Breakdown of Lekarz bada krew pacjenta.
lekarz
doctor
pacjent
the patient (m)
krew
blood
badać
to research / to study (investigate, examine)
Questions & Answers about Lekarz bada krew pacjenta.
The English translation says "testing", so why use bada instead of testuje?
While testować exists, it is used more for software, equipment, or school tests. For medical contexts, scientific research, and physical examinations (like examining a patient or testing blood), Polish naturally uses badać. The noun form is badanie krwi (blood test).
The verb bada requires the accusative case. Why doesn't krew have a typical feminine accusative ending like -ę?
Krew is a feminine noun that ends in a consonant rather than -a. For these nouns (like noc or rzecz), the accusative form is exactly the same as the nominative. So, krew is already correctly in the accusative case here.
Is pacjenta in the accusative case because the doctor is examining the patient?
No, pacjenta is in the genitive case here to show possession (the blood of the patient). The direct object of the verb bada is just krew. Because pacjent is an animate masculine noun, its genitive and accusative forms happen to look identical, which can be a bit of a trap!
Since English says "the patient's blood", could I change the word order to Lekarz bada pacjenta krew?
You should stick to krew pacjenta. In Polish, a noun in the genitive case that shows possession almost always comes after the noun it modifies. Putting pacjenta before krew sounds unnatural and might temporarily confuse a listener into thinking the doctor is examining the patient rather than the blood.
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