount of people it represents, so the third-person singular je is required.
Does the word Wigilia strictly mean the 24th of December?
While its dictionary definition is the eve of any holiday, in everyday Polish Wigilia almost always means Christmas Eve. Interestingly, Poles also use this word to refer to the traditional supper itself, so you will often hear phrases like iść na Wigilię (to go to a Christmas Eve supper).
Why use the imperfective verb je instead of the perfective zje here?
The imperfective je is used because the sentence describes a general, repeated tradition. If you used the perfective zje, it would change the meaning to focus on the completion of a single future meal, translating closer to the idea that the family will finish eating the supper.