Breakdown of Znam Kraków i wiem, gdzie jest dobra restauracja.
być
to be
i
and
gdzie
where
dobry
good
wiedzieć
to know
znać
to know (someone or something)
restauracja
restaurant
Kraków
Krakow
Questions & Answers about Znam Kraków i wiem, gdzie jest dobra restauracja.
Why do we use znam for Krakow but wiem for the second part, if they both mean "I know"?
This is the main difference between the two verbs for "to know" in Polish. We use znać (here as znam) when we are familiar with a person, a place, or a thing, like the city of Kraków. We use wiedzieć (here as wiem) for knowing facts, situations, or information. Wiedzieć is almost always followed by a question word like gdzie (where), co (what), or kto (who).
The verb znać takes the Accusative case. Why doesn't Kraków change its ending here?
You are right that znam triggers the Accusative case. However, Kraków is a masculine inanimate noun (a thing or place, not a living being). For masculine inanimate nouns, the Accusative form is exactly the same as the basic dictionary form (the Nominative case). So it is actually in the Accusative case here, it just doesn't look any different!
Why is dobra restauracja in the basic Nominative case? Shouldn't "knowing" it make it Accusative?
The phrase dobra restauracja (a good restaurant) is the subject of its own mini-sentence: "where a good restaurant is". Because it is the subject performing the action of the verb jest (is), it stays in the basic Nominative case. The verb wiem applies to the whole fact of where it is, not directly to the restaurant itself.
Why is there a comma before gdzie?
In Polish, you must always put a comma before a word that starts a new clause (a new part of a sentence with its own verb). You will almost always see a comma before connecting words like gdzie (where), że (that), or co (what), even if we wouldn't normally pause or use a comma there in English.
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