Breakdown of Nasi przyjaciele często się spotykają.
często
often
spotykać się
to meet
nasz
our
przyjaciel
friend
Questions & Answers about Nasi przyjaciele często się spotykają.
Why is the word for "our" nasi instead of nasze?
In Polish, plural words for groups that include at least one male person (virile or "męskoosobowe" nouns) take special matching adjectives. Since przyjaciele (friends) is a virile noun, the word for "our" changes to the special virile plural form nasi. If it were a group of only female friends, we would use the non-virile plural form nasze.
What is the singular form of przyjaciele, and why does its plural end in -ele?
The singular form is przyjaciel (a male friend). To make male nouns plural, we usually add -i or -y to the end. However, przyjaciel is an irregular noun that you just have to memorize, and its plural form gets the unique ending -ele to become przyjaciele.
Why is there a się in this sentence?
The word się often means "oneself", but here it means "each other". In English, we just say "friends meet", but in Polish, the verb spotykać needs się when people are meeting each other. Without się, it would sound incomplete, as if they are meeting someone or something else rather than getting together.
Why does the verb spotykają end in -ają?