Breakdown of Z ilu krajów są twoi goście?
być
to be
twój
your
ile
how many
gość
guest
kraj
country
z
from (+ Genitive)
Questions & Answers about Z ilu krajów są twoi goście?
Why do we use ilu instead of ile here?
The word ile means how many, but it acts like a numeral and must decline depending on the grammatical case. The preposition z (meaning from) requires the genitive case. The genitive form of ile is ilu.
Why is the noun krajów in the genitive plural?
In Polish, when a quantifier like ile is used in an oblique case (any case other than nominative or accusative), both the quantifier and the noun must agree in that case. Since the preposition z forces the genitive case, both the question word ilu and the noun krajów take the genitive plural form.
With a quantity word in the sentence, why is the verb są in the plural instead of the singular jest?
The verb always agrees with the subject of the sentence. Here, the subject is not the quantity phrase z ilu krajów (from how many countries), but rather twoi goście (your guests). Since twoi goście is a regular nominative plural subject, the verb must be the plural są.
Why is the possessive pronoun spelled twoi instead of twoje?
The noun goście (guests) is masculine personal, also known as virile. In the nominative plural, modifiers attached to masculine personal nouns take special forms. The masculine personal plural form of twój is twoi, whereas twoje would be used for non-masculine personal plural nouns.
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