Breakdown of Mój brat jest w starym szpitalu.
być
to be
stary
old
brat
brother
mój
my
w
in / on (a day)
szpital
hospital
Questions & Answers about Mój brat jest w starym szpitalu.
Why do we say starym instead of just stary?
The preposition w (in) shows location, which means the words following it must be in the Locative case. Because szpital (hospital) is a masculine noun, the adjective describing it gets the masculine Locative ending -ym, changing stary to starym.
Why does szpital change to szpitalu here?
Just like the adjective, the noun itself must be in the Locative case because it follows the preposition w. For many masculine nouns like szpital, the Locative ending is -u.
If the noun was neuter instead of masculine, would the ending for starym be different?
No, masculine and neuter nouns actually share the exact same adjective endings in the Locative case. Both use -ym (or -im after certain letters). If it were a feminine noun, the adjective would take the ending -ej, like in w starej restauracji.
Does the preposition w always trigger the Locative case?
It does when you are talking about a fixed location, like being inside a place. However, if you are talking about motion, like walking into a place, w takes the Accusative case instead. Here, the brother is already in the hospital, so we use the Locative.
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