Breakdown of W środę jestem zajęty, a w czwartek odpoczywam.
być
to be
a
and / whereas (contrast)
w
in / on (a day)
odpoczywać
to rest
Questions & Answers about W środę jestem zajęty, a w czwartek odpoczywam.
Why does środa change to środę but czwartek stays exactly the same?
When saying "on a day of the week", Polish uses the word w (in/on) followed by the Accusative case. For feminine days like środa, the -a ending changes to -ę, becoming w środę. But for masculine days like czwartek, the Accusative form looks exactly the same as the basic dictionary form, so it stays w czwartek.
I am a woman. Do I still say jestem zajęty?
The English translation says "and on Thursday", but the Polish sentence uses a. Why not use i?
While both i and a can mean "and", they are used differently. i is used to simply add things together (like apples and oranges). a is used to show a contrast or a switch in focus, often translating closer to "whereas" or "while". Here, you are contrasting what you do on Wednesday with what you do on Thursday, so a is the natural choice.
Why isn't the word ja (I) used before jestem and odpoczywam?