Breakdown of Nie wiem dokładnie, gdzie się jutro spotykamy, ale znam drogę.
gdzie
where
nie
no / not
wiedzieć
to know
ale
but
znać
to know (someone or something)
spotykać się
to meet
jutro
tomorrow
dokładnie
exactly
droga
way
Questions & Answers about Nie wiem dokładnie, gdzie się jutro spotykamy, ale znam drogę.
Why does the sentence use wiem first, and then znam, when they both translate to "I know"?
This is the main difference between the two verbs for "to know". We use wiedzieć (here as wiem) when we know a fact or piece of information, and it is usually followed by a question word like gdzie (where) or a full clause. We use znać (here as znam) when we are familiar with a noun, like a person, place, or thing. Since "the way" (droga) is a thing, the second half of the sentence must use znam.
Why is the word for "way" spelled drogę instead of its dictionary form droga?
The verb znać (to know a person or thing) requires the object receiving the action to be in the Accusative case. For feminine nouns ending in -a like droga (the way), the ending changes to -ę in the Accusative. Therefore, droga becomes drogę.
Why is the reflexive word się placed in the middle of the phrase gdzie się jutro spotykamy?
The word się is used with spotykać to mean "to meet each other". In Polish, short words like się naturally tuck themselves into the middle of a clause. They often jump to the position right after the first word of the phrase (here, after the question word gdzie) and generally avoid being the very last word of the sentence.
Spotykamy means "we are meeting" right now. Why is a present tense verb used with jutro (tomorrow)?
Just like in English when we say "we are meeting tomorrow", Polish often uses the present tense to talk about future events that are already planned or scheduled. The word jutro (tomorrow) makes it completely clear to the listener that the action is happening in the future.
Learn Nie wiem dokładnie, gdzie się jutro spotykamy, ale znam drogę and more in Polish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free