Breakdown of Moja siostra nie ogląda telewizji.
nie
no / not
oglądać
to watch
siostra
sister
mój
my
telewizja
television
Questions & Answers about Moja siostra nie ogląda telewizji.
If 'to watch' takes a direct object, why is it telewizji here instead of the Accusative telewizję?
The verb oglądać (to watch) usually takes the Accusative case, so 'she watches television' would be ogląda telewizję. However, in Polish, whenever a verb is negated with nie (not), its direct object must change to the Genitive case. That is why the Accusative telewizję becomes the Genitive telewizji in this negative sentence.
How is the Genitive form telewizji created?
The dictionary form is telewizja. To form the Genitive case for most feminine nouns, you drop the final -a and replace it with -y or -i. Nouns ending in -ja specifically take the -i ending, which gives us telewizji.
Why is the verb form ogląda?
The subject of the sentence is Moja siostra (My sister), which is a 'she' (third-person singular). The verb oglądać (to watch) belongs to a very common, regular conjugation group. Its 'I' form is oglądam, and to get the 'he/she/it' form, you just drop the -m, leaving ogląda.
Why is the word for 'my' written as Moja and not Mój?
In Polish, possessive words have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because siostra (sister) is a feminine noun, you must use the feminine form for 'my', which is moja. Mój is only used with masculine nouns, and moje with neuter nouns.
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